STRESS IN DOGS: LEARN HOW DOGS SHOW STRESS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
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About this ebook
Nominated for Care and Health Award from the Dog Writer's Association of America
Human medicine has long recognized the health implications of stress on our physical and mental health. Dogs feel stress too. Learn how to identify and resolve more than 30 signs of stress in dogs and help your dog live a longer, happier life. Simple, sensible solutions for both the professional and concerned dog owner. Includes dozens of full color illustrations. Click here to view an excerpt.
What reviewers are saying...
DOG WORLD
“This book was originally published in German in 2003. The English translation is very readable, presenting some extremely valuable information. It starts with a technical explanation of the physiology of stress in dogs… The book then dedicates itself to descriptions of signs of stress... The list of potential stressors is an interesting one that could help a dog owner understand that she might be unwittingly stressing her dog. The final third of the book is devoted to the authors’ anti-stress program… If you’re concerned that your dog might be stressed this book can help you… It’s easy to understand and full of examples. You could be doing your dog a big favor by reading it.” Janine Adams
APDT Chronicle of the Dog
“This is a book that ambitiously purports to explain and discuss both the physiological and psychological aspects of stress. It also contains recommendations for how to prevent stress from causing behavioral and health problems in dogs. The authors are at their best when they do the latter, since many of their common sense observations and suggestions provide helpful guidance for pet owners and novice trainers who may not know how to recognize the symptoms of stress in dogs, or how to help a dog that is experiencing undue stress… Regarding their anti-stress program, the authors apparently share Norwegian trainer Turid Rugaas’ ideas regarding the possible harm that can occur from too much exercise, arousing chase and retrieve games, and the use of head halters… Their discussion of these topics does raise some intriguing questions about how to make sure such common practices actually have a positive rather than a negative effect of the well being of the dogs in our care. For these reasons I would recommend this book to other trainers.” Beverly Hebert
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Written by expert dog trainers Martina Scholz and Clarissa von Reinhardt, Stress in Dogs: Learn How Dogs Show Stress And What You Can Do To Help is a guidebook for professional canine trainers and ordinary pet owners alike about dealing with an overstressed dog. Common symptoms of stress include such harmful behaviors as destroying the house while the owner is away, hyperactivity, over-shedding, or a plethora of medical ills. Straightforward instructions and color photographs walk the reader through basic techniques to help a stressed dog, means to avoid stressors that are specific to male or female dogs, guidelines for how many outings are too many and how much stimulation is too much, and much more. Numerous real-life behavior examples illustrate the points in this practical-minded, problem-solving guide to fostering a better quality of life for both dogs and their owners. James A. Cox
Martina Scholz
Martina Scholz is a pharmacist who has trained dogs for many years. She lives in a small village north of Berlin where she runs her own dog training school and lives with five dogs, four horses and two cats.
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Reviews for STRESS IN DOGS
6 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brilliant book, well explained and easy to understand.
Learnt alot and hope to pass on to many. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nice book a lot information by dog trainers, it was a pleasure to read,
Book preview
STRESS IN DOGS - Martina Scholz
MARTINA SCHOLZ
CLARISSA VON REINHARDT
STRESS
IN DOGS
Stress in Dogs
Martina Scholz and Clarissa von Reinhardt
Published by Dogwise Publishing
A Division of Direct Book Service, Inc.
403 South Mission Street
Wenatchee, Washington 98807 509-663-9115, 1-800-776-2665
website: www.dogwisepublishing.com
email: info@dogwisepublshing.com
© 2007 Martina Scholz and Clarissa von Reinhardt
Originally published in Germany under the title Stress bei Hunden © 2003
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, digital or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.
Limits of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty:
The author and publisher shall not be liable in the event of incidental or consequential damages in connection with, or arising out of, the furnishing, performance, or use of the instructions and suggestions contained in this book.
ISBN: 1-929242-33-6
Printed in the U.S.A.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Scholz, Martina.
[Stress bei Hunden. English]
Stress in dogs / Martina Scholz, Clarissa von Reinhardt.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-929242-33-6
1. Dogs—Behavior. 2. Dogs—Physiology. 3. Stress (Physiology) I. Reinhardt, Clarissa von. II. Title.
SF433.S37 2007
636.7’089698—dc22
2006030195
CONTENTS
Foreword and Publisher’s Note
Introduction
Definition of the term stress
The physiology of stress
Stress symptoms
Stress releasing factors
Survey on the living conditions of dogs and on stress symptoms
The Anti-Stress Program
Acknowledgments
Recommended reading / sources
FOREWORD
Dear Reader,
You are now holding something precious in your hands, a detailed work on stress in our pet dogs, the like of which I have yet to find anywhere else.
The authors draw on many years of experience in training dogs. Due to their comprehensive knowledge of dogs - and of stress in particular - they have managed to present both the physiological and the psychological aspects of this subject in a reader-friendly manner. They have compiled a carefully composed list of stress factors indicating the experiences that might more or less seriously influence your dog. Although each individual factor in itself may probably only have a small effect, should more of these stress factors combine, it may endanger your dog’s health and mental well-being.
Additionally, this book will improve your understanding of various stress symptoms — an important overview enhancing your ability to analyze your dog’s behavior. Many, if not all, behavioral problems are more or less stress-induced. If you know that particular behavior is stress-related, it will be easier for you to find the stressors. And once you have found them, this book will provide you with ideas to create an anti-stress program that you can follow!
At the same time, the authors have also managed to explain the scientific aspects in such a way that even complex connections become clear. This makes it easy to work with this book actively. Additionally, if a dog is suffering from stress, numerous examples from daily training practice help you to understand what needs to be done and when, how and why you need to do it.
This book will give you many useful tips that will help you to better understand what is causing stress in your dog and what you can do about it. It is a treasure trove of experience — use it!
Anders Hallgren
Psychologist and animal behavior therapist
Publisher’s note
Dogwise Publishing is pleased to bring this book, originally published in Germany, on the topic of the physiology, recognition, and treatment of stress in dogs to the English language market. We believe that the reader will find the clear and concise examples and explanations of the common and uncommon signs of stress in dogs to be eye-opening and useful in their day-to-day interactions with dogs.
INTRODUCTION
The issue of stress has long been a vital part of human medicine and psychology. Scientific studies have proved that stress leads to health problems, affects our relationships with others and makes us unbalanced, irritable and aggressive towards our surroundings.
However, life in our highly technological, heavily denaturized civilization does not only stress we humans, but also our dogs. The conditions under which dogs are kept today demand a lot from them. They are expected to deal with traffic and immense levels of noise. Dogs, despite their need for the company of other animals, are supposed to stay at home on their own for hours and then shine with good social behavior towards all other dogs and humans during a walk in the park. We want to be able to take them practically everywhere, regardless of whether it’s to a shopping center, to a restaurant or into the middle of a crowded subway train. They are supposed to accompany us on forest walks, yet not show the slightest interest in wildlife. And so on…
Increasing regulations and legislation do not make things easier for our dogs either. In some federal states in Germany it is hardly possible anymore to let them romp and run around to their hearts’ content, because the regulations for keeping dogs on leash make it impossible for their owner to give them more than a few yards of space. We humans are advised to let off steam by going jogging or doing other sports activities when we feel our stress levels rise. What about our dogs? Only a lucky few have a huge yard in which to run around.
As if this weren’t enough, most dogs have to deal with considerably increasing hostility around them. If you become the target of verbal abuse during a walk, the dog will also sense a heightened degree of tension and will certainly not remain unaffected. Owners of big black dogs or the so-called fighting dog breeds (or whatever some people may consider fighting dogs…) in particular notice increasingly often that not only they, but also their dogs arrive home after each walk stressed out rather than refreshed and happy.
To assume that all of this does not have any impact on our dogs would be unrealistic. If you look at their lives, you can indeed find many reasons to support the theory that they could be stressed. Even if every organism can easily compensate for a certain level of stress, the time has come to consider whether our pet dogs have not long since exceeded this level.
When it comes to our four-legged companions, the impact of stress has long been underestimated. We have only seriously started to think in the last few years about how much stress a dog can actually bear before over-reactions or health problems occur, and so far there has been hardly any research into stress in dogs and other pets.
But what can be done? Get rid of all dogs because we have turned them into nothing more than stressed-out nervous wrecks that we don’t want to do with? Absolutely not!
Dealing with the subject consciously is the first step towards change. If we recognize when and why our dog is stressed, we can defuse conflict situations or prevent them from occurring in the first place. This is what we want to accomplish-with this book.
DEFINITION OF THE TERM STRESS
When dealing with the subject, you first have to define what stress actually is. The medical encyclopedia Pschyrembel contains the following definition:
Stress (pressure, strain, tension) means a state of the organism which is defined by a specific syndrome (increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, increased release of catecholamines, increased blood pressure, etc.), yet can be caused by various non-specific stimuli (infections, injuries, burns, radiation exposure, but also by anger, joy, pressure to perform and other stress factors). Stress can also mean the exogenous influences themselves to which the body is not sufficiently adapted. Psychological stress is a consequence of the discrepancy between specific demands and subjective coping. Continuous stress can lead to general reactions in terms of a general adaptation syndrome.
What is stress?
Most definitions describe stress as a state in which an organism reacts to an endogenous or exogenous threat and focuses its energies on coping with