My Dog Needs Her Own Emotional Support Dog

Humans don’t have the same calming effect as a dog who ‘speaks dog.’

I love my dog more than I love anything on earth. (Sorry, not sorry, mom!)

Now that she’s five years old and I know that fearfulness is an everyday part of her life, I can’t help but wonder if she was born predisposed to anxiety or if she’s a product of her environment.

She was born into a litter of six pups at the local Humane Society, and nothing traumatic happened in her short time there.

Being born on March 14th, 2020, the day the world shut down for the pandemic, was good for Dezi. With all kinds of lockdown time on our hands, she got an excellent start in life. We learned that there isn’t a dog in the world she doesn’t get along with, and she even loves cats if they love her back.

However…

Dezi does not love all humans. She only loves dog moms and dads but behaves very suspiciously toward humans without an animal by their side.

Dezi does not love children. In fact, she appears to be afraid of them because she growls and barks at them while running in the opposite direction.

She even hates garden decorations. It took her forever to pass this little scarecrow at the dog park 😂

(Hit the image to play the video)

dezisyard

A post shared by @dezisyard

Dezi is angry at all bicycles and unpredictably chases them, not understanding the danger for both her and the rider.

And lastly, she is terrified of skateboards, rollerblades, and scooters, to the point where she can hear them coming long before seeing them, and she freezes on the spot.

Her first skateboard incident happened when she was less than a year old. A teenager whizzed past us, and she went into full panic mode. She began frantically pulling toward home and was unable to calm herself even when I sat on the sidewalk and tried my best to reassure her.

On the way home, we ran into one of her favorite neighborhood dogs, with whom she would fully engage in a romp session under normal circumstances. But this time, Dezi was blind to Loki and continued pulling me relentlessly toward home. Once the two dogs came in contact, she snapped at him and wanted nothing to do with him.

I explained what had happened to Loki’s owners, who gladly hung out and let the two dogs work it out together.

Loki, a much bigger dog than Dezi, lay down on the sidewalk and began coddling her. He’d nudge her, try to engage, pause, and then repeat.

After about ten minutes of his consistent friendship-like behavior, Dezi calmed down, gave in, and finally engaged. The two of them eventually romped and wrestled playfully for the next twenty minutes.

Loki did something I’ve never been able to accomplish in a skateboard situation: He calmed her down.

It was fascinating watching a dog ‘speak dog’ to my dog.

Another of Dezi’s best friends, Alfred, has a small child in his family. Dezi has no problem being near the child, sharing food with it, and giving kisses. I can only assume she’s okay with the child because Alfred is, but she is NOT okay with random children out in public.

And then we have Roxy, my best friend’s rescue dog. Roxy is also scared of everything and we know it’s because she lived a traumatic stray life before she was adopted.

But when you put these two fearful dogs together, Dezi and Roxy are unstoppable. It’s friggin adorable to witness them be brave in each other’s company. They seem to be emotionally supporting each other.

Upon the advice of our dog trainers, we took them shopping together for the first time recently, and they did a fabulous job navigating aisles and forklifts and allowing strangers to approach them.

(Hit the image to play the video)

dezisyard

A post shared by @dezisyard

Does dog anxiety come from their environment?

Other intriguing behaviors Dezi exhibits seem very sweet to me but also anxiety-driven and insecure.

When she wants attention from me, she’ll take my hand in her mouth and lead me places. Or she’ll latch on to one of my fingers while she’s lying around relaxing, almost like a baby holds its mom’s finger.

When I come home, Dezi immediately picks up the nearest shoe and growls a long, throaty growl while rubbing up on my legs. I call it her love growl and to me, it’s the absolute sweetest thing she does.

Can human trauma affect a dog?

I can only think of two traumatic incidences in Dezi’s short life that may have caused her insecurity.

She was only six months old when my son died, and she was right beside me when I got the devastating early morning phone call. The news shattered our quiet morning time, and my loud, emotional reaction continued for hours.

Ten days after that incident, I had no choice but to put her into a boarding kennel so I could fly away and take care of my son’s affairs. I dropped her off and vanished from her life for five days.

I felt incredible guilt for abandoning her at such a young age. She was just a puppy. I wondered if she felt abandoned because after that week, I had a hell of a time getting her back into that doggy daycare, even for one day.

Ever since that event, I’ve been wondering if I did this to her or if she was already predisposed to anxiety for some reason.

Since losing my son, Dezi has become my emotional support partner, whether she realizes it or not. I wouldn’t be dealing with life in the same way without her. But is that too much for her little anxious spirit to manage?

What I do know, because I have observed it, is that Dezi is an entirely different dog when she’s around other dogs in situations she considers threatening or tense.

And I know for sure that if I had the space, I’d adopt another dog in a heartbeat if I knew it could improve her emotional quality of life, because she has certainly improved mine.

Does your dog suffer from anxiety and fear-based behaviour? How have you managed it? Have you witnessed a change in their behavior around more confident dogs?