Pet Anxiety Awareness | Advice for owners with anxious pets

Kerry & Willow

Hi my name is Kerry and my pup is called Willow she is a 11 month old deerhoud/greyhound cross bedlingtonwhippet (Lurcher). We got her back in May last year from Ramsgate in Kent and she was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Willow is the first dog I have owned independantly, having dogs growing up I always wanted my own one and when it came to choosing a breed a sigthound seemed to be the breed for us.

What does your pet mean to you?

She means so much to me being my first dog, helping me focus my attentions on something other then my own anxieties as I now have Willow to look after. My own worries are now virtually non existant because of Willow so now it is my turn to help her with hers.

How does your pet show they are anxious?

Willow’s main fear is traffic she even knows now when we are going to take her out as we put on our walking boots which is now a trigger for her and she will usually go and hide in her crate. We usually have to put her in the car and walk her in places were there is no traffic. Around traffic her tails goes right in and she will pull on the lead to try and get away from the area, she will not take any treats or toys around traffic and if you are stationary she will shake uncontrollably which is heartbreaking. Even when we walk in places where there is no traffic, now if she hears it in the distance she will turn and go in the opposite direction. She is also very scared of the hoover, blender and hairdryer if I wash my hair and take my towel off my head she automatically thinks im going to blow dry my hair and she will go and cower by the back door. ☹

When did you first spot signs of the anxieties in your pet?

We noticed these anxieties about 3 months after we got her. As a pup I was always walking her round the block to get her used to traffic and there was never any issues, then one day she just started shaking and really pulling on the lead everytime we were near cars. We can not pinpoint any trigger for this behaviour and any incident that occured to make her so scared.

How do these anxieties make you as a pet owner feel?

It is so heartbreaking to see your dog so scared of something that you know is not going to cause any harm to them intentionally. I have been racking my brain as to what has caused her to be so scared and the only thing I can think of is that it may just be the way we have handled the situation.

What would it mean to you to help your pet cope with these issues?

There is nothing worse then thinking you have failed your dog in some kind of way, as all we want is for her to have a happy, fun and fulfilled life. We love to travel and Willow is a part of our family and we want her to be able to join in on our adventures with no fear, nothing would make us happier. When she is in the woods, on a mountain or at the beach she is in her element I just want her to feel like that in all aspects of her life.

Why is it important to highlight these issues to other pet owners?

Having a behaviourist come and help us with Willows specific problem would just mean the world. We need someone to point us in the right direction and let us know where we are going wrong as it is probably us that needs the training more then Willow does. If we can help her manage her problems and have a life virtually free from fear it is worth a shot. The british have generally long referred to themselves as ‘animal lovers’. I believe that to honour that promise we must all do what we can to remove our pets from anxieties and provide the very best standards of welfare for them (not necessarily for ourselves).