Shiba Inus can develop anxiety issues and fear, which can eventually lead to biting, scratching, or clawing. If you love your dog, it’s easy to feel anxious about your Shiba Inu’s anxiety.
Fortunately, there are many ways to help your Shibi Inu’s anxiety. But first, you need to know the symptoms.
Symptoms of Shiba Inu Anxiety
The common symptoms of anxiety amongst Shiba Inu are:
- Chewing
- Urination
- Defecation
- Pacing
- Trembling
It is also important to determine whether your dog is experiencing a severe case of anxiety. It can be challenging to tell if your Shiba Inu has genuine anxiety or is just feeling disobedient.
A few ways to know if the dog is indeed feeling anxious is if they are panting, whining, and pacing.
Types of Dog Anxiety
A Shiba Inu can also experience different types of anxiety.
Separation Anxiety
Being kenneled in the past, being left alone for the first time, a traumatic event, or a sudden change in the family, can be reasons why a dog develops separation anxiety.
Common symptoms of separation anxiety are urinating, chewing, barking, and defecating when they are alone.
Social Anxiety
Shiba Inus are social dogs. That’s why your Shiba Inu needs to socialize for the first 16 months. This is when the Shiba Inu puppies learn about fear and develop their confidence. It is also important for Shiba Inu puppies to be with their mother for at least 8 months after birth. This helps prevent social anxiety as well as nutrition problems.
Noise Anxiety
Some dogs can be very sensitive to noise. Fireworks, thunder, and any loud noises can be sources of anxiety for your dog. If they experience noise anxiety, they will hide or flee.
How to treat your Shiba Inu’s anxiety issues
Now that you are aware of the types of anxiety that your Shiba Inu can develop, you must find the appropriate way to deal with these.
This means that you must remain calm and relaxed so your dog will not feel any sign of stress. However, treating your dog’s anxiety is not an overnight fix.
Therapies and exercising can help but it all boils down to finding and using the right treatment that will bring the best results.
Behavior Modification
Changing or modifying a pet’s behavior can be very challenging and the dog owner must focus on things like desensitization and counter-conditioning.
A prime example of this would be if your dog is afraid of a thunderstorm. You might want to encourage your dog to do something fun or positive every time it happens. You are conditioning your dog to associate the things it is afraid of with something positive.
Desensitization
Desensitization must be approached with extra care. If you don’t, you might be bringing your dog more trauma and anxiety.
The way this therapy works is to expose your dog to its subject of anxiety but in small doses and encouraging it to bring new and positive reactions that will help him move on from the issue. In terms of separation anxiety, you can start by leaving your dog in a short amount of time and then increasing the amount over time.
Observe the way your dog responds to triggers and try different actions.
Medications
If your dog is experiencing severe anxiety, medication can be a solution. However, don’t use over-the-counter medications without consulting or prescription from your veterinarian. It is also advised to use behavior modification and other methods, alongside medication.
Conclusion
All dogs have the potential to develop anxiety. Unfortunately, there’s no general solution to this, but the first thing that you must do is to get educated on your dog’s anxiety, its triggers, and the possible solutions. It is also important to not add stress to your dog by remaining calm and relaxed.
