Is your Dog Stressed out?

Even the most well socialized and polite dogs can get stressed out; can you tell when your pooch has had enough? Here are some tips for identifying stress in your dog.

Dogs can become unreasonably stressed out anywhere. You could be at a local festival with people and dogs everywhere or at home where the distant sound of fireworks can send even the most confident canine over the edge. It’s important to be able to identify stress in your dog and help him/her manage it.

Here are a few signs that many dogs will demonstrate:

1. Your dog won’t eat.

This happens all the time. Fido is happily accepting treats from you or strangers and suddenly he’s full. Well your best friend might actually be too uncomfortable to eat. If your dog was previously eating and stops suddenly it’s best to assume he’s upset and take him out of the situation for a well-deserved break.

2. Your dog is no longer able to perform easy obedience cues such as Sit or Shake A Paw.

If your dog knows a cue like Sit then he/she should be able to do it. Dogs will often stop listening to cues when stressed out or over excited. We all know what over excitement looks like so if your pup is just standing stock still and unable to offer a sit then he’s probably had enough.

3. Your dog is offering appeasement signals such as yawning, looking away, lip licking and blinking. He could even be lying down or showing his tummy (not for a belly rub as often mistaken).

Make sure you are familiar with your dog’s language. If you don’t know how to spot calming signals then please take a look at Sarah Kalnajs’ “The Language of Dogs” DVD or Turid Rugaas “Calming Signals” DVD. It’s very important to be able to identify these things.

4. Your dog has frozen still and won’t move.

This one can be difficult as you need to evacuate your dog out of the situation without making him more fearful. I will often use my happy voice and find the path out with the least amount of traffic. You can try using a hand target to get your dog up again but if they’ve frozen it may not work. Depending on the dog you could try gently touching him/her or picking him/her up. Please note that a fearful dog can be dangerous and to keep your own safety in mind. If you watch body language closely you shouldn’t find yourself at this stage.

Remember that it doesn’t matter where you are. If your dog is in distress then please take him/her out of the situation ASAP this includes dog training classes and dog parks. Bites can be prevented with a little bit of knowledge.

Solutions for Canine Anxiety

I've seen an increasing amount of clients lately who are struggling with their dog's anxiety issues. Concerns include fear of storms, strangers, other dogs, areas in the home, walks once it's dark outside and being home alone. 

While anxiety concerns in dogs can be complex here are a few solutions to help your best friend out: 

1. Create a Regular Routine

Just like kids, dogs need to be able to predict what's going happen in their day. This does not mean to live life by an exact schedule (ie. the dog eats every morning at 6am) but it does mean that your dog understands that certain events take place in order (ie. bathroom break, breakfast, walk, etc.) so they know what to expect. Dogs should also have a regular bed time and an over tired dog should get naps. 

2. Feed a Balanced and Healthy Diet

A poor diet can affect your dog's mood significantly. While the jury is still out on what the best food is to feed your dog here are a few recommendations; pick a high quality dog food instead of a grocery store product, consult with a nutrition expert (may or may not be a veterinarian), read a book on canine nutrition so you know what to look for and consider alternative diets such as raw or home made which can be a great solution for some dogs. Every dog is different and sometimes you have to try a few different options. My 4 dogs all eat differently: Russ gets Go Natural Salmon & Rice kibble supplemented with veggies, Heidi gets Go Natural White Fish or Wellness Core wet food with rice, veggies, yogurt, flax and vitamin C, and both Marco and Tank get a mixed raw food diet which is partially home made. Do your research and figure out what's best for your dog. 

3. Keep Your Own Anxiety Under Control

Owners that are also experiencing high levels of anxiety can affect their dogs. It's important to be as relaxed as possible especially when exposing your dog to something they worry about.  Some interesting products that can help both humans and dogs include Rescue Remedy, soothing music, exercise and plenty of sleep.

4. Contact a Trainer versed in Anxiety

Not all dog trainers know about anxiety issues in dogs. Contact a variety of trainers when looking for help. Dog trainers who have their CPDT-KA designation have passed an exam that includes an Animal Behaviour component. Or a trainer who has experienced in this field and has taken the time to attend seminars about this type of issue. Anxiety issues should never be addressed using coercive or forceful methods.

A few great products:

1. DAP collars, sprays or diffusers (stands for Dog Appeasement Pheromone) and is available through most vet clinics and the Calgary Humane Society. 

2. Thunder Shirts, now available through most pet stores including Global Pet Foods and Mungo's Books for Dog People. 

3. Through a Dog's Ear CD, available at the Calgary Humane Society, Mungo's Books for Dog People and of course online.

4. Rescue Remedy, great for people and dogs! Available at most health stores.

Here's Dexter one of Where's Your Sit?'s clients. Dexter is scared of bath time so he can be seen here getting more comfortable with the bath tub. Where's Your Sit? has a variety of classes and private training options to help anxious or fearful dogs.

Why Does My Dog Go Crazy On Leash?

Increasingly pet owners are complaining about dogs that seem to go crazy on leash when they see other dogs, people or wildlife but are fine off leash. So what's going on?


Dogs are inherently social creatures and like to investigate their world. When off leash they can determine how to approach (distance, speed, posture, if to approach at all, etc) but we add a leash to the situation and suddenly the dog has no choices at all. Add in the fact that very few humans that are aware of dog body language and social behaviour and there's disaster. Scared dogs learn that they are forced to interact with unknowns in their environment in an unpleasant way. Hyper/friendly dogs learn that they can't get access to exciting stimuli and become frustrated. 

And then leash reactivity happens. That's the behaviour where a dog is at the end of his/her leash barking/lunging/growling, etc or running around in circles with the same results. Most of the time the owners are really embarrassed and don't know what to do. 


This is definitely the time to call in a positive reinforcement trainer to help you come up with a plan. Fearful dogs will need different protocols than hyper/friendly dogs. A good dog trainer can spot the difference where most people can't. Sometimes a very scared dog looks hyper or aggressive. You won't get anywhere if you can't tell the difference. 

Many training academies will offer special classes for dogs with these issues but I highly recommend you start with private one on one training. A lot of the work can start right in the home. 


My own Miniature Schnauzer Heidi came to me as a fearful reactive dog. She would bark and have a fit at anything that moved (people, dogs, cats, birds, bikes, skateboards, leaves, etc). You wouldn't know it today. We worked slowly on desensitizing her to each environmental fear (and I mean slowly as it took well over a year) and at the same time participated in confidence building activities and fine tuned her obedience skills. Heidi now helps me work with other fearful reactive dogs as she can be a relaxing prescence. That's success! Help is out there and the longer you wait the worse it tends to get. 

The New Foster Kid: Bailey

Miss Bailey arrived at my home yesterday evening and has started to settle in. She is a 7 year old Yorkie mix and has had a hard life. Bailey is reportedly from a Puppy Mill and after being retired as a breeding dog she has been unable to find a suitable home. She has been placed twice and neither home worked out. Her first adoptive owner moved after having her for a few short years while her second home had a small child and a cat that were unsuitable for her shy personality. Her second family decided to get help as she clearly needed a new family. 

So Bailey has joined my pack and I for some rehabilitation before moving on to her forever home. Her next adopters will be carefully screened to make sure they will be a permanent and exceptional home for this tiny little girl. 

Bailey makes a great case study for anyone who owns a shy, timid dog. Her story is sadly altogether common. She missed out on early socialization as a puppy when the people responsible for her kept her locked in a cage. She is therefore terrified of most things: kids, strangers, loud noises and lacks key social skills that would allow her to interact comfortably with other dogs (rather than avoiding them). 

The Plan: give Bailey a much needed confidence boost and help her learn new skills that will allow her to be successful with her next family.

How are we going to do that? 

The first step is to allow Bailey to settle in and adjust to the new environment. This might take some time, but once she realizes she's safe and my dogs won't bother her, life will get a little easier for her. I help new dogs settle in by setting up a regular daily schedule so she can expect when meals will be, when exercise will happen, when nap time/bed time are and other regular activities. Structure is crucial for anxiety ridden dogs (and good for all dogs). Setting up a structure will also allow us to house train Bailey.

We will also consider a DAP collar and a Thunder shirt for Bailey depending on how she does over the first week. She will also get a vet check up to make sure she has no medical issues that could be affecting her mental state. 

Step number two will involve some confidence building. We will begin to work on "hand targeting" which will encourage Bailey to come to my partner and I. We'll be using cheese as a reinforcer for this and a clicker to mark the behaviour. Video to follow. 

Bailey will also begin attending a group training class at Where's Your Sit. My partner Douglas has been kind enough to volunteer his time as her handler. We selected a class with dogs all under 20lbs in size. This was done on purpose. Bailey will be introduced to larger dogs but only ones who have already attended obedience classes so that they don't scare her further. My own pack includes 2 medium size dogs that she has already met. 

 The goal of a group class for her will not be obedience skills. If we expected her to learn sit, down, stay, heel , etc. we would be disappointed. Bailey is going to work on being in the room while the other dogs learn. She will get to meet people and dogs in the class when she is ready. The new environment will be her challenge in this case. Once she's comfortable we can practice the skills she's learning at home like the hand target. She will not be expected to learn anything new in class. When she's more confident we can explore classes for training but this time it's about socialization to a new environment, people and dogs.

Bailey's progress will be posted on the blog and our website. Feel free to ask questions! Also note that we are interviewing potential adopters for Bailey. She will be available to the right new home once she has finished the beginning stage of confidence boosting. Her new family will receive both group and private training lessons through Where's Your Sit as part of her adoption package.

Bailey's Page