Dachshund puppies make a good pet, family companion and demonstrate efficacy in hunting roles. However, just like in humans, many reasons may cause anxiety and stress in Dachshund puppy. Such conditions require utmost care to ensure that your dog does not succumb to fear. Additionally, higher levels of stress may cause behavioral issues and interrupt your puppy’s everyday peace.
Hence, as a dog owner with a pleasant dachshund puppy aura, you would never wish to have a depressed dog. Dachshund puppies exhibit some visible signs which reveal their stressful condition. As a dog owner, you should identify such signs and derive appropriate mechanisms that eradicate them. This article has garnered the causes, signs, and best approaches to combat stress and anxiety in dachshund puppies.
Causes of Stress and Anxiety in Dachshund Puppy
It’s a common scenario for your dog to be stressed. Familiarizing yourself with the common causes of stress in Dachshund puppies can play a more significant role in mitigating the situation. Some of the major factors include:
Separation
Dachshund puppies are pack dogs that do not enjoy a lonely environment. They want company from people and other dogs as their minds are ‘programmed’ to operate as a team. It would be best if you did not leave your dachshund puppy for hours as it may cause mild to severe anxiety.
Fear
There are many causes of fear that may subject your dachshund puppy to stress such as, sudden loud noises, abrupt change of the environment, and strange object movements. Such conditions may cause your dog to be anxious. Introducing the puppies to new people may cause anxiety, especially before they get comfortable with them. It’s recommended that you give them time to warm up by giving them adequate time and space to familiarize themselves.
Change of Routine
A sudden change in your routine duties such as feeding and glooming may subject your puppy to stress. This may lead to confusion, which can disrupt the puppy’s usual way of living and doing things.
Illness
Your puppy is likely to be stressed when affected by illnesses such as diarrhea and vomiting. According to some veterinary claims, these conditions may affect the nervous system and cause behavioral changes.
Signs Your Dachshund Puppy Is Stressed Out
Dachshunds can become bored and destructive if you don’t give them the attention, exercise, and entertainment they crave. They are a very vocal breed that will communicate when something is wrong. Here are some of the signs that will notify you when your dachshund puppy is stressed:
Aggression
They may develop aggressive attitudes towards people or dogs. You may notice barking, growling, snarling, or even biting when one tries to approach them. When they feel threatened, they become overprotective of their food, toys, and beddings in an attempt to guard themselves.
Destructive Behavior
An anxious dachshund has destructive habits such as chewing furniture and other objects at home. They may have such behaviors even in your presence.
Isolation
When dachshunds are stressed and anxious, they may isolate themselves as they feel less protected. They lay on corridors, corners, and mysterious places, and in case you approach them, they can ignore you.
Change in Eyes and Ears
Stress may cause your puppy to dilate pupils and blink rapidly. Sometimes they may open their eyes wide while ears may be alert or pinned back against the head.
8 Best Methods of Calming Your Anxious Dachshund Puppy
Having understood the significant causes and signs of stress and anxiety, let’s look at some proven ways to manage and eradicate anxiety in your dachshund puppies.
Regular Exercises
Exercising your dachshund puppy may help relieve stress and anxiety, especially as a result of separation. Simple exercises such as walking, playing, visiting parks, swimming, among other types of physical activities, may attenuate any levels of stress on your puppy.
Additionally, exercises are not only good for relieving stress and anxiety, but they also boost your dachshund puppy’s health. This is because it helps in monitoring the puppy’s weight, increases joint mobility, and enhances seamless digestion. They also provide mental stimulation and escalate the bond.
If you have limited time to take your puppy out for exercises, specific dog toys may aid in combating stress. You can also spend some time playing with these toys as your company may catalyze the stress-relieving process.
There are also other fun activities such as tug of war, stair races, and training games. They aid in attenuating stress, enhancing your dog’s socialization skills, and can mitigate aggressive attitudes.
Massage
It has also been applied to humans who are periodically affected by stress and anxiety. When your Dachshund puppy is anxious, there is a lot of tension in the muscles. Massage therapy can help as it eases the tension and comforts the dog from all its worries.
Nonetheless, before you begin the massage, ensure that the dog is calm and submissive for the activity. After the dog is calm and relaxed, start by massaging on the neck in circular motions. Keep the pressure gentle. The shoulder is the hardest part for dogs to reach. So, take adequate time and ensure that they enjoy it.
Cover the chest and legs, and if they allow you, massage even the paws, though with a lot of caution. Continue with the massage until your Dachshund puppy is calm and stress-free.
Massage can also suit an injured dog. Massage can reduce pain and reduce swelling near the scars. Moreover, massage aids in boosting body functions such as blood circulation, reinforcing the immune system, stimulates digestion, and monitors breathing.
After the massage, you’ll notice behavioral changes in your dachshund puppy as it feels revitalized and refreshed, just as in humans.
Calming Bed and Blankets
Some behavioral dog experts have stated that you can comfort your dachshund puppy using calming beds and blankets. Calming beds and blankets may help attenuate anxiety triggered by traveling, separation, or noise.
Puppies feel secure when lying on a calming bed. A calming bed is essential in eradicating any worries that may cause stress. They have features such as padding, bolstered edges, and self-heating, ensuring that your puppy is in the most relaxed state.
Calming beds may be imperative for dogs with behaviors such as hiding, whining, shivering, and excessive panting. Their cozy modifications also boost comfortability and calm the overloaded senses. They also mitigate muscle and joint pain and elevate comfort during sleep.
You can also have a calming blanket as its weighted nature aids in soothing the body and mind. It offers deep pressure touch that delivers consistent pressure on the body, which calms the nervous system.
There are different brands and models that you can choose depending on your preference. Additionally, depending on the size of your dachshund puppy, numerous sizes, shapes, and colors can suit your dog’s calming interests.
You can check out Calming Cuddle Bed from Calming Dog. There is also the Calming Cuddle Blanket Plus+ which has garnered numerous reviews from contented dog owners. Calming Dog products have premium materials with a luxurious design. They are free from harmful chemicals and have received massive applauding from numerous dog owners.
Treats With Calming Chews
You can calm your dachshund puppy with chews that have botanical components such as melatonin, valerian root, hemp, among others. Some dog experts have stated that you can give your dachshund puppy calming chews before a long journey, fireworks, and any other situation that may result in anxiety.
There are types of calming chews that need to be given daily. These chews will help build up its content in the body for effective performance during stressful conditions. You can feed them by incorporating them in their food or intake as pills.
You should consult your veterinarian before using any new supplement. Veterinarians are professionals and will direct you based on your dog’s optimum needs. Calming Dog has produced Calming Zen Chews, which are highly effective in attenuating stress. They are tasty and palatable, which ensures that your puppy has ease while consuming them.
Calming Dog has chews with calming agents such as Chamomile and L-Theanine, which are pet-safe and elevate your puppy’s well-being. They also deliver impeccable results with no side effects. In case the anxiety becomes persistent, you can consult a veterinarian or behaviorist for further guidance.
Use of Calming Sprays
Most dachshund puppy owners do not prefer the use of oral prescribed medications to relieve stress. You can use pheromone calming sprays to eradicate anxiety in your puppy.
Q: What are pheromones?
A: They are chemical communication mechanisms among members of a species. They are perceived via the vomeronasal organ situated between the nose and mouth.
There are specific calming or appeasing pheromones that aid in relieving stressed puppies. Calming sprays tend to mimic natural dog pheromones. When your puppy rubs on a surface, it marks the area and reminds them that the place is secure.
Some calming sprays have been made in such a way that they mimic the pheromones released by nursing dogs to their puppies. These sprays may comfort a stressed dachshund puppy and enhance the feeling of security.
Experts from Calming Dog recommend that you spray some of your dachshund utilities, such as the bed and blankets. Additionally, having a sprayed dog collar will hasten the eradication of stress on your puppy. Calming Dog sprays come in various scents and have been formulated with natural components.
You can use calming sprays when you predict situations that may subject your puppy to stress. Such conditions include separation, large noises, or sudden movement.
Consistent Training
It mainly helps in combating anxiety, especially die to separation. Dachshund puppies may exhibit certain communicative traits when you are about to leave them. Consistent training may be effective in attenuating such stress. You may train them to understand some communicative signals that explain when you are leaving or returning.
This will help your puppy to remain calm and happy even when you are not around. Additionally, consistent rewarding your puppy after positive behavior is a vital in making your puppy feel loved.
You can also engage a professional dog trainer who will help you design the best approach for your dachshund puppy. Some puppies may be tough to train. A trainer may incorporate different techniques such as counterconditioning. This involves altering a stressed dog’s response by eradicating the aggressiveness and replacing it with desirable behavior.
Desensitization may also play a crucial role in controlling stress and anxiety. It involves frequent exposure to the source of tension in small doses. These approaches are effective and can build resilience when fighting stress and anxiety in your dachshund puppies.
Avoiding Stressful Conditions
Dachshund puppies may be exposed to certain conditions that may interrupt their peace. These dogs may be overwhelmed by loud noises such as music. You should maintain a music volume that the puppies are comfortable with and will help them keep cool.
You can also mitigate stressful conditions by evading busy highways and environments with fast-moving objects. This is because of the loud noises from automobiles and big moving objects that may inflict fear in your puppy.
If your house is near the road, you may consider having your puppy’s room a bit far from the loud noises. Attending parties or gatherings with your puppy where there are many people may trigger stress in your puppy. This is due to the sudden encounter with new faces. You may consider leaving the puppy at home with a familiar member of your family.
You may also elevate your dachshund puppy’s socialization skills by introducing them to one or two friends after a while. It will ensure that there is a lower risk of anxiety attacks when they approach new faces.
Consult Your Veterinarian
Some levels of anxiety that may not be altered by training, supplements, sprays, and calming beds. Thus, it may require intervention from a veterinarian or behaviorist. Some veterinarians may recommend that you utilize all the stated methods to calm your dachshund puppy.
In other scenarios, they may assess the extent to which your dachshund puppy has been affected by anxiety and derive the appropriate mechanism.
A veterinarian ventures deep into the puppy’s history in an attempt to unleash the root cause of the anxiety complications. They also identify the pre and post happenings in an anxious puppy. Having records of your puppy’s behavior at home may provide an upper hand in analyzing the situation with your veterinarian.
After identifying the possible triggers, they develop mechanisms of cubing further stress in the future. The veterinarian can also conduct a complete examination on your dachshund puppy, which is essential in identifying areas of pain and illness. This will help mediate any possible stress-causing situation that cannot be alleviated using personal means.
Regular veterinary checkups would play a precautious measure even when your dachshund puppy is free from stress. When stress and anxiety are discovered early, more manageable and fast mechanisms can be deployed. Veterinarians are professionals who can identify problematic issues that are not visible to dog owners.
Additional Tips
Good feeding is essential as it nourishes the body to keep it in a healthy state. Nutrition has been proven to highly affect canine behavior. This is because diet composition affects precursors in the brain which may result in behavioral changes.
Proper and appropriate vaccination is imperative in eradicating possible stress in the future. This is because potential diseases may hit your puppy and erupt stress and anxiety. Vaccination is not only effective for combating stress and anxiety but also aids in uplifting your puppy’s health.
Glooming. Always ensure that your Dachshund puppy is well-groomed. It also applies to humans as dirty environments subject the body to stress. It would be best to take further measures to clean up its bed, blankets and other accessories.
Final Words
Dachshund puppies offer unprecedented companions due to their friendly nature. Hence, they deserve personal care to ensure that they are at peace. Just like humans, dachshund puppies may encounter numerous scenarios that may cause stress. Some major concerns include loud noises, abrupt change of the environment, approaches by new faces, separation, fear, illness, etc.
Such conditions may induce stress and anxiety, and higher levels may lead to behavioral changes such as aggression and isolation. Signs such as uncontrolled barking, chewing, loss of appetite and loneliness may exhibit stress and anxiety in dachshund puppies.
There are numerous mechanisms for combating stress in puppies. You may practice dog massage, training, and regular exercises. Additionally, you may purchase calming beds and blankets, calming sprays, and calming chews from legitimate companies such as Calming Dog. They produce their products using botanical components, and they have received massive appreciation from numerous dog owners.
Some dachshund puppies exhibit extreme levels of anxiety and stress, which may require intervention by a trainer or veterinarian. They help by analyzing the situation and unleashing the background of the problem.
Nonetheless, some basic practices such as proper feeding, glooming, and vaccination are also imperative in curbing the emergence of stress and anxiety. You can also go a mile further by evading areas with loud noises or large moving objects. This is because they may inflict fear and cause sudden development of stress and anxiety.
As a dog owner, you should also research and seek knowledge from professionals such as veterinarians to ensure that your Dachshund puppy is in a healthy and stress-free state.
