Is your dog barking, licking feet, or drooling? 🐕🦺 Understanding Dog Emotional Health
According to statistics from the American Pet Products Association, about 69% of American households have pets, and most pet owners pay attention to the physical health of their furry friends, but often ignore the importance of their emotional health.
Dogs are renowned for their keen perception, caring nature, and loyalty. However, they often experience unspoken stress and confusion, and this accumulated stress can affect their health. This stress is often cumulative, and dogs who are easily agitated and stressed are more susceptible to illness. Therefore, regardless of their age, being able to feel relaxed and secure in their daily lives is crucial for maintaining their health.
Understanding Dog FAS Scores and Grades
To alleviate and eliminate anxiety in pets, we need to first understand the level of fear a dog may be facing. Dogs can vary in their fear, anxiety, and stress, so we use the concept of FAS (Fear, Anxiety, Stress) to assess and quantify these varying levels.
The FAS is categorized into three levels: low, medium, and high, depending on the severity of a dog's experience. These levels help us better understand and address a dog's emotional state. By assessing a dog's FAS level, we can provide tailored strategies to help reduce stress and improve their emotional well-being.
The above chart helps owners understand the signs their dogs will exhibit at different FAS levels, as well as recommendations on how to respond/handle them, which can reduce the risk of further physical and mental harm to both humans and dogs.
Understand the reasons behind emotions
There are reasons behind your pet's mood swings. After understanding your pet's FAS level, we need to further investigate the factors causing the mood swings and address them comprehensively.
Health factors
The first step in addressing your pet's emotional issues is to rule out possible health issues. Just like with humans, their moods can be affected by their physical health. Gently touching your pet's body can help you detect any specific areas of their body that trigger aggression, which could indicate pain or injury. Sick pets often exhibit emotional instability, so it's important to see a doctor as soon as possible to identify the underlying cause. Typically, emotional issues improve as their health improves.
Environmental factors
Besides health factors, environmental factors are also a major contributor to emotional issues in pets. Moving, changes in family members, and construction can all contribute to increased stress in pets. Owners should strive to minimize environmental irritants. Establish a positive home environment and routine in your pet's daily living space, and spend time with your pet as they adjust to their new surroundings.
When correcting behavioral or emotional issues in their pets, many owners tend to resort to intimidation or inappropriate punishment. However, this approach not only fails to achieve its goal but can also leave a psychological scar on the pet, potentially fostering fear and anxiety over the long term. It's recommended that owners first restore their pet's psychological well-being, then patiently train with appropriate commands and actions. Appropriate rewards are also crucial!
Pro Plan Calming Care Mood Stabilizing Probiotics
In addition, improving your dog's mood through nutritional supplements is also a good way to manage their health. Purina Pro Plan Calming Care Mood Stabilizing Probiotics has also been shown in recent scientific research to be effective in stabilizing a dog's mood.
Q: How does Pro Plan Calming Care mood-stabilizing probiotics stabilize a dog's mood?
A: Mood-stabilizing probiotics, utilizing a bacterial strain called Bifidobacterium longum (BL999), have been shown to help dogs and cats maintain calm behavior. Diet-related changes in the gut microbiome can influence the brain through the gut-brain axis, which in turn can impact behaviors including anxiety.
In clinical trials, BL999 significantly improved anxiety-related behaviors in dogs, with dogs and cats given BL999 supplements showing improvements in behavior compared to placebo. This included:
- Improve dogs exhibiting anxious behaviors such as excessive vocalization, jumping, and wandering
- Maintains normal heart activity during stressful events.
- Slows down the cortisol response to anxiety-inducing events.
Q: How long does it take for Pro Plan Calming Care Mood Stabilizing Probiotics to be effective?
A: Studies have shown that using one pack of Calming Care daily for six weeks produces results. Calming Care should be used daily, not just as a short-term anti-anxiety solution for occasional stressful events, such as routine and environmental changes, but as part of a behavioral and environmental modification approach.
Q: Is there any scientific research supporting the effectiveness of Pro Plan Calming Care Mood Stabilizing Probiotics?
A: Purina evaluated the effects of BL999 on anxiety-prone behaviors in dogs and presented an abstract at the 2018 American College of Veterinary Behavioral Medicine Symposium. The paper has been submitted for publication. Additionally, researchers at Colorado State University evaluated the effects of BL999 on anxiety-prone behaviors in cats and presented an abstract at the 2021 American Academy of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum.