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Anxious dogs, like anxious people, need help managing and reducing distress

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Re: Anxious dogs, like anxious people, need help managing and reducing distress

#41

Post by largelanguage »

f6v wrote: post #9
goda90 wrote: post #3

My older dog was a stray as a puppy and we give her fluoxetine(commonly called Prozac) to help with anxiety. Even after years of training we have issues with trying to walk her during daylight because she crumbles in fear. Our other dog being present gives her some confidence but they both also react more to other dogs when they think they have to protect the other, so it's a daily struggle.

Vets give Prozac to dogs?

You'd be surprised. There was an old story where a pet chimp went berserk mauled its owner and they found xanax in its system.

Re: Anxious dogs, like anxious people, need help managing and reducing distress

#42

Post by rascul »

doubled112 wrote: post #13
tartuffe78 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they not? Dog licenses require rabies shots, and vets require checkups for shots at least around here.

Registration and shots are mandatory everywhere I’ve lived too. Sounds mandated to me. I’ve always assumed it has nothing to do with me or my dog, but is to protect others from my dog.

Laws about registration and shots vary a lot in the US from one state or municipality to the next.

Re: Anxious dogs, like anxious people, need help managing and reducing distress

#44

Post by criddell »

BigCryo wrote: post #8
osobo wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some manner of obligation to care for your pet (any pet) should exist. This has nothing to do with religion and is all about honoring the commitment you entered when you decided to take care of an animal.

Okay, I see it okay yeah we always have room for one more law. There's always more room

Osobo said nothing about laws.

Re: Anxious dogs, like anxious people, need help managing and reducing distress

#45

Post by SamoyedFurFluff »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #34
mikepurvis wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a parent who has had to do a bunch of this work, I think a big missing piece in much of the dialogue around it is understanding how exactly the “gentle” style of engagement isn’t just indulging, tolerating, excusing, and even rewarding bad behaviour. The official word is that adopting a gentle and emotionally aware stance has to be paired with a strong sense of boundaries, but it’s often very unclear how to differ…

The idea that asking someone how they are feeling is an "emotional deep dive" is a portion of the problem. Asking a family member how they are feeling should not be considered an in-depth activity.

I think it is an in-depth activity, actually. I can’t recall a single time in my childhood where my being defiant, tardy, intentionally boundary pushing, fighting people or otherwise annoyingly rebellious has been responded to with asking what are my feelings that are making me want to do that behavior. I’m just told to quit it or $punishment.

Re: Anxious dogs, like anxious people, need help managing and reducing distress

#46

Post by SpaghettiCthulu »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #34
mikepurvis wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a parent who has had to do a bunch of this work, I think a big missing piece in much of the dialogue around it is understanding how exactly the “gentle” style of engagement isn’t just indulging, tolerating, excusing, and even rewarding bad behaviour. The official word is that adopting a gentle and emotionally aware stance has to be paired with a strong sense of boundaries, but it’s often very unclear how to differ…

The idea that asking someone how they are feeling is an "emotional deep dive" is a portion of the problem. Asking a family member how they are feeling should not be considered an in-depth activity.

> The idea that asking someone how they are feeling is an "emotional deep dive" is a portion of the problem.

I would argue that the "emotional deep dive" example is not merely asking how someone is feeling.

> it sounds like you’re processing some big feelings right now, let’s talk about what’s going on for you

Speaking from experience when I was a kid, being spoken to in this manner always felt belittling.

Re: Anxious dogs, like anxious people, need help managing and reducing distress

#47

Post by screye »

bradleyjg wrote: post #20

Is there a direct connection between falling birth rates and treating animals as if they were beloved children? It seems like these animals evolutionary strategy is akin to that of the cuckoo bird.

Don't know why you're downvoted. Most Americans seems to put in more effort into their dogs, than people used to with their children 100 years ago.

Take care of your kid like you'd a long-lived dog, and that's enough attention for long enough. By the end of it, the kid has grown into an adult.

The problem is that parents are expected to parent too much. American car centric infrastructure affects this a lot. But, latch key kids turned out just fine, and there is nothing wrong with that model.

Pets may not be actively pursuing a parasitic relationship with humans, but it does appear to be manifesting in that form for certain lonely people.

Re: Anxious dogs, like anxious people, need help managing and reducing distress

#48

Post by asdfman123 »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #34
mikepurvis wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a parent who has had to do a bunch of this work, I think a big missing piece in much of the dialogue around it is understanding how exactly the “gentle” style of engagement isn’t just indulging, tolerating, excusing, and even rewarding bad behaviour. The official word is that adopting a gentle and emotionally aware stance has to be paired with a strong sense of boundaries, but it’s often very unclear how to differ…

The idea that asking someone how they are feeling is an "emotional deep dive" is a portion of the problem. Asking a family member how they are feeling should not be considered an in-depth activity.

It is if you were never really asked how you were feeling growing up.

I didn’t realize I could sit and process my feelings until I was in college.

And honestly, my upbringing was pretty stable as far as things go—my parents were weird, but whose weren’t.

Re: Anxious dogs, like anxious people, need help managing and reducing distress

#49

Post by the_third_wave »

bloopernova wrote: post #6

I wonder if this differs from wolves? I sometimes think about just how much we have evolved dogs to mirror us in so many different ways. In other words: by selecting for responsiveness to human emotions, to what degree have we made dogs' brains more like our own? Now I'm going to cuddle my pup Henry.

> Now I'm going to cuddle my pup Henry.

If you're American there is a big chance that you're using the word pup for a dog of any age. This in itself is a tell-tale sign of the way many people - especially those who are wont to write or speak about their dogs in public places - think about them, as permanent juveniles who will never "grow up".

Re: Anxious dogs, like anxious people, need help managing and reducing distress

#50

Post by paganel »

inconceivable wrote: post #11
paganel wrote: post #4

Treating dogs like humans is very detrimental to the dogs, more than detrimental, actively harmful. I'm ok when seeing adults doing that to their kids (i.e. treating said kids as grown-ups), after all they're their kids and I don't have children of my own, but when I see the same sort of behaviour being transplanted to handling dogs (or pets, more generally), then I get really angry. Again, dogs, and animals, are not…

over the years i've trained some anxiety out of my rescue dog by saying "okay i'll be back" every time i leave home without him. even just to take out the trash or get the mail. he now knows that it means to not get up and start pacing anxiously to go with me or to try to follow me out the door. usually he just goes in his easychair (it's turned into his doggie daybed, basically) or lays down in the sunlight. my gues…

A short "okay i'll be back" is more than ok, I'm doing it with my dog also from time to time, I was thinking mostly of the people that cuddle their dog before they leave and just as they return home, that isn't healthy for the dog, especially if he's still a puppy.
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