How to ease your dog’s anxiety during COVID-19

During COVID-19 you are not the only one feeling the stress of confinement, your dog may be also feeling it; with the following three methods you can help your dog ease the symptoms of the quarantine while enjoying quality time bonding with your pet.

Exercise

Exercise relieves your dog’s stress levels. It helps him to forget about the problems he is experiencing during the day. Do not believe that just because your dog is at home quietly that he is not experiencing stress. Don’t forget that dogs were not meant to be sedentary creatures. In the wild they hunted and lived in family packs. That was the social structure they were bred into. In today’s world they may not be allowed to practice what in the past was normally part of their daily lives. This can be stressful for some dogs, and that stress can lead to problem behavior.

Dogs can often become bored and the result is often that he will then get into mischief.  Exercise offers your dog a bit of mind stimulation that he may not get when he is by himself at home. Along his dog walks he will encounter many mind-engaging situations, such as noticing a squirrel meeting a new dog. A dog that receives the right amount of exercise will be tired and relaxed and as such will not be thinking so much about getting into mischief elsewhere.

Relaxing Bath

Some groomers also have spas geared for pets attached to them (although you can take your pet to a separate pet spa as well).  The spas do for your pets exactly what a spa for people would do—they cater to making your pet more relaxed and less stressed with massage therapies, heated towels, special shampoos and colognes, ear and teeth cleaning, and general pampering. You may give your dog a relaxing bath at home with our mild Oatmeal and Aloe Vera Shampoo or if your dog has white coat, try our White Hair Shampoo with Lemon Aroma.

Massage Therapy

Massage can play an extremely important role in the form of physiotherapy for dogs.  It helps release muscle stress and anxiety (helps relax the dog).  Most vets will advise the pet owner to have a massage at a spa themselves so that they can understand and appreciate the effects massage therapy can have on their dog.  The massage involves gentle kneading all the muscle groups in the body.  This helps release muscle tension, helps improve blood flow and circulation throughout the area and provides a calming and relaxing state of mind for the dog. 

Vets trained in this area of physiotherapy often do the massage therapy in their office, but they also try to help teach the pet owner to perform massage therapy at home as well.  Pet owners who practice dog massage at home are often better bonded to their pet.