Sound Therapy and Other Stress Busters for Anxious Pets

Do you have a dog that is fearful of thunderstorms? Fourth of July fireworks? Or a dog with separation anxiety? It has now been shown that calm music, such as classical music can have a calming effect on dogs.

I had a first hand experience yesterday with our foster dog, Lucky. He was exhibiting some separation anxiety behaviors when left alone in his crate when I left the house. Yesterday before I left, I set him up with Pandora playing through my computer, and a peanut butter kong. He rested his head on his paws as the music played (it was actually easy listening country), and lifted his head quickly when the music stopped. I was able to leave Lucky alone for nearly 3 hours in his crate, and he was calm when I returned home, the music still playing! Not only was I proud of him, but I sensed he was happy and proud of himself!

You can learn more about sound therapy in the book Through a Dog's Ear, and read how more animals are being adopted in shelters as a result of this wonderful discovery here: http://throughadogsear.com/

The following video segment with Dr. Marty Becker from Good Morning America discusses the powerful calming effect of music on dogs, as well as other products such as anxiety wraps and fermone sprays.

Lucky and Maddie

To learn more about Lucky or to adopt him visit Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue and fill out an application. He is 6 1/2 years old, house-trained, responds to many commands, and is affectionate and sweet. He will lie at your feet, cuddle and be thrilled to finally have his forever home where he is loved and wanted for life.

Posted By Dawn Kairns, Author of MAGGIE: the dog who changed my life

Leading trainer says even fearful dogs can be helped with gentle approach

By John Davidson

Fetch Blog, DenverPost.com

Of all the dogs that nationally known dog trainer and author Nicole Wilde helps, fearful animals are close to her heart.

“This is the issue that is so, so important,” the California-based Wilde said Friday. “At stake is the dog’s quality of life and even whether or not it will have a home.”

That’s because a very large proportion of what people call aggression issues actually is fear-based, she said. “Its like, ‘hey, big person, stay away, stay away,’ ” she explained.

Wilde, who has written a book titled “Help Your Fearful Dog” (phantompub.com), will present an all-day training workshop June 12 at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley focused on helping fearful dogs. Attending will be a variety of animal care professionals, but Wilde hopes everyday dog owners will come, too.

“I love it when owners come,” she said. “They leave with specific techniques to help their pets.”


Wilde and her partner operate a company called Gentle Guidance in Santa Clarita, Calif. She presents seminars around the world to trainers, rescue/shelter workers and dog owners. She has written eight books and writes an Ask The Expert column for Modern Dog magazine.

She believes there are a number of reasons dogs can be fearful. One is simply genetics, possibly due to over-breeding. Maybe the animal has been traumatized. The biggest problem may be that the pet has not been adequately socialized with people and other dogs.

“The window for optimal socialization is 4 to 12 weeks of age,” Wilde said. “You can socialize a dog after that, but it is more difficult.”

Training based on force won’t work, she said.

“Be patient and work at the dog’s pace,” Wilde explained. “You’re not forcing the dog to confront its fears. Introduce the dog to things in a gradual manner.”

She describes this as classical conditioning, a principle drveloped by the Russian scientist Pavlov.

Shelter dogs are not necessarily more fearful, Wilde said, even though some may suffer separation anxiety as a result of being abandoned.

“If you get a shelter dog as a puppy you have a better shot,” she said. “But even if a shelter dog has fear issues, you still can make progress.”

Wilde may be at the top of her profession, but she served her time in the trenches.

“A lot of my background came from training wolf-dog hybrids,” she said, “I worked for a shelter and even went to people’s homes for free. My whole goal was to help them keep those animals. This
is why I got into it.”

But she had to work outside jobs to keep her efforts going, so she helped form Gentle Guidance.

Now, Wilde is a faculty member and on the advisory board for the Companion Animal Sciences Institute.

For information about her June 12 appearance in Boulder or other training opportunities at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley

Posted By:

Dawn Kairns  
Author of MAGGIE the dog who changed my life

Website: www.dawnkairns.com
Blog: Dawn Kairns and Maggie the Dog  
Twitter: themaggiebook

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