Many owners assume that it is just their dogs physical well being that they need to focus on. All to often their dogs mental well being is overlooked. Physical health isn’t the only thing you should bare in mind when having a dog, their mental health is just as important. Below we will have a look at common problems that affect your dogs mental health.
Depression- Like humans, some dogs can occasionally suffer from bouts of depression. When dogs are depressed, they often seem sad, lethargic, and quite. Some dogs will stop eating or eat less than usual. Some will also loose interest in play. Sometimes this can lead to weight loss. There can be several factors causing the depression, reasons include, grief (the loss of a human or another animal), An illness, a fear or phobia or environmental changes.
Anxiety – a wide variety of anxieties, fears and phobias can be seen in dogs, from fear of humans, dogs, removal of resources, traffic, loud noises, separation anxiety the list goes on! Fear may at times lead to aggressive behaviour being exhibited.
Illness- Pain can cause alterations in the dogs behaviour and can ultimately affect the dogs physical and mental well being.
obsessive behaviour-a repetitious, relatively unchanging sequence of activities or movements that has no obvious purpose or function. more commonly seen in working dogs but can affect any breed. Behaviours such as shadow chasing, tail chasing, spinning. Sometimes obsessive behaviours develop as a coping mechanism or from boredom.
With all factors the main thing is spotting the changes and addressing them. If caught early enough you may be able to address the problem yourself or contact a local canine behaviourist for help and advice.
see- http://www.maisiespetboutique.co.uk/dog-training-redditch/
