Preventing the ultimate puppy mistake: Dr. Evan Antin reveals how to bulletproof your dog against anxiety
Failure to be able to handle certain situations can result in a sense of anxiety for your dog which can lead to a number of undesirable habits.
Bringing a new dog into your life can bring loads of joy and companionship. However, it is very important to train your new dog so that not only the co-habitation goes smoothly but also that your dog feels safe and secure thus preventing a number of possible undesirable habits and actions.
Typically, a dog’s “bad behavior” doesn’t stem from spite but out of boredom, an unmet need, or fear and anxiety. While the first two can be fairly easily fixed, the last two are something that needs to be dealt with early or it could become a lifelong problem.
Bulletproofing your dog against anxiety
Dr Evan Antin, a veterinarian in Conejo Valley, California, posted a ‘puppy PSA’ video on TikTok responding to the question: “I’m a new puppy owner. What do I need to know?” He answers with “three of the most important things a lot of people don’t think about when they’ve acquired a new puppy.”
Desensitization
This is something that “is so important for their whole lives,” Antin says. In order to make your puppy feel comfortable with people touching and petting them, he advises to play with all of their body parts, “their fingers, their paws, their pads, their ears, in their ears, in their mouth, all of it, constantly… Their tummies, their legs, like literally get them so used to you feeling and touching all these things.”
The reason for this, is so that someday in the future when you have to brush their teeth, which he highly recommends, or take them to the vet’s office, “it makes everyone’s lives a lot easier. Yours, your dog’s, and your vet’s.”
Socializing
You can begin socializing your puppy once they’ve been vaccinated, and Dr. Antin says that you should do it “a lot.” He recommends that you expose your puppy to other dogs and people of all kinds as well as taking them to busy areas.
“The more socialized they are the more comfortable they are in these situations. The less likely they’re going to be stressed, the less likely they’re gonna get into fights or be sketchy or anything like that,” the vet says. “So just keep them busy and make a lot of friends with your new dog.”
Give them alone time
“It’s really important that puppies have some alone time,” says Antin. The reason for this is so that they don’t develop separation anxiety, something that he sees in a lot of dogs. This can be achieved by putting the puppy in their crate with a toy, “they can figure it out,” he says.
If the owner is around all the time and then has to leave the dog will “freak out,” he points out. This can cause the dog to bark a lot, or do things that may upset the owner like biting the wall or chewing the couch, which “can get out of hand.”
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