Treating Anxiety in Dogs

Just as in people, when pets have anxiety it can cause them to become depressed. If your dogs depressed it could be that he/she is worried or concerned about something going on in your household. Many different situations can cause your pet to get tense. Dogs like small children like their routine. If anything changes in their daily lives it can upset them. A new person in the home can bother them even if it is a happy thing for you. A change in your routine can be very disruptive for your dog. I remember when I started back to school my dog chewed a large hole in the wall because she wasn't used to me being gone all day.

Vets have reported that massage therapy has been very helpful in reducing anxiety in dogs and helpful when your dogs depressed. There is good scientific evidence on the success of using massage therapy to relieve anxiety in dogs. Good scientific evidence means controlled studies were done at reputable universities by qualified professionals.

In 2002, Michael Hennessy, PhD, a psychology professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, was able to show that pet massage reduced anxiety levels in a test group of 40 shelter dogs.

Cortisal is sometimes called "the stress hormone" because it's secreted in higher levels when your body is stressed. This first study measured cortisol levels in dogs who had been receiving massage as compared to dogs that did not receive the massages. After eight weeks, blood tests assessing cortisol levels showed that dogs receiving regular touch and massage had significantly lower stress levels than dogs who did not receive the treatment.

Massage is defined as deep massage, along with very soothing talk. Deep massage is different from just petting your dog. Massage uses touch focused on various areas of your pet's body.

In a 2001 study by Merel Ritskes-Hoitinga, DVM PhD, of the Radboud University Niijmegen Medical Center in the Netherlands pet massage was also found to be an effective cure for anxiety in dogs.

In this case researchers were conducting a study on blood pressure regulation and were concerned that high variation of sodium levels in urine samples taken from laboratory Beagles could possibly confuse the results of research on blood pressure regulation. The researchers thought that the changing sodium levels were related to stress. When the dogs received massage therapy the sodium level variation decreased.

In addition to reducing anxiety and helping if your dogs depressed massage therapy can help increase circulation, reduce muscle tension and increase flexibility.

So if it seems your dogs depressed it may caused by something that is causing your pet be afraid or worried. You might try deep massage and using a soothing tone of voice to relax them. You might also want to add a natural anxiety reducing supplement to help your pet relax..