Diary of Help for An Anxious Dog

All eyes fix on me as I picture myself in front of a room full of people “Hi, I’m so and so,” I say, “and I’ve got an anxious dog.” 

My breath holds. A pause as I stare out through the crowd.

Then one person nods and then another until everyone gives that solemn head tilt, the tight smiled purse of the lips, the brow furrow of understanding. Maybe someone even slow claps. And the dogs begin to whine next to their owners, because duh, of course we had to bring them. They’re anxious and we can’t leave them alone, yet the stress of that is palpable in the room.

They say that dogs mirror their owner’s emotions.

Sure, when my dog was a few months old I went through a breakup that wasn’t my choice. I’d wander around the neighborhood like a zombie. When my coffee pot decided to explode coffee grounds all over my kitchen and I couldn’t figure out how to read the directions, I collapsed on the kitchen floor as my dog came over to lick my face with gusto. When I had to do errands, she would howl for hours and I’d get notes on my door from the neighbors. When I took her with me to the store, she was in the car for 5 minutes and someone called the cops because she was frantic without me, even though she had food, water, air and was in zero danger. 

When I moved into a home with a bunch of roommates she went through phases. Let’s whine and hyperventilate when my owner leaves the house. Let’s rip all the blinds off the windows. Let’s dig through everyone’s trash. Let’s leap onto the kitchen island and pretend we’re Mufasa. Let’s eat all the dry pancake batter and drink all the water and throw it up all over the house. Let’s escape the front yard until another roommate sees me wander by the window of a nearby Starbucks. Why not? 

As an associate psychotherapist myself, I did everything I could do to move myself through the breakup and yet even when I was ok, my dog still wasn’t.

She was the perfect little angel of peace if I was right there, but if I left and no one else was home, oh boy. And for those of you who might be asking, yes, I paid for a trainer and did the training and yet, still worried without me, still anxious. 

Enter me, in present time, moving into my own little place and getting another job which requires me to find an early dog daycare (drop off at 6am). There are not that many places that offer that early of a drop. I find one, Wags 2 Whiskers, talk to a lovely woman Carolina, and drop her off for a trial. Fifteen minutes later, Dillion, the husband comes out and tells me that she didn’t pass the trial for the daycare. 

My heart sinks and I feel like crying. But she’s so sweet, I think.

He explains to me that they need to be able to leave the dogs if they need to attend to another dog and when he stepped out of the room my dog freaked out without a human which means she’s not a fit at this time.

Taking her leash, I nod feeling like somehow (and I know this is not true) that this means that I’m a bad dog parent, that it’s a reflection of me. But this is exactly why I need the daycare because she can’t be left alone! My heart feels like someone put a heavy stone on it and my mind begins to race. What am I going to do now?

He tells me that they’re starting to offer Braining for dogs, Brain Training for dogs, that specifically struggle with anxiety using NeurOptimal, an FDA certified general wellness product that can assist doggies in feeling more calm, focused, and helps them manage stress, and cope with things better. 

As an associate psychotherapist I have a colleague who gives Neurofeedback sessions for clients that have experienced trauma. Neurofeedback helps with training the nervous system to be more naturally balanced so that we have a lower baseline of activation and a greater capacity to deal with stressors. It can also help the nervous system to remember what it’s like to be relaxed, or like it was before the trauma got recorded in. If we can identify what it feels like to be relaxed our brain may seek out more of that relaxing feeling. Basically, neurofeedback works by providing feedback to the brain so it can heal itself through neuroplasticity. If you’re interested in learning more check out this Harvard University article on Brain training.

What all of us are seeing with our anxious, stressed, or nervous dogs is essentially how trauma works in our nervous system.

For anyone who’s experienced trauma we will find that our nervous systems don’t feel safe even when in this moment we might be safe. Our nervous system is still getting the messages - scary, terrible, run, fight, freeze, collapse, disassociate. 

This is why I’m so glad I found Dillion and Carolina at Wags 2 Whiskers. Since I believe in neurofeedback and have seen positive results, I was like, hell yeah, when can I bring my dog in to help support her? 

So far, my dog has received two sessions of Braining (doggie brain training), but the other night I was able to go out to the trash can outside and instead of her frantically waiting for me at the door and pushing her head through my new blinds, she was lying on the bed where I’d left her, looked at me when I walked in, and slapped her tail. 

This may seem subtle, but for me this was huge.

To be able to find something that can finally support my dog makes me so happy.

I have skills to work with humans with trauma but I didn’t know what to do with my dog or how to help her and it was a helpless feeling.  

Authenticity is important for me and I can feel the passion that Carolina and Dillion bring and how they put a little bit of both of them into their business. 

They are unique in what they’re building because they are fully set up and qualified to assist doggies with the brain training at their dog care facility that includes dog daycare, grooming, and boarding. Also cool, is that doggies usually can train faster than humans because their prefrontal cortex is smaller so less sessions are required for dogs, versus humans. The eventual goal is to have both humans and dogs be able to heal together.

A few other things that make Wags 2 Whiskers different and unique is Earthing Play (where the entire floor is a grounding mat), hydrogen water, Theraclean baths, and Red Light Therapy.

There’s a lot to say about each of these but the most important thing to take away right now this:

“If you have an anxious dog, there’s hope. It’s possible to support your dog with Braining, brain training for your dog.”

Their whole setup is similar to what I believe about healing: We’re all capable of healing, wholeness, and health. We just might need a little support. If trauma has been stored in our nervous system it means that it can be worked out. We, as humans, can support our brains in creating happier lives. And now, we can support our furry loved ones as well. 

- Written by Z