How to help a dog get rid of stress or timidity

I used to have an amazing dog adopted from a shelter. However, as it often is with dogs from a shelter, she had a character flaw – timidity. She was afraid of other people, unfamiliar things and sound. Once, on an evening walk, she even got scared by her own shadow. I was looking for means, how to mitigate her timidity. If you have a timid dog at home and you’re looking for the right way to help them, maybe you will find some of these tips handy.

Of course, that the results are individual as with anything and every dog may react positively to something else. So, when one thing doesn’t help, you shouldn’t give up and try another one, until you’ll find out, what it is that helps your dog. I’ll share the methods that I’ve tried with you.

Spot on

This is a 100% natural extract from valerian and the application is repeated every week. It works on the principle of slow release and therefore, a long-term effect. It is recommended, for example, in case of excessive barking or whining due to anxiety from separation or in case of destructive or undesirable territorial behaviour. You can also use it when you’re seeing the vet, while travelling, during a storm or fireworks. Generally, the dog is calmed down and it prepares a better environment for our work with them. Unfortunately, in our case, it wasn’t very successful.

Pheromone collar

Pheromone collar imitates pheromones that are produced by a female dog to calm its offspring – puppies. A calming lavender and camomile scent helps to entirely remove or mitigate the feeling of fear  and restlessness in dogs. Dogs will recognize these pheromones for their whole life and in this way, they easily manage stress and fear. After you put it on, the collar releases a powder with pheromone content. Its effectiveness is about 30 days, however, the dog should not take a bath with it. This shouldn’t be an issue, since it is removable and you can use it with interruptions. Its use is recommended in the same situations as a spot on. After brief wearing, results began to show in my dog miss, she was a little bit calmer, which showed especially at home. Since our issue with timidity was quite severe, the collar still wasn’t enough for stressful situations.

Bach drops

These drops should mitigate fear and distrust in a dog. It is a mixture of essences for anxiety, rootless fear, for greater tolerance, balance and calmness, to supress disbelief and fear of new things and to process a physical or mental trauma. Bach drops – not only those intended for fear in a dog – are much praised for their effects by dog and cat owners. I got my best results with Bach drops. My little dog was calmer, her reactions were still disproportionate, but much milder.

Anti-stress vests

This is a method that got me really interested. I think, that I could achieve good results with it, unfortunately, I’ve discovered it only too late. Therefore, I don’t have any personal experience of it, but I believe in its effectiveness, and I’m thinking of trying it out on my current dog, who might not suffer from fear, but is unconcentrated, hyperactive and suffers from a mild separation anxiety. I like about this method, that the dog is not receiving any substances in any way.

The only disadvantage that I can see is, that dog might be warm in this vest in summer and that’s why its wearing probably has to be adjusted according to the weather, it is not entirely universal. An issue could arise even when you’re putting it on the dog, if the dog is not used to human contact. The effective principle is a mild constant pressure that has a significant calming effect in issues with anxiety, fear or hyperactivity. Based on tests, this method is effective in more than 85% of cases. Around the world, it’s use is wide-spread and it is recommended both by veterinarians and dog trainers, and not only for stress and timidity, but also as a supporting treatment for epilepsy, for example.

The pressure on the dog’s chest provokes a feeling of safety and it significantly calms the nervous system of the dog. A similar principle is used in the methodology of animal training called TTouch®, in people with autism, in children with some behavioural disorders and also to calm down new-borns.

I hope, that I could have helped someone with these tips, or at least, that I’ve led someone to another option how to help your dog get rid of fear or stress. Have you got any advice on how to deal with fear and stress in a dog? What worked in your case?