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Articles Dog Health and Care Will Anxiety Shorten Your Dogs Lifespan?
Articles Dog Health and Care Will Anxiety Shorten Your Dogs Lifespan? | Will Anxiety Shorten Your Dogs Lifespan? |
| Written by Venice Marriott | ||||||||
| Wednesday, 07 September 2011 | ||||||||
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Many dog lovers struggle to cope with the effects of stress on their dogs, facing dog behaviour problems that range all the way from non-stop barking that irritates the neighbors to coming home to a dog that has urinated or pooped in the house. But fresh research has given us one other thing to fret about - the effect that fear and anxiety in dogs has on both their health and lifespan.
Many dog lovers struggle to cope with the effects of stress on their dogs, facing dog behaviour problems that range all the way from non-stop barking that irritates the neighbors to coming home to a dog that has urinated or pooped in the house. But fresh research has given us one other thing to fret about - the effect that fear and anxiety in dogs has on both their health and lifespan. While it has been established in other species that the stress responses to the situations that create anxiety are linked with hormone and immune changes which are in turn related to disease and shortened lifespans, this research sought to establish whether the same was true for our dogs. In a survey carried out by Nancy A. Dreschel from PennState, 721 owners of recently dead dogs completed a comprehensive survey which was then analysed to find if there had been any linkage between behavior, anxiety and stress, diseases and reason for death. Results proved that the more well behaved a dog owner thought their dog was, the longer the lifespan. Which is one of the best reasons I have come across in a long while for spending the time training your dog! On the other hand, dogs with extreme fear and dogs with separation anxiety were shown to have an increased possibility of getting skin problems, and that they got them more often, and more severely. However, while stress and fear were not directly related to the causes of death in dogs, fear of strangers did corrolate with a shortened length of life. Therefore if your dog is suffering with anxiousness, don't leave it in the hope it may sort itself out or disappear sometime in the near future. Take action. Or you could be adding health issues to their anxiety and risk shortening your dogs life. About the Author: Author Venice Marriott is a writer, dog owner and runs the Dog Anxiety web site, which can provide help and info for owners coping with anxiety in dogs. Get her free help sheet about the major symptoms of dog separation anxiety, when you come to the site. Views: 22
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