Canine Anxiety – Using Natural Means to Calm and Relax Your Dog

Do you have a dog that becomes nervous or scared for no reason, or has constant anxiety? I would bet you’ve done some research on dog behaviour and canine aggression and fear. But oftentimes the issue is not as complex or troubling as one might think.

Canine anxiety isn’t necessarily caused by conditioned behaviours or conditioned emotional reactions, or poor training. Sometimes your dog’s condition can be significantly improved via natural means, through some simple changes in diet.

It’s very common that canines also have trouble sleeping because of their anxious condition, just like humans. Down below you can find a few suggestions that may help your dog’s anxiety and stress be relieved:

A) Give your dog food containing wheat. There is evidence that byproducts of wheat digestion have affects on the dog’s brain that make him feel calmer.

B) An additional way to calm your dog is to give him warmed milk with a touch of honey added. Throw in a doggie biscuit and it becomes an enjoyable meal for your pooch while also calming him and relieving anxiety.

C) Have you heard of the herbal extra called “KAVA” or “kava kava”? Humans use it as a supplement to relieve stress and induce a relaxed mental and physical state, but did you know that dogs can consume it too? Well, they can! You can add a few drops of kava extract to your dog’s water. You can buy kava as either a liquid, or as capsules, or as a solid form that you can add into your dog’s food. But follow the recommended dosages.

D) Another way to naturally relieve anxiety and so on is to feed your dog small amounts of food at more frequent intervals throughout the day, instead of eating just one or to big meals. Grazing little by little throughout the day has a calming effect, as well as some other health symptoms. Some people advocate filling your dog’s bowl just once per day and letting him come and go, eating when he pleases. This can naturally lead your dog to have grazing habits rather than gourging habits.

E) Up above I mentioned the herbal supplement kava, and there is another similar substance. “Bach’s Rescue Remedy” is a supplement that you can purchase at most health food shops. Check the label to see if their are recommended dosages for dogs. The best way to give BRR to your dogs is in the liquid form that doesn’t have alcohol in it, and simply add a small amount to your dog’s water.

Canine Heart Disease – Could Your Dog’s Heart Murmur Indicate A Serious Condition?

In the event that your veterinarian diagnoses your dog with a heart murmur issue, this could be an indication of an underlying canine heart disease.

Standards of the Veterinary community suggest that a heart murmur is the result of abnormal blood flow through the dog’s heart. Heart murmurs are not always bad, some are normal and indicate no problem, but others, like those noticed in older dogs, can be an signal that an underlying canine heart disease is present. The most commonly occurring canine heart diseases are:

A) Congenital birth defects appearing in an immature puppy

B) Heart valve leaks (degenerative valve disease), affecting older and middle age dogs, for the most part.

C) Deterioration of heart muscle tissue, which is normally found in still developing dogs, or in middle age canines from large breeds.

Detecting The Disease

Canine heart disease might not be discovered until quite late – that is to say, once if has reached the degree when it manifests itself in heart failures, collapse, or in worst case scenarios – immediate death. You can have your dog checked early on for heart murmurs by your veterinarian, and it is also your duty as a pet owner to watch out for some signs like trouble breathing, cough, reluctance to exercise, and abdomincal swelling which is caused by the retentin of fluids.

Other information that can aid in checking for the presence of canine heart disease are: the canine’s breed, age, blood pressure readings, EKG readings, and chest x-ray results. But in order to get a 100% definite diagnosis, an ultrasound of the dog’s heart will be necessary.

Treating Dog Heart Disease

Nursing your pooch back to full health is dependent upon the progression of the disease and the severity of its effects on other parts of the body. In the case of a young puppy with a birth defect, it may be possible to have it corrected through a surgical procedure.

Heart disease that arises at a later point in the dog’s life necessitates some big changes in lifestyle and discliplined habits for the dog. These changes likely include losing weight and maintaining a health weight, additional exercise or reduced activity depends on your dog’s condition and overall health, special dietary changes, and a medicinal program for the relief of stress, to limit the effect of stress on the dog’s heart.

The future outlook for dogs with canine heart disease are different from dog to dog. Certain dogs could undergo successful longterm care and maintenance. Other dogs will face a reduced lifespan of anywhere from several weeks to several years. The main thing to understand is that the earlier you discover the dog’s disease, the easier it will be to treat it and the higher the chances will be that he can live a long, healthy and vibrant life.