Dog Anxiety Awareness Week, May 1 - 7

Have you been told that a wagging tail is always a sign of a happy dog (it’s not)? Have you ever wondered if your dog is feeling anxious or afraid, but been unsure how to tell? Or have you noticed that your dog is stressed, but aren’t sure how to address it? In honor of Dog Anxiety Awareness Week, we encourage you to learn more about identifying signs of fear, anxiety, and stress in your dog and ways to alleviate those fears.

First, start by familiarizing yourself with dog body language. This infographic from Fear Free Pets illustrates what to look for to distinguish between whether your dog is feeling relaxed and happy versus stressed or afraid. Additionally, Fear Free’s Spectrum of Fear, Anxiety, & Stress can be used as a way to measure how your dog is feeling at any given moment:

Fear Free Pet’s Fear, Anxiety, & Stress (FAS) Scale

This 5 1/2 minute video is also a fantastic guide to understanding your dog’s body language:

If you do notice that your dog is exhibiting signs of fear or anxiety, remove them from the situation as quickly as possible and reach out to us for help navigating them through these types of situations in the future.

Dogs speak to us all of the time through their body language, but many times their messages are misunderstood or missed entirely. As a result, dogs are often placed in situations where they have to escalate their communication to signs that are harder to miss like growling or snapping. Identifying and addressing the early signs of fear, anxiety and stress, as well as understanding the signs of a relaxed and happy dog are essential for building a solid and safe relationship with your dog.

Learn more at Fear Free Happy Homes. Your Dog’s Friend has also recorded a number of webinars on a variety of topics related to fear, all of which are available to watch for free on their YouTube page.