If you’ve noticed that your dog seems to have less zest for life than usual, you might be wondering if they’re depressed. Like humans, our pets can experience negative emotions. While we cannot assume our dogs experience depression the same as that diagnosed in humans, our dogs can experience many of the same emotions we do[1], such as sadness, fear, anxiety, and sometimes even grief. You want your dog to be happy and healthy, so paying attention to their mental health is important.
Let’s look at what can cause negative emotions in dogs, signs your dog might be showing, and how you can help your dog feel better.
What Causes Anxiety and Fear in Dogs?
Anxiety and fear are common emotions felt among dogs as well as by people, cats, and horses. In the short term, anxiety and fear are important emotions that tell the dog when something dangerous is about to happen. Anxiety and fear act like an early warning system and allows the dog to take action to either run away from the situation, fight their foe, or freeze and hope that the danger does not recognize them. But anxiety and fear can become maladaptive or unhealthy when the emotions are too intense for the situation, experienced frequently, or last for a long period of time. Long-term or repeated exposure to situations that cause anxiety and fear can cause changes in the brain due to chronic and intense exposure to stress hormones, such as cortisol or adrenaline. This might happen because of a traumatic life change or event, such as:
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Moving
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Being rehomed
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Loss of a family member (human or another pet)
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Addition of a new family member (like a new baby)
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Routine change (such as an owner working outside of the home more often than before)
Genetics can also play a factor in how a dog responds to changes in its environment or new experiences. Where one dog may develop severe anxiety and fear after moving to a new home, another dog may be ok with the move. Learning how to read your dog’s emotions is critical to their mental health and sense of well-being.
Additionally, a dog can also become depressed from a build-up of stress over time, known as “trigger stacking.” For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many dogs are experiencing several new and small stressors in their day-to-day — not being able to get outside as much as they used to or being taken on multiple walks where they pass by the neighbor’s dog that rushes up to the fence and bark and growls as you walk by. Other changes include missing out on socialization with others, being in constant contact with the same family members, and losing their regular rest and relaxation time alone. Finally, let’s not forget all those packages we have been receiving. The constant “visits” by strangers leaving off packages can be upsetting for many dogs. While these might be manageable on their own or in the short term, stacking many on top of each other for long periods can lead to problematic anxiety or unhealthy fear responses.
Fear and anxiety can also lead to dog depression due to increased stress hormones in their system. If a dog has a scary experience, it can take time for cortisol levels or adrenaline to return to normal. If something scary happens again before their brain has a chance to recover, these levels spike again. It can become a cycle of stress, which is a lot for a dog to deal with, which ends up with our canine friend experiencing unhealthy levels of fear or generalized anxiety.
There are illnesses and medical conditions that share the same symptoms of generalized anxiety and unhealthy fears, which is why it’s crucial to make an appointment with your veterinarian first. Dogs are very good at hiding pain or discomfort, which makes paying attention to their mental health even more important. Your veterinarian will either rule out a physical cause of your dog’s behavior or diagnose and prescribe treatment for anything they discover.
SOURCE: ZOE PETCARE