Help Alleviate Pet Anxiety Naturally

The team at ZenCrate is committed to providing a resource for ending your pet’s anxiety. With that being said, we recognize that while ZenCrates are a great way to do this, there are also many other methods of treatment that may aid in alleviating your dog’s anxiety before you resort to prescription medications from your veterinarian.

If your pet is experiencing anxiety, either from loud noises, separation,or storm phobia, you can try these natural remedies to alleviate pet anxiety.

Try A Little Extra Exercise

In the same way that exercise can help humans relieve stress, using up extra anxious energy through a vigorous walk, long game of fetch, or jog will help lessen pet anxiety.

Give Your Dog a Calming Massage

Modern Dog Magazine has an awesome article on how to properly massage your dog for a variety of circumstances including daily “mane-tenance,” calming a stressful dog, warming up for a doggy workout, and relieving joint stiffness or soreness.

To administer a calming massage to your dog, lay the palm of your hand flat on the base of your dog’s head. Use a long sweeping stroke down their spine and along the length of their tail. If they respond positively to the massage, add a little pressure (but not too much). Make sure that you never press down in the middle of the dog’s spine. To end your massage place one hand at the base of the skull and one hand above their pelvis. These areas correspond to calming reflexes and will help your dog calm down and reduce pet anxiety.

In case you need a step by step tutorial, check out this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Lv0oJrGyQ

And while you’re at it, give them a hug.

You may have seen other compression-based products on the market created to reduce pet anxiety. The philosophy behind these products is that it allows your dog to feel continuous pressure, which in turn relaxes their nerves. Holding your dog close to your body and giving them a prolonged “hug” will not only calm them down, it’s proven to calm you down as well.

Create a calming playlist.

The science behind stress-relieving playlists comes down to psychoacoustics, the branch of psychology concerned with the perception of sound and its physiological effects. Psychoacoustics tell us that the sounds that we hear influence the way that we feel, therefore calming music can help us feel calm. It’s the same for your pets.

Here’s a great 6-Hour calming playlist to try with your dogs. When you combine a calming playlist with one or more of the other modalities in this post, your results should be even better.

Lastly, go herbal.

There are many essential oils and herbs that are proven to reduce anxiety and stress. Lavender is probably the most popular, but anxious pets can also benefit from chamomile, lemon balm, and valeria. For the most part, essential oils can be applied directly to the skin, but just the scent of the aromas can also have the same calming effects on dogs. Try using an essential oil diffuser or scented candle to see how it effects pet anxiety.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysy6XLnHzNE