We always assume that all anxious dogs demonstrate fear. In this video, I’m going to explain how you can have an anxious dog who is not experiencing or demonstrating fear the emotion. This doesn’t mean that your dog doesn’t have anxiety. Join me as I break down some signs of what anxiety may look like as well as breeds who are more likely to be anxious.
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Disclaimers: Jenna Romano is not a veterinarian. Always consult a veterinarian before giving your dog any food. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Jenna Romano will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of information contained in this video including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness or death to you or your dog. This video is not instructional. This video is for entertainment purposes only.
In this video i’m going to explain how You can have an anxious dog who is not Experiencing fear the emotion how you Can have a dog at home who is not a very Fearful individual but still has anxiety Let’s get into it [Music] What’s up guys it’s jen with dog liaison Where i coach you on how to enhance your Dog’s mental health on this channel we Break down scientific research in order To inform us on how to train dogs i’m a Professional dog trainer at this point In my career i work exclusively with Guardians of dogs facing anxiety-related Disorders dogs that have demonstrated Aggression reactivity separation anxiety Resource guarding stereotypies other Anxiety-related disorders hyper-arousal And one of the trends that i have found In guardians is that they tend to only Think their dog is anxious if their dog Is demonstrating fear however if their Dog is not demonstrating fear the Emotion then they’re just being naughty They’re just misbehaving they’re just Hyper stimulated they’re just whatever But they’re not actually anxious and i Think that the reason we think this is Because we link anxiety with fear the Emotion without realizing that anxiety Is just correlated with fear the Behavioral response that is anxiety is Correlated to the fight flight freezer
Response that occurs which we deem fear Right so fear the emotion and fear the Physical response are two different Things now let’s talk about what anxiety Actually is let’s give it a clear Definition anxiety is the preparation For a stressful situation it is the Anticipation of an event that is going To cause the body to go into fight Flight or freeze and as a result of this Anticipation the body prepares itself Prematurely the body puts itself into a State of fight flight or freeze before The threat actually occurs and that is The biggest difference between anxiety And actually being in the middle of a Fearful situation Is that in the state of fear in the State of you know danger the threat is Present whereas anxiety the anticipation Or the idea of the threat is present but The threat itself is not there the Threat itself is not real as this Pertains to dogs that are not Experiencing fear of the emotion what’s Really happening is that their bodies Are recognizing whatever event is about To occur is about to put themselves in a Fight flight freeze engagement fight Flight freeze behavioral response and That’s going to be traumatic on the Central nervous system that experience Is going to require a lot of resources a Lot of effort and so the body is like we
Don’t want to go through this the body Is like we don’t like this we don’t like This it’s pumping more blood it’s Sending that blood out to the rest of The body it’s flexing those muscles the Dog is gonna hyper scan he’s gonna Experience the state of fight flight or Freeze without having a real reason to Be in it and a lot of times a dog can Still be happy That they are going forward so they Could still be getting a dopamine rush As a result of this and this is what we See with dogs that are experiencing Anxiety or sensory overwhelm on walks But still want to go on the walk but Still enjoy actually being on the walk So you might have a dog who loves being Outside loves going on walks gets super Excited starts dancing but his body Is recognizing it as a significant Stressor a significant trauma to its Central nervous system and i don’t use The word trauma lightly i really do mean That the central nervous system your Dog’s motor system of his body Is Pushing out so many resources is Exercising so many resources to go Through this simple walk and it’s very Draining energetically for that dog it’s Very stressful to a state where it’s not Healthy it’s no longer healthy that You’re actually taking your dog for a
Walk because of the significance of this Trauma now let’s talk about the types of Dogs that are more prone to this state Of anxiety that could still be a Happiness that could still be like Enjoyable like your dog could still like It isn’t actually fearful of a stimulus Isn’t actually fearful of an event but Becomes in this fight freeze effect Regardless for one thing our hurting Family are hurting in our working family I can tell you just for the clients that I work with in the rp many of them Have Mini aussies have border collies have Shelties have german shepherds have Cattle dog mixes there are a lot of These hurting Working dogs that are built to notice When things are out of alignment or when Built to notice when things are not in Order when there’s a sudden change in The environment they are literally Hardwired to notice these things and so Because of that their sensory is just on Overwhelm they are absorbing so much Information they are becoming inundated With that information and even if they Liked the thing even if they like being At the park even if they like the Experience of playing with their friends Even if they like the experience of Being out with mom their bodies Are inundated with information their
Bodies are like in pandemonium and so You’re sitting there trying to just put Your dog in a sit trying to put your dog In a stay trying to give your dog eye Contact trying to focus on all this Obedience and meanwhile your dog’s body Is just in freaking chaos it’s just all Over the board and there’s no way that That body can operate in a logic Thinking part of the brain to be able to Offer you that sit offer you that down Offer you that stay instead what we need To do is desensitize that experience for Your dog what we need to do is make that Information not as overwhelming we need To mildly expose your dog to that Stimuli mildly expose your dog to those Environments and Give your dog enough information of what To do When that stimulus comes into the space Of what he can anticipate now that this New routine is going to occur we have to Set up routines yes but they must be Routines that the body knows is leading To a safe conclusion is leading to a Safe endgame that is not we’re gonna Require a ton of resources because Here’s the thing even if you set up a Nice routine if the routine ends up Leading to the dog’s body being in that Fight flight or free state if it leads To that dog pumping out the all that Blood leads your dog to course and
Through cortisol and adrenaline if that Is the end game your dog’s body is still Gonna go through panic attacks your Dog’s body is still gonna prepare itself For that trauma still to experience Anxiety because it knows it’s going There anyway so it’s going to start Building it prematurely so that end Routine that end game whatever you Design needs to tell the body enough Times you do not need to go into panic Right now you will not need to pump more Blood You will not need to hyperscan you will Not need to flex all your muscles and Fill it up you are not going to need to Go into that fight flight or freeze There’s no need for that right now That’s not what we’re doing that end Game needs to tell her body that now if I can share with you sort of my personal Experience as a trainer working with Dogs that face this anxiety and this Sensory overwhelm if i can be fully Transparent with you i actually have More sadness And i feel more badly for the dogs that Are experiencing this anxiety that They’re still happy they still want to Do the thing they’re still for all Intensive paper that says excited for The thing they don’t necessarily become Fearful of the thing but their body is Experiencing this trauma i have more
Sadness for those dogs than the dogs That are actually just fearful of the Stimulus and the reason is is because of How guardians perceive them the dog who Is experiencing fear and is crawling Underneath the wall and hiding and is so Overtly fearful tends to yield more Compassion from others we tend to feel Badly for them rightfully so right Whereas the dogs that are experiencing Overjoy but sensory overwhelm and going Through this more subtle anxious fit That’s not fear related or fear of the Emotion related we tend to label them as Naughty we label them as misbehaving we Completely misunderstand their Experience and we just think that if They just have more obedience it’ll Solve all their problems and so these Dogs are not actually getting the Treatment they require they’re not Actually getting the recovery that they Deserve because instead they’re being Dismissed and as a trainer my heart Breaks when i see that I just absolutely become devastated Because i know that that dog is not Getting the compassion the recovery that They deserve and i know it’s not Sustainable i know that whatever method Is temporarily relieving pain for the Guardian is not going to last because The dog has an anxiety disorder and Anxiety disorders don’t just go away by
Telling him to sit and we know this is True about people we’ve finally come to The conclusion that that’s true about People but Anxiety disorders don’t just find their Way out of them by putting them in a Classroom and saying sit still we know That we have to work through therapy to Get them to better place in their life And so is true for these anxious dogs They need just as much therapy as the Dog who was hiding underneath the table If you enjoyed this video do me a favor Hit that like button consider Subscribing and hitting the notification Bell so you get notified when i drop a New video consider checking out my other Anxiety related videos and i will see You guys next week