Mary Allen
What to do if your dog is afraid of flies?
The best thing you can do is catch a fly alive and confront him with it. So he can get used to her and realizes that he doesn’t have to be afraid. Alternatively, you can also make sure that he simply does not come into contact with flies, at least this way you will no longer notice his fear.
How Do You Calm Dogs When They’re Scared?
If your dog seeks your closeness in the fearful situation, slow, massaging stroking is helpful, while holding on and hectic movements tend to excite him. If you want to learn more about massage techniques: The TTouch(R) massage by Linda Tellington-Jones has proven particularly effective.
Support your dog with “nerve food”. In the next section you can read which supplementary feeds and complete feeds for stressed dogs have proven particularly effective in our practice.
Get Adaptil as a vaporizer and/or collar. The soothing scents (pheromones) contained in the Adaptil can contribute to more serenity in the case of separation and noise anxiety (as a vaporizer for the home) as well as in fears that arise around the dog (as a collar).
Quiet music can help with noise anxiety, e.g. drowning out a light rumble of thunder. There are now even earplugs or headphones for dogs. However, wearing it must be trained beforehand so that the dog can get used to it and remain calm.
If you have trained your dog in advance to use a dog crate as a protected retreat, he can use it in the fearful situation (without being locked in).
You can also counter mild separation anxiety with soft music. You should also leave a piece of clothing that smells like you with your dog and distract it with a food toy, for example.
Lavender oil also appears to have a calming effect on dogs. But please consider the sensitive nose of your four-legged friend when using it, so that it doesn’t get too much. A light scent of lavender in a room (which the dog can also avoid if he wants to) seems to make more sense to us than applying the oil directly to the dog.
The Thundershirt, originally developed for dogs with fear of thunderstorms, can be used in various fearful situations. It applies even, gentle pressure to the dog’s torso, which is said to have a calming effect. Parents know the principle of swaddling their infant. Wearing the Thundershirt or the
Tellington Body Band(R), which is based on the same principle, should be practiced beforehand in quiet situations.
You may ask a holistic veterinarian about homeopathic remedies, herbs (phytotherapy) or Bach flowers that are individually tailored to your anxious dog and its problem.
Why is my dog snapping at flies?
Even if it looks funny when the dog snaps at insects: the sooner – if possible as a puppy – he learns that this is ‘ugh’, the better – for him and his health.