Reducing Exercise To Assist Separation Anxiety Options

[Cosmolo]

Yes that is what the title says

I have heard a theory a few times now (re told to me by clients who were told by another trainer) relating to reducing/ eliminating an anxious dogs exercise so that they don't get too fit. The suggestion is that owners (with their highly anxious dogs) cease all exercise for minimum 2 weeks and then resume in in small doses infrequently.

Does anyone else think this is crazy?

Or can anybody explain the logic behind it as i may be wrong and it may be a great tool?

Mental stimulation was not discussed in any of these examples so the reduced physical exertion is not being replaced in whole or part by games/ tricks/ obedience etc.

ETA- referring to separation anxiety, not general anxiety

This post has been edited by Cosmolo: 7th Apr 2009 - 12:20 PM

[Quickasyoucan]

Weird, I'm not a dog, but I do suffer from anxiety. Exercise is one of the best ways of reducing anxiety.
Anyway over to the dog behaviourists...!

ETA: thinking about are they talking about over stimulating the dog, ie getting it too excited, that could heighten anxiety? Maybe it is certain types of exercise...

This post has been edited by Quickasyoucan: 6th Apr 2009 - 02:50 PM

[JulesP]

Have done that sort of thing with horses....

[Cosmolo]

Can you explain Jules P? Genuinely interested- i have spelled horses before, is that sort of what you mean? I had a horse with general anxiety and spelling him and 'letting him be a horse' was helpful (until i started to work him again lol) but bit different from separation anxiety.

Instruction was clearly no physical exercise, not no off leash or no ball throwing etc. No walks or jogging with owner- dogs in question were also well behaved on walks so there was no anxiety issue or high arousal levels on walks.

ETA in all cases- dogs behaviour has worsened considerably

This post has been edited by Cosmolo: 6th Apr 2009 - 03:37 PM

[poodlefan]

I don't follow the logic myself..

A physically understimulated dog would be more unstable wouldn't it??

[Keshwar]

Can you explain Jules P? Genuinely interested- i have spelled horses before, is that sort of what you mean? I had a horse with general anxiety and spelling him and 'letting him be a horse' was helpful (until i started to work him again lol) but bit different from separation anxiety.

Instruction was clearly no physical exercise, not no off leash or no ball throwing etc. No walks or jogging with owner- dogs in question were also well behaved on walks so there was no anxiety issue or high arousal levels on walks.

ETA in all cases- dogs behaviour has worsened considerably

I think the bit I've bolded answers your question.

I have to say from living with an extremely anxious dog that the more exercise stimulation - both mental and physical - the better he was. If I backed off the stimulation his anxiety got worse as you describe above.

Bear.

[ruthless]

I'm too lazy to search for the thread I started a while ago where I proclaimed that Chopper seems a lot calmer since I stopped throwing the ball for him. He used to get a 30 minute walk followed by 20 mins of fetch. Because we were going away and I didn't want the pet sitter letting him off lead I weaned him off "fetch" during the month before our holiday. Now he goes maybe once a week and I think he's HEAPS calmer. Perhaps there's other contributing factors I think it was Poodlefan that said the adrenalin can stay in their system for four days.

[poodlefan]

I'm too lazy to search for the thread I started a while ago where I proclaimed that Chopper seems a lot calmer since I stopped throwing the ball for him. He used to get a 30 minute walk followed by 20 mins of fetch. Because we were going away and I didn't want the pet sitter letting him off lead I weaned him off "fetch" during the month before our holiday. Now he goes maybe once a week and I think he's HEAPS calmer. Perhaps there's other contributing factors I think it was Poodlefan that said the adrenalin can stay in their system for four days.

Yep, that was me.. I was talking about very high levels of arousal though, not just ordinary exercise.

Unless the dog is just over the top, I can't see how NO exercise would benefit the dog.

[shoemonster]

Yeah I would think it would depend on the exercise

Ball throwing gets them hyped up, in drive, same as free running I guess (if they are the type to bolt off, and chase birds/bugs/imaginary things!), whereas a walk or a bike ride is a calmer exercise

This post has been edited by shoemonster: 6th Apr 2009 - 04:07 PM

[ruthless]

Clearly you've never had a bike ride with Chopper

[shoemonster]

[molasseslass]

Perhaps the intention was to reduce the dog's fitness levels so that when it is exercised it's far easier to tire out (tired dog is a calm dog). So intead of having a dog that is still ready to go after a 5km run, it is asleep after a 1km walk.

I did a Google search but even in the wide expanses of the net, no one is advocating no exercise for anxious dogs.

[Quickasyoucan]

I would have thought exercise lead to endorphin release, calmer dog.

I guess also it depends on what is behind the "anxiety", after all there can be many causative factors. What form did the anxiety take?

[persephone]

I have seen dogs who are fit, and who anticipate their daily workouts, get anxious, and start pacing, etc if it doesn't happen... so perhaps going 'cold turkey' may help with these???

[Cosmolo]

ML- yes i think thats the theory. I'm just not sure why mental stimulation would not be suggested to tire the dog rather than no exercise. With the dogs who i know have tried it, it creates unbearable activity levels and an increase in anxiety in the short term- the owners give up after a week or so because the dog has been so much worse and so out of control.

I think its different if the dog who's being exercised is engaging in drive activities and has other problems that relate to the same drive if you know what i mean.