stress in canines

Like us, our dogs can and do experience stress. Just as stress can make us feel afraid or hyper or edgy or irritable, it can do the same to our dogs. It is a well established fact that chronic or long-term stress will likely have a detrimental effect on an individual's behavior, health and overall well-being. As responsible guardians we have a responsibility to help prevent stress in our dogs lives and to help them deal with stressors when they do occur.

While we and our dogs need to live with a certain amount of stress; it is imperative that we understand that whether the stress is "good" or "bad," short term or long term, it will have a physiological effect on the body. Stress has the potential to make one ill and may cause behaviors that damage relationships with others. It also increases arousal and reactivity, which frequently increases aggression. As a pet behavior consultant, it has been my experience that most behavior problems with pets, especially the more serious such as aggression and separation anxiety, are the result of stress. The susceptibility to stress varies with each individual dog or person. How an individual responds to stress is often affected by a combination of inherited genes and events within the organism's environment.

When something stressful happens (e.g. we are surprised by a snake, we are in a car accident, etc.) the body falls under control of the Sympathetic Autonomic Nervous System (SANS). The SANS is part of the body responsible for controlling the flight or fight response. Essentially the body goes on auto-pilot to protect us from the perceived threat. This is all controlled by a series of stress hormones and neurotransmitters that activate and deactivate various systems within the body.

The SANS is closely associated with the limbic system, which is the part of the brain that deals with the expression and experience of emotions, memory and aggression. It is the most primitive part of the brain and is very involved with instinctual survival mechanisms. It is separate from the cerebral cortex, which is thought to be the "thinking" part of the brain and the site of conscious thought and intelligence. Note that the brain is hard-wired to always remember negative emotional responses to help ensure our future safety.

There are four key things to remember about a dog under severe stress: 1) their body is reacting instinctively without thought, 2) the increased level of arousal/reactivity that is part of stress increases the probability of aggression, 3) when under stress the ability to learn is severely disabled if nonexistent, and 4) if under chronic/frequent stress, it can take many hours or even days for the body to return to normal, which is why chronic stress is so debilitating.

When stressed a dogs behavior will often change. Common behaviors that are often stress induced are: being restless, an inability to relax, poor sleeping habits (less than 17 hours of sleep per day), excessive sleeping, becoming jumpy/hypervigilant, irritable, destructive behaviors, excessive self-grooming, loss of appetite, obsessive/compulsive behaviors (e.g. shadow chasing), an inability to focus, hyperactivity, increased urination and defecation, and vomiting and diarrhea.

In order to reduce our dogs' stress we first need to understand it. Once we have identified the cause there are many approaches to eliminating the stress. The easiest way to deal with a dog under stress is usually management - removing the dog from the situation/context where the stress occurs. While this does not solve the problem, it is a temporary fix which will make the dog feel better. If this is a context/situation the dog will need to be exposed to in the future, it is advisable to work with a qualified and credentialed behavior consultant (see Selecting A Dog Behavior Consultant - http://tinyurl.com/4o6a7t ) to help get the dog over this fear. Few dog guardians are successful resolving this type of issue by reading books, attending seminars, or watching programs on TV. In my experience they usually make the problem worse.

A behavior consultant will consider a number of methods to help your dog deal with their stress. They will almost always recommend a behavior modification protocol, which is a specialized training program for your dog's situation. A dog training class is seldom recommended for a dog with stress-based issues such as anxiety and aggression, as it often puts a dog in a situation where they will be stressed and learning cannot occur.

Additionally a behavior consultant may also recommend changes in diets, treatment with complementary therapies (Bach Flower Remedies, herbs, homeopathy) if they are so qualified, and if they are a veterinary behaviorist they may recommend the use of certain drugs. A behavior consultant should always be working with your veterinarian.

Stress can make us feel miserable and it does the same for our dogs. If you have a dog living in stress - take steps to help them as soon as possible!

[via diana @ pos-4-reactivedogs]

[Personally I take this as another viewpoint to explain behavior. Others have other viewpoints and I think they all have some merit.]

Petey and Shirley

I saw Malia leave and Duane took Coco for a walk.

At the last minute, I decided to take Petey for a walk.

When I went in, Shirley was on the couch and Petey was nowhere in sight. I went to get Petey and he was all excited.

Shirley didn't run away this time and I took both of them out.

Pat was out and Keith was barking. But Pat remembered Petey and I brought him and Shirley over.

I walked them up and down a few times (not all the way to the beginning of the street). Kimo barked, but he was mostly barking at Keith.

They walked fairly well, though out in front. And Shirley started pulling as we headed back to their house.

After I took them home, I sat on the couch and Petey was still excited. After a while, Shirley came over and went up on the couch on my left while Petey was on my right. Petey remained excited and started licking my face. (Why do dogs lick your face?)

A couple of times, it looked like he was lunging after Shirley who was lying down facing away. (Maybe he was trying to claim me and keep her away. I lightly corrected him once.) I continued holding him gently by the collar and after quite a while he calmed down (as evidenced by the absence of his heavy breathing).

As I was leaving, he got excited again and I went back to the couch to get him calmed down.

Then I tried leaving again. He seemed a little calmer, but not all the way.

I think Petey's main problem is that he gets/remains in an excited state. I'm going to see if I can get him to relax more.

We'll see what happens next time.

goodbye Koa

A van drove by and Kimo was barking.

It was Eddie. He brought Koa to say goodbye. He said he's going to take him to the Humane Society because he couldn't find a home for him.

But then he mentioned something about his father's place with a concrete area and he built a dog house for him. So it sounds like he's moving there.

Eddie said he was in a clean and sober house and couldn't bring Koa with him. And apparently he didn't want to burden Toni any longer. So now Koa has to move.

Good luck to both of you.

***

I'm glad I was able to take Koa walking with us for the last few days as I saw his blue rope leash out in the driveway. I took him out this morning with Jojo and Hershey and walked with Duane and Coco.

And yesterday, I had Fifi, Jojo, and Koa in the backyard.

***

Later that evening, I took Petey out for a walk. I saw Toni outside and stopped to chat. She told me that Koa is going to a warehouse in Mapunapuna next to the Sony building and be a guard dog. And that Eddie is going to work there part-time.

So at least Eddie will be able to see him. And that Eddie might come over to her place to do some cleanup work maybe once a month.

[Apparently, Koa was becoming a bit of a burden to Toni. And Eddie considered moving back downstairs. But Toni thought it was time to move on.]

*** [6/2/12]

While out with Kimo, Jojo, Fifi and Tuffy this morning; Toni saw me and came out on the road with Kilauea.  She informed me that Koa got run over by a truck at the warehouse.  Sad end.  But I think he had some good years living at Toni's place.

[6/7/12] I remember when I first met him.  He used to get loose and would come near but not all the way to me.  Then finally I gave him some food through the fence at Jennifer's house (he was on Jennifer's side and I was on the other side).  That did the trick.  And after that he would come to me.


I will miss him coming to my house when he was loose (so I could take him home).  And him lying down with his head by my leg when I sat down next to him (so I could give him a massage).

R.I.P.

time marches on

Jojo arrives at 5:00 AM
go back sleep


Duane comes with Coco / take out Jojo, leave Kimo in back
Harriet coming, Duane hands off Coco to me

decide to retrieve Koa (see his leash on car)
Gerald arrives with Hershey and Helen, retrieve Hershey, Harriet short chat with Helen

RMAS come out, bypass them, Jojo behaves but Koa growls make him look forward

one more lap, Kimo going out, says Ann might take out Fifi and Mochi, Fifi howling, WTH take her out

Cheryl sees me walking back with Coco, Jojo, Koa, Hershey, Fifi

mom comes out on the street to walk, see her with Harriet

take home Coco

Jojo acts up, wants to play with Fifi, Koa starts to growl / kneel down to hold Fifi and to keep Jojo away, they calm down

Jojo acts up again, let Hershey loose, let Jojo and Fifi loose

where’d they go, see Hershey at Nakano house, and Fifi and Jojo loose too

go get them / wth go for walk up Aulii,

up Puna, Hoku barks at us

go up Puna and back down / this time there’s a car/truck in Hoku’s driveway, Allen sees me and comes down to chat

tell me his wife [Lani] passed away and that Betty’s son’s house is for sale (I noticed last time) / time marches on..

take home the dogs, looks like Koa wants to go home but we go to the end of the street

Ben pau work at Duane’s house, tell him I can take him home


take home Koa, take home Fifi

bring Kimo in front, take home Ben (Jojo comes with us)
turns out he lives on Thurston street not too far from the apartment dad owned

[2/14/12, posted 2/21/13]

Petey too

Kimo barking early a.m., take in front to poop
barks a few times in front, notably at paperguy
 
no Jojo, decided to take Koa out, use Joey’s pink leash / then retrieve Fifi too
 
see Coco outside, take dogs to fence, Fifi seems OK, but Koa growls at Coco
 
wait around and then Cheryl comes to take out Coco
 
go to see if Kimo comes out, open gate and he wanders out to pee/poop,    catch him with the slip leash, then put on the black leash
go walking with Cheryl
 
was going to take them to Fongs, but Lana and Anson come, so take them to my back yard
Koa wiggles on grass, Fifi slurps from the water hose, Koa seems to want to drink too, but Fifi dominates the hose
Kimo stays by himself and at one point was behind the shelving on the hothouse slab / handtrim some tall grass by Tsutsui fence
take Kimo in front, take Koa home, take Fifi home
 
Malia walking Kat and Shirley / see Kilauea on the road, return him / massage Koa who lies next to me / Malia sees me and smiles seeing Koa lying next to me, asks if I can walk Petey too since he's been acting up in the evening (sees something behind a board or something), I say sure

Cheryl takes out Coco / Kimo lies down
 
take out Kimo later, take in back ewa side, but he goes out dh side and runs to Keith’s side, finally catch him when he goes up steps
 
decide to walk Petey
Shirley comes over, give them small treats, Musubi comes over too

take Petey out / go to my driveway to see how Kimo and he react, have my back to Kimo but they react facing each other
go over to sit by storm drain

So that was Petey's first day.

[2/11/12, posted 1/21/13]

Jojo greets Cheryl

take out Jojo when Cheryl and Coco come down
retrieve Fifi
Jojo pees on Cheryl’s pants
Jojo active, wants to play with Fifi
let them play, goes in back of Cheryl’s house, then Jojo jumps into Tanabe’s yard
Hershey arrived, pick up Hershey, Kimo comes out, so I walk four

[1/8/13 I saw this in my log from almost a year ago and it was too classic not to put this in the blog]

Cheryl wasn't too pleased, but was good-natured about it.  And Duane laughed when I told him (he said Cheryl didn't mention it).