Problem Pooch: #2 Stressed to Serene

STRESS AND FEAR

1

WHY DOGS FEEL FEAR AND STRESS

Pepper dug in all four paws. He moved forward one step, then twirled and panicked, darting from one side of the lane to the other, twisting on the lead, trying to get away from the scary monster ahead in the middle of the lane. His owner laughed. Silly dog. It was only an old sack, scrumpled up on the road and flapping in the wind. She waited patiently, chatting away to her flighty dog until he finally plucked up the courage to approach, cautiously, every muscle taut and ready to flee. Once he had had a good sniff he relaxed and the walk continued without further problems.

Pepper is a greyhound cross owned by my Daughter no 1. He’s a sweet, calm dog generally and copes with most things in life very well. But, like all mammals, including us, if he feels fearful he’ll react immediately in the face of that perceived danger and try to avoid or escape from it.

The fear response is a normal part of life. It’s aimed at keeping the animal alive. Imagine you’re a gazelle, grazing in the vast plains of Africa. You hear a noise in the bushes nearby. Your head shoots up and your heart pounds. You worry that the noise is a lion about to attack - so you run away. If you are wrong and the disturbance was just the wind, the worst that happens is you get some unnecessary exercise and lose a little grazing time. But if you ignored that rustle from the bushes, you could end up dead.

Now we are sensible humans who live without predators poised to attack us - but we still feel fear. Like me, perhaps you are more fearful at night. You notice and react more to an odd noise when everything else is quiet. Your heart flutters when you see a strange shape until you realise it’s just a deeper shadow. When you can see very little, your imagination conjures all sorts of terrors lurking nearby. And as for the darkness under the bed - well, all sorts of monsters might lurk there. Even when you know it’s irrational, you’ll still have some odd fears such as these - and still jump into bed from a distance away.

Your body reacts to stress in a number of fascinating ways: growth and digestion stop, your immune system is put on hold, and tissue repair stops, all in order to prioritise short term survival. Acute stress produces energy, and has an analgesic effect. A little stress improves memory. Beneficial or positive stress is called eustress. It has survival value – if you’re prey spotting a lion you get the chance to run away before being eaten.

Stressors come in a variety of types, but one of the most important factors is how long the stress continues. Some stressors can be severe but brief, for example, being in a minor car accident but unhurt, while others can be long-term, such as illness or poverty.

Have you ever glimpsed a strange curvy, serpentine thing on the ground and had a heart pounding moment before you realised it was just a stick? All of us are pre-programmed to react fearfully to certain things. The response is hard wired into our brains. You and I are pre-programmed to be fearful of wriggly, moving things because they could be snakes. And you will react to a wriggly, moving thing, or what could be a wriggly, moving thing, even if you’ve never seen one.

Fear is a normal response to an actual or perceived threat or situation. But sometimes fears can become excessive and overwhelming. A phobia is an intense and persistent fear, which goes beyond a rational response, that occurs when a human or animal is confronted with something that feels threatening.

Phobias can occur in response to any scary situation. Phobias may result from previous frightening experiences, sometimes from just one overwhelmingly scary event. My best friend has a phobia about spiders after one crawled over her face in bed. She hyperventilates and has to leave a room if she sees even a tiny, harmless house spider on the floor.

I have a phobia of candy-floss. I ate some from a fair in Nottingham many years ago, then later on that night I became very ill with vomiting and fever. As I was being sick, the candy floss remains and stick were lying right beside me. The cause of the illness may or may not have been the candy-floss (and probably wasn’t), but now I can’t even think of candy-floss without feeling stressed and nauseated - and I retch if I see candy-floss, even in a picture. Daughter no 2 has a phobia of moths and, strangely, elastic bands, although there has never been a particular event that has caused these, to my knowledge. Do you have any specific fears?

Back to fear, stress and dogs.

Fear and stress in dogs are common. These emotions can affect all breeds and all ages. A behavioural study published in 2020 of nearly 14,000 pet dogs in Finland found that over 70% showed behaviours resulting from anxiety and stress and nearly 30% showed fearful behaviours.

That study confirmed with what I’ve seen in my dog behaviour cases over the years. Things like noise sensitivity, fear of new situations and fear of certain environments, for example fear of slippery surfaces, are common behavioural problems among dogs.

These fears are associated with the dogs' genetics and breed as well as their living environment and lifestyle.

Let’s start by thinking about the effects of genetics.

Fear has a strong genetic component. If an animal is fearful, this can be passed down into subsequent generations. A group of researchers in America bred a line of pathologically fearful pointers and found that they bred true, that is, if a fearful dog was bred to another fearful dog then all the offspring were fearful, without exception.

In other words, if fear is part of a dog’s genetic make-up then they will be fearful, even with the best upbringing. Puppies are highly influenced by their mother’s behaviour, but the fearful pups in the study above remained fearful even when raised by a non-fearful, non-biological mother. Which is one reason why it is so important for anyone breeding dogs to breed for temperament, not just looks.

Fear and anxiety are influenced by many genes; there is no such thing as a simple fear gene that is inherited from one generation to the next. Rat experiments showed that if a rat developed or experienced a strong fear, this could be passed down to their offspring and to subsequent generations, even though the new rats had never been exposed to the fear inducing situation. In other words, traumatic experiences can change the way your DNA works and is expressed - and this fallout could be passed on to your offspring.

Noise phobias can be inherited too. Herding breeds are particularly susceptible to noise phobias. When you select for one trait in an animal others come along for the ride. Noise phobia may be one of these, and it’s thought this is possibly linked to a herding dog’s heightened environmental awareness and sensitivity - these dogs need to be able to spot sheep a couple of mountainsides away, after all.

Breeding choices matter, even without knowing the exact mechanisms of inheritance. The Canine Behavioural Genetics Project is doing research into the genetic basis for a range of behavioural issues affecting dogs, including fear, noise phobia, anxiety, aggression and obsessive-compulsive behaviours. This work should provide us with important knowledge for the future and should help us improve breeding practices to reduce the likelihood of dogs suffering from these debilitating conditions.

But genetics is only half the story.

The particular combinations of genes that you’ve received from your parents mean that you’ll respond with greater or lesser degrees of anxiety to events in your environment. However, the degree to which your life is affected by this inherited predisposition will depend to a very large extent on what you experience in life - how many stressful events you encounter, and their strength, type and duration. Early, significant, and multiple, stressful events can have a major impact on how you cope with future situations.

Which is what happens with dogs too. Dogs learn behaviours through their interactions with people, with other dogs and with the environment they live in. Insufficient and inadequate socialisation of puppies to different situations and new environments in particular has a strong link with these dogs being fearful of new situations in future, especially loud noises, different walking surfaces, such as slippery surfaces, open stairs or metal grilles. Especially if they already have a genetically fearful disposition.

You won’t be surprised to learn that there are significant variations in the fearfulness of individual breeds. For example, in the large Finnish study mentioned above, Cairn Terriers were among the most fearful breeds and Chinese Crested Dogs among the least fearful. Welsh Pembroke Corgis expressed a lot of noise sensitivity but little fearfulness of surfaces, whereas the latter was common among Miniature Schnauzers, Chihuahuas and Labradors.

Common fears and phobias in dogs include:

Sound: frequent fear-inducing sounds include thunder, fireworks and gunshots, but some dogs can become phobic about wind and heavy rain too, like my Gus

Vets:  dogs don’t understand that veterinary visits are in their best interest, and many of the circumstances around these visits, such as feeling sick, pain, blood tests, new locations, strangers, and the presence of other stressed animals, can add to this fear. If the staff are not comfortable with, or don’t have time to help, a stressed animal it can compound the problem.

Situational fears: these include separation anxiety, car travel, stairs, reflections and slippy or polished floors

People: most commonly men, children and strangers

We’ll look at these in more depth later on in this book and discuss how you can deal with these fears if your dog struggles.

Summary

- The fear response is a normal physiological response

- Fear and stress are common in dogs (and humans)

- Genetics and early experiences affect how a dog deals with fears and stress

In the next chapter we’ll look in detail at how stress can affect a dog’s development from conception through to adulthood.

2

STRESSED FROM THE START

I was shaking from head to toe. I felt sick and light headed. A passing colleague paused and asked if I was OK. I wasn’t. I was working on the children’s cancer unit and I’d been giving the children their chemotherapy, an upsetting but necessary task. Each child had had bloods taken to check that it was safe to give these unpleasant drugs. But I realised I had just given one child their drug without checking the results first. Yes I was tired and overworked, but that was no excuse. I told my consultant immediately then rang the lab to wait for the results. Thank goodness the bloods showed it had been safe to give the chemotherapy. But the stress and worry about that incident has never left me. I could have caused the child significant harm and the mistake might even have led to their death.

As you know, I am The Doggy Doctor. I worked as a doctor in general practice and then public health until I took early retirement and turned my dog behaviour hobby into a business. The incident above happened during a paediatric rotation as part of my general practice training. It was one of the most stressful, scary and unpleasant incidents of my life.

What happens when you feel stressed? The effect on your body is to create high levels of glucocorticoids, stress hormones produced by the adrenal gland. In an acute (‘fight or flight’) situation this rush of glucocorticoids increases blood flow and alertness. It mobilises energy (preparing you to run) and primes the immune system (preparing you for injury).

If the stress is more gradual or chronic, pulses of glucocorticoids are produced which create sustained, elevated levels in your body. This produces the same physiological preparatory response as in an acute situation, but with an even greater magnitude. Long term, excess glucocorticoids can cause a range of health problems, including immunosuppression, muscle atrophy, osteoporosis, insulin resistance, hypertension, depression and insomnia. Urgh. That’s why stress can be so dangerous long term.

At medical school we were taught about type A and type B people, two personalities at opposite ends of the scale. Type B people are relaxed, patient, easy-going and tolerant - the sort of people who never let anything much bother them. They tend to be creative and imaginative. Type A people, on the other hand, are competitive, always fighting to get things done, are highly self-critical workaholics, often trying to do two things at once.

The two cardiologists who identified and labelled these behaviour patterns, Friedman & Rosenman, discovered them by accident. The chairs in their waiting room needed reupholstering and the upholsterer noticed they were worn in an unusual way. Their patients had worn out the arms and the edges of the seats because they couldn’t sit still for long, getting up and down frequently. This led to them identifying that people with a Type A personality were twice as prone to heart disease and high blood pressure than Type B people.

Personality is what makes each person unique. It’s a result of the behaviour and attitudes you develop as a result of the interaction of your genetics, environment and social variables. Dogs, too, have a range of personalities which develop in a similar way.

Let’s look at the different stages of a puppy’s life and what’s important when regarding their future personality and behaviour.

Pregnancy and Birth

Development starts in the womb, the pre-natal (pre-birth) period. Excessive glucocorticoids are damaging to developing foetuses. Rats who suffer stress during pregnancy produce young who are more easily stressed and whose stress hormone levels are slower to return to normal. If a human mother is stressed, anxious or depressed while pregnant, her child is at increased risk for having a range of problems, including emotional problems, behaviour problems and impaired cognitive development. As adults these people are more prone to anxiety and depression. Similar problems can be found in dogs.

Petting and fussing the bitch during pregnancy produces puppies who are more able to resist physical stress and who are less susceptible to emotional disturbances. In other words, a relaxed mum appears to produce relaxed puppies.

The converse is also true. Pregnant bitches under stress are far more likely to give birth to puppies or kittens that are easily overwhelmed by their environment. These animals start their lives less protected from stress and may be more reactive.

The Early Weeks

During the neonatal period (birth to 13 days old) puppies learn from smells and from touch. From around 13 days to approximately 2½ weeks of age the puppy’s sensory and motor systems develop rapidly. Their eyes open, they start to hear things and they become more aware of their surroundings. They react to things happening in their environment and start to explore this amazing world they’ve arrived in.

Mild stress is vital for normal development and learning. Gentle handling of puppies during this period produces pups who are more resistant to stress, better able to cope with being alone and also learn better later in life. Even if the pups are exposed to something stressful, the calming presence of their mother keeps glucocorticoid levels low.

Having a mother around is vital. Puppies that are separated too early from their mother are at risk of severe problems. Chronic and excessive stress, especially when an animal is young, is particularly harmful. The stress from separation floods their developing brains with glucocorticoids, which affects brain development and effectively teaches them that the whole world is stressful and scary.

This can happen within mere hours of being separated from their mother, and the longer that separation occurs (and so exposure to glucocorticoids continues), the more impact it has on the developing brain. These animals start their lives less protected from stress, and even good socialisation and training may not be effective in helping them to overcome those physical changes in their brains.

Early learning is also a key factor. Puppies will usually copy what their mother does, including being reactive and stressed. For example, if the mother reacts and barks at strangers, the chances are high that the puppies will too.

The Socialisation or Sensitive Period

I once saw a 12 week old singleton pup who had been kept in a stable all his short life. The owner let him out and he ambled out, cautiously explored and sniffed everything, paused to listen to every noise - but he completely ignored his owner and me.

Early human interaction for puppies is essential. All puppies have an inbuilt capacity to connect with humans and lots of good, early experiences will help raise dogs that are friendly and confident. Dogs that have not had the best start in life can often be scared by other dogs or unknown people coming close, or by particular noises, places, or situations.

During this critical sensitive period, the effects of the puppy’s environment have a greater influence on future behaviour than at any other time. An individual puppy’s behaviour is influenced far more by the early environment than it is by genetics – hence the vital importance of the breeder doing the right things in the early weeks.

Between 2½ and around 13 weeks of age is the critical period for socialisation of dogs to humans, with the most receptive time being around seven weeks old. If puppies have not had any experience of human contact at all by around 14 weeks old, they may remain fearful and distrustful of humans for life. Recently, some research has suggested that the critical period of socialisation may end even sooner in some breeds, such as Border Collies, and there is also considerable individual variability. The key socialisation period to other dogs is between 14 and 49 days – a potential problem in singleton pups.

Puppies develop a fear response from around 5 weeks of age. The first ‘fear period’ is between 8 and 11 weeks, when fear of something new becomes greater than the puppy’s willingness to approach. If puppies have scary experiences during this time, the effects will last a lifetime and often resurface as the pup reaches adulthood. A puppy who is properly socialised in this early critical period is far more likely to grow up to be happy, confident and calm. They will learn new things more easily, be less likely to respond to new things fearfully or aggressively and are more likely to become a good family pet.

By the time puppies reach their new homes the basic foundations of emotionality and future learning have already been established. Puppies raised in less than ideal conditions and who lack a variety of sensory stimulation, such as in puppy farms, will suffer permanent adverse effects, becoming fearful and reactive. This deprivation also affects their future learning and trainability.

This is why puppies from puppy farms or raised in garages or barns are more likely to display problems and why I get so angry at people who churn out puppies for money. It is so unfair on the dog and the future owner. Breeders are responsible for raising stable, confident puppies and new owners must then make sure their puppy gets lots of fun and happy experiences from the moment they bring them home.

The brain of a 16-week-old puppy has exactly the same number of brain cells as a newly born puppy – but it is roughly