How to Help Your Dog Recover From Emotional Wounds?

It's no secret that our pets are one more member of the family. We love them, teach them a care for them just like any other child. And like humans, dogs can sometimes face grave, negative and traumatic experiences that could potentially mark them for life. Perhaps your pet faced an attack from a bigger dog in the street, perhaps he went through a difficult illness or it got hit by a car and went through a long recovery; and in some unfortunate cases your dog might've been victim of abuse. Whatever the situation, it's important that you learn to notice emotional wounds in your dog and act quickly to help them heal.

Signs of Emotional Trauma in Dogs

Dogs might not have a voice, so they can't communicate their physical and emotional feelings, but that doesn't mean that nothing gets to them. When a dog experiences a very intense situation, sometimes they can change completely and become unrecognizable, other times the signs might be so subtle you wouldn't identify them easily. If you've just adopted a dog and don't really know them much already, you should be even more alert to their behavior. Although each dog is different and has their own personality, here are some main things you should look out for if your dog experience a traumatic event:

Fear Aggression
As the name suggests, fear aggression happens when your dog is experiencing a crippling fear of a person, object or situation, so they act out by being overly or unnecessary aggressive. Fear aggression is more noticeable when you try to take your dog out of its hiding spot, when you try to put a leash on them and in more extreme cases when you come close to try to pet them. Even though it might look like your dog is mad, it's actually acting out of fear and insecurity, so you should be patient in this case.

Fear Urination
This is probably one of the most common things to find when you adopt a dog that underwent through intense emotional wounds. If your puppy never faced involuntary urination and never had accidents inside the house but started doing it after a traumatic incident, it might be a sign of fear. Fear urination usually happens whenever your dog is close or in contact to the person/object/situation that caused the traumatic wound, so you should pay close attention so you can learn whenever to remove him from the situation.

Hypervigilance
A dog that suddenly becomes hypervigilant might be facing emotional wounds and you don't even notice it. If your dog is suddenly on a guardian position several times a day of for long periods of time, if they don't want to leave the window or the door as if they're watching out or if they're very cautious about who gets near them, they might be acting with hypervigilance.

Trembling or Tremors
Another great sign of a dog facing emotional wounds is when they tremble all the time. This could happen for long periods of time, when they come in close contact with whatever causes them stress or trauma, or it can even happen while they're sleeping. The tremors can also be partial - their tails, ears o legs- or they can happen all over their body.

6 Useful Ways to Help Your Dog Recover From Emotional Wounds

If your dog is experiencing one or more of these signs, you should clearly pay attention to the evolution of their emotional wounds. A dog that's facing trauma could have episodes of anxiety for a few weeks, but if this situation is not treated correctly it could become a serious issue that alters your pet's behaviour for life. Here are some useful tips to help your dog recover from emotional wounds, and do so yourself.

1. Spend More Time With Them
   When your pet experiences a frightening situation, probably the thing that would help them the most is for you to keep them company. Emotional trauma can lead to dogs feeling insecure about their place in the house -especially when they've been recently adopted- and your loyalty towards them, so a great way to heal emotional wounds is to be beside them as much as you can. Hang out with your dog when he's eating, keep them in the house during the day so they can lounge around you and even let them sleep inside the house.
   

2. Reduce Stress in Their Environment
   Eliminating all sources of stress around your dog is another great way of helping them heal emotional wounds and trauma. You can start by identifying which is your dog's safe space and helping them make it comfortable. If they like to hide in the closet, make room for their bed and add some toys. If they like to go under the bed, clear out everything else so they can lounge comfortably in there. But most of all, make sure to remove from your house any stress source like loud noises and scary objects.

3. Desensitize Your Dog to Whatever They Fear
   There is a practice known as desensitization counterconditioning, where the owner trains their dog in order to help them be more comfortable around the source of their trauma, or what's causing the problem. This technique starts by getting your dog to get used to see the "trauma source" from afar. Once they're okay with seeing it from the distance, you can move on and get your dog closer to the source, gradually until they are completely desensitized from the trauma and can move on with their lives.

4. Set a Strict Routine For Them
   When your dog experiences trauma, he suddenly feels shaken and insecure about everything that surrounds them. If you want them to get back on their feet and feel perky and happy again, you must set up a very strict routine so they know their world can be ordered and reliable. Set hours to feed them, walk them and put them to rest, slowly incorporating new activities as they feel more comfortable with them.
   

5. Play Therapy
   Animal behaviourists suggest extended periods of play as a way of helping your dog cope with emotional trauma. After all, playing is very effective for releasing "feel-good" hormones and forgetting all about stress. Let loose and play fetch with your dog, throw the frisbee or run around with them for a while.
   

6. Set an Example With Your Attitude
   Last but not least, you should always set the example when it comes to your pet. After your dog experiences a traumatic incident, you might feel very worried and in need of finding the right way to help them. It's very important that you don't succumb to stress and keep calm so you can be there for them. Dogs not only sense their owners' emotions, they can also absorb them and replicate them.

Remember that your dog loves you even more than you love them, they fully trust you and all they want is to have a happy life next to you. It's your job as an owner to reassure them that they can be safe with you and, when they're adopted, that they'll find only love, snacks and pettings. Only then can your beloved dog get over emotional wounds.