The thicker the arrow, the bigger the impact on the dog’s long-term cortisol, so yes, our stress levels do impact our dog’s health. There is also the consideration of whether your dog is an optimistic or pessimistic dog, for those of you that just eye rolled stay with me here, I have the science to back this up. The study Canine Sense and Sensibility: Tipping Points and Responses Latency Variability as an Optimism Index in a Canine Judgement Bias Assessment (Starling et al, 2014) showed the way a dog perceives the world around them can be affected by whether the dog is an optimistic or pessimistic dog.
So, when an optimistic dog encounters a new experience, like meeting a dog showing a negative behaviour towards them, the dog is more likely to have a positive view, and although may be unsure to start with, recovers quickly.
The pessimistic dog on the other hand will have a negative view and will be more likely to have a reaction or switch off engaging, even when the new experience is not a negative experience, like passing a large dog who does not engage with them.
So, a pessimistic dog could be less resilient with dealing with our stress than an optimistic dog.
If, like me, you are now stressing out that your stressing out is stressing your dog out, don’t panic! Here are few ideas to keep you and your dog happy and reset any negative residues we may passed on to them.
Go on a Sniffari rather than a walk
This is remarkably simple, quick, and effective, read more about sniffaris below.
Try some Animal Centred Freework
Benefits for the dog:
Lowers arousal levels
Licking releases tension in the jaw
Releases good endorphins
Low impact workout
Sensory educational exercise
Reset & relax
Improved rate of recovery if dog becomes aroused or stressed
Sounds good, right? I start and finish all my grooms with some ACE Freework. Click the link below to find out ways to use Ace Freework in your home.
There are also 2 fantastic groups you can join on Facebook, search for:
ACE Connections
ACEing August
Do something you know your dog enjoys
Try to avoid puzzles toys that may frustrate them or activities that will get them over aroused, for example throwing a ball continually.
For my dog it could be:
chasing her slowly around the garden, pretending I’m going to get whatever toy is in her mouth
getting on the floor with her and playing tug of war
letting her play with my hair (yanking it out of my head with her teeth and claws, she loves it)
cuddles on the sofa
giving her something out of the recycling bin
letting her lick the yoghurt pot
giving her a pair of socks from the sock draw
sitting on the bed looking out the window
Keep a check on our own anxious behaviour
Do you shorten the lead, tense your arms/body or hold your breath because you are predicting a negative behaviour from your dog. Your dog will notice these changes, and this will increase the likelihood of creating a reaction in your dog.
Our emotions and our bodies can be positively influenced by our minds, especially through imagery. Practice comforting imagery, it can be reliving a childhood memory or visualising anything that brings you comfort and makes you feel safe. Don’t rely on positive thoughts as we can fall into thinking traps, using imagery is far more effective, and using our senses to ground us to the here and now.
I have joined a couple of free events through Cheshire Wildlife Trust, designed for wellbeing, and I learnt different grounding exercises, how to make bird feeders and to build a living feed feeder, about my local woods, all whilst meeting some lovely people. Have a look to see what’s on offer near you, I would thoroughly recommend it.
Signing off for now but with my spy glass at the ready to investigate another dog related mystery
Wag-Wagatha Christie 🔎🐾
Bright, E. W., “The Relationships in Anxiety”, Edition Dog, (48), pp. 14-18.
Davey, J. wr., 2022. “Optimism Vs Pessimism” Edition Dog, (40), pp. 20-24.
Hale, A. "Prspectives, Emotions & Behaviour' Webinar recorded 26th February 2022
Sundman, A.S. et al., 2019. Long-term stress levels are synchronized in dogs and their owners. Scientific reports. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31171798/#:~:text=Long-term%20stress%20levels%20are%20synchronized%20in%20dogs%20and,among%20humans%20and%20between%20individuals%20of%20other%20species. [Accessed January 30, 2022].
