A Balanced Dog: Coping Skills and Stress Management
caninenation.substack.com
To look at most of our dogs, it’s hard to think of them as “stressed out” as they snooze happily in that patch of sunlight, yet all dogs experience stress, some more and some less — and it’s how they learn to cope with it that is most important. I want you to consider something for a moment: Imagine waking up in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language and don’t have any knowledge of local customs. Even the basics of life seem to be out of place — a safe place to sleep, access to food, even a place to take care of bodily functions and wash are all difficult to find. Would you feel a bit stressed? Now add to this scenario that your hosts are not human shaped, you can’t make sense of their facial expressions, and they have so many limbs that any gestures they make are a complete mystery.
A Balanced Dog: Coping Skills and Stress Management
A Balanced Dog: Coping Skills and Stress…
A Balanced Dog: Coping Skills and Stress Management
To look at most of our dogs, it’s hard to think of them as “stressed out” as they snooze happily in that patch of sunlight, yet all dogs experience stress, some more and some less — and it’s how they learn to cope with it that is most important. I want you to consider something for a moment: Imagine waking up in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language and don’t have any knowledge of local customs. Even the basics of life seem to be out of place — a safe place to sleep, access to food, even a place to take care of bodily functions and wash are all difficult to find. Would you feel a bit stressed? Now add to this scenario that your hosts are not human shaped, you can’t make sense of their facial expressions, and they have so many limbs that any gestures they make are a complete mystery.