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Dogs feel stress just like people do. However, your dog may not know how to cope with stress properly. Your dog might lash out and start acting naughty, or hold it in and develop strange behavior. It is up to you to understand this and when you detect your dogs stress, help them to reduce it.

Warning Signs

Its important to recognize the symptoms of excess stress in a dog so the you can help reduce the stress in some way. Has your dog suddenly changed their behavior in some way? Has something in your dogs environment changed? Is your dog not friendly anymore when it once was? Did you recently bring a new pet into your home, either the dog themselves, or a new pet to go with your dog?

Subtle Warning Signs

There are also more subtle signs of stress in dogs that are not always immediately obvious. One major hidden sign of dog stress is nervousness. Its true that smaller dogs tend to be somewhat nervous anyways, but your dog shaking constantly when it wasnt before? Has the nervousness increased dramatically? This could be hidden nervousness. Closely related to nervousness is dog restlessness. Dogs who are restless may start not being able to sit down, they may constantly walk around in circles, they may mope around and wont sit still no matter how tired they are. Now if you dog is a puppy, you have to understand that puppies are very active and are constantly running around crazy. This may not be restlessness, just natural puppy energy.

A closely related stress behavior, but with an opposite reaction is freezing. The dog will just sit motionless for long periods of time. No matter what you do they will not move. They may stare off into space listlessly and not react to things passing in front of them like they normally would. Older dogs or dogs that are not feeling well physically may show some of these signs, so its important to distinguish freezing behavior from old age or a sick dog.

Various Other Behaviors

Excessive stress in dogs can also show itself in some other common ways. Your dog may begin to seriously over eat, or lose their appetite completely. They may begin to constantly bark or whine when they didnt before.

There may well be phyical signs of stress as well. Dogs may begin to lose their hair, or begin to pull their hair out or chew at their skin constantly. Some dogs may begin to chew and bite their paws constantly. 

Its important to recognize whether these problems are possibly stress related, or if your dog has a medical condition. If you dog begins to begin acting like this, it is very important that you at least call your vet and explain the problem. They may ask you to bring your dog in for a checkup. Vets are often very good pet psychologists and can help you in identifying the cause of the problem.

In conclusion, you want your dog to have a happy and healthy life. Pay attention to your dogs behavior and if you think your dog may be having stress, perhaps you can do something to help alleviate it. Identifying the cause of the problem is the first step in making things right for your dog and reducing your dogs stress.