Technically, when we discuss dog anxiety, it isn't really dog anxiety . Now that might seem like a bit of a riddle, but it'll make sense when you read the dictionary's definition of anxiety.

"Anxiety is a generalized mood condition that will often arise without a recognisable causing stimulus. As such, it is different from fear, which is an emotional reaction to a suspected threat. Additionally, fear is related to the known behaviors of escape and avoidance, while anxiety is related to circumstances thought of as beyond their control or unavoidable".

Dog's adverse reactions are almost always caused by a perceived threat; it could be as innocent as someone walking into a room, a clap of thunder, or the sound of the postman approaching the front door. We may not be in a position to hear the threat ourselves (they have much better hearing than us), or understand what is scary, but a dog will react in one of the three ways they know how - freeze, flight or fight. Our issues start when they make the wrong decisions and respond in an unsatisfactory way.

Dog Fears

Some dog fears are easy to understand, such as a dog afraid of thunder or a storm, but when a dog is frightened by the ring of a telephone or the noise of the washer, it's harder to understand the danger they pose to a dog. But we are living in a world that a dog frequently doesn't understand. From autos that rush past them, the regular visit of the postman, to TVs and mobile phones, a dog can regularly find themselves out of their depth and reacting inappropriately.

If we understand that dogs are programmed above all to survive, we will be able to begin to see why they can react with fear to the things they don't understand. The things may appear absolutely harmless to us, but to a dog, safety is paramount and they will treat it as a genuine threat to their safety until proved otherwise.

Why Being Pack Leader Can Increase Dog Fear

Expecting our dogs to be the decision maker for the pack in a world they don't understand is only going to increase their fears. The difficulty is that a dog naturally needs to be certain who pack leader is - and if they don't think you are - they'll take on the job.

It is believed by some experts that this is what lies behind the majority of dog separation anxiety. Imagine if a member of your close family went out leaving you locked in the house and you did not know where they'd gone or if they were going to be able to find their way back home. At the least you'd be concerned and much more likely be desperately struggling to get out of the house to go and find them.

Knowing this, the best thing we can do is take on the job of pack leader ourselves and show our dogs that their job is to follow our lead. If they look to us to make decisions then when we don't show fear around potentially threatening scenarios (like switching the hoover on, or answering the ring on the front door to the delivery man) it should automatically cut back their fear or anxiousness.