Dogs can change your life in various ways, and mostly positively. Every dog owner has an ideal situation in their mind, which involves warm greetings from your furry friend after a long day at work. While this is true in most situations, it takes time, patience, and effort. Dogs can entice you with their cuteness and promise of providing unconditional companionship. This is often convincing enough for most people to make an impulsive purchase decision.
However, after the initial euphoria, the joy of having a dog in your home fades, and the parent reality dawns. Dogs, especially puppies, can make you miserable. With time, the pet’s constant need for attention becomes irritating. Fortunately, you can avoid or stop these feelings in several ways. Among them include shifting your focus, learning the triggers, and identify the things about your dog that you can control.
Can Having a Dog Cause Depression?
There is very little known or written about dog-related depression. Often called post-puppy blues, most enthusiastic dog owners experience this just after they bring their furry friends home. The best place to confirm this is by checking the rate of return of puppies at shelters. From the statistics, you will note that puppies are the most returned dogs, especially by first-time owners.
How Can I Stop Being Frustrated with My Dog?
Without a doubt, working and living with a reactive dog is stressful. Frustration may build up with time, often leading to depression. While it is human reaction to vent frustrations, you should find better ways of venting out. Below are some tips for dealing with frustrations from your dog.
Take time
There are situations that your dog’s behavior goes from zero to a hundred real quick. However, it is important that you shouldn’t allow your temper to follow suit. In such critical moments, you shouldn’t let your temper get the best of you. Otherwise, your dog will associate the anger with negative energy. Therefore, you should take time before fuming and charging towards your dog.
Take deep breaths
As you take time before reacting to your dogs’ behavior, consider taking deep breaths. Human’s natural reaction to stress is to tense. However, if you want your dog to relax or stop the bad behavior, you should be in a relaxed state as well.
Shift your focus
Letting go of these frustrations is equally important as relaxing physically. Therefore, choose to ignore the negative energy and find something positive to focus on. Even if your dog is getting to your nerves, think of something nice, such as good weather, listen to your favorite songs, and engage in anything that makes you happy.
Learn the triggers
While it might seem untrue, your frustrations could be due to several actions of your dog. For instance, some dog owners don’t like when they come across a lose dog. If you haven’t identified your triggers, consult your dog trainer about various potential triggers and how to avoid the triggers.
Identify what you can control
When handling a reactive dog, it is easy to get angry over the little things or habits of your dog. You can’t control your dog’s feelings or reactions to other dogs. Instead of allowing environmental factors to control your feelings, it is prudent to prepare for your actions when these situations present. For instance, you may opt to redirect your dog if you meet another dog.
Change your tone
Changing your tone is also an important way of dealing with frustrations from your dog. As a normal reaction, you might start yelling at your puppy if he/she starts engaging in bad behaviors. However, you should change to a playful tone, even if you have to fake at first. Watch for your dog’s body language and reinforce your pup with kind words.
Change the scenery
Just like dealing with humans, changing your environment is a good strategy. To relieve frustrations from your dog, consider walking outside, change the room, or engage in a chat with your friend. Resetting your environment is beneficial in de-stressing before reconnecting with your furry friend.
Count the positives
While there are times when your dog is hard and frustrating, there are more times when your dog’s behavior is positive, carefree, and happy. As such, live the happy moments, acknowledge, and savor them.
Can Dogs Sense if You Hate Them?
Hate is a strong emotion in humans, and most people use it when annoyed with something or someone. Most humans don’t understand real hate before feeling it. Therefore, when it comes to dogs, there is little chance that they can understand hate. Actually, dogs don’t understand the concept of hate. Emotions such as aggression and fear are inbuilt and often arise during specific situations. However, while dogs may be nervous or come across as disliking someone, your dog won’t understand hate.
Is it Normal to be Depressed After Getting a Puppy?
Getting depressed after getting a puppy, often called post puppy depression, is a common experience for most dog owners that often occurs unexpectedly. Even if you have been planning and waiting for your dog or puppy for months, the reality of taking care of your dog comes as a shock that can cause emotional upheaval.
Fortunately, this is a temporary condition born out of concern and love for the welfare of your new dog. It might appear as buyers’ remorse but often complicated. Puppy blues affects both first-time owners and any other person who recently bought an adult dog or a puppy, even if you have owned dogs before. However, what causes this form of depression?
Without a doubt, bringing home your new dog comes with a lot of anticipation and excitement. Your dreams, hopes, and plans with your new companion are full of warm and fuzzy feelings. However, reality soon hits you, leading to post-partum puppy depression. This could arise as soon as when on your ride home, the first day, or the first week, as you wonder how you will keep your furry friend happy.
Owning a dog often comes with a lot of responsibilities, some of which lead to depression. Some causes include;
- Potty training
- Lack of sleep
- Financial commitment
- Behavioral problems
- General dog care workload
- Interaction with existing pets
- Destruction of things
These are real challenges you will face by owning a dog, which sometimes seems too much to handle. However, with time, effort, patience, and consistency, you can address them. Reducing the chances of post-partum puppy depression requires that you get in front of it. Tackle the most serious causes of this condition before bringing your dog home.
You should also have realistic expectations. Apparently, unrealistic expectations account for many cases of depression in dog owners. People have a world of fantasies about how life with their new furry friend will be. However, even as dogs give unconditional love, loyalty, and companionship, they are living things with feelings and needs. With a dog or puppy, expect to do the following;
- Pay for training, food, healthcare, and other associated costs of owning a dog
- Spend time potty training
- Spend time teaching your dog manners and obedience
- Expect some damage to your items
- Be woken severally for potty breaks
- Experience some sadness, fear, confusion, and anxiety
- Face some bad habits/traits
If you have other pets at home, you should also be prepared for conflicts after introducing the new member
Besides having realistic expectations, another way of minimizing depression is choosing the right dog breed. Different dog breeds have varying traits, health concerns, and needs. Therefore, you shouldn’t randomly choose a dog or puppy to take home. Similarly, all homes have varying sizes, amenities, and locations. Choose a dog that fits your home lifestyle, climate, activity level, and plans.
It is also important that you prepare in advance for your dog. Buying some essential items can help reduce stress and anxiety in the early days. If things become serious, don’t hesitate to get professional help.
Is it Ok to Yell at Your Dog?
Yelling is probably the first reaction to your dog’s bad habit or behavior. However, yelling at your dog can be disastrous in the long term. Yelling basically communicates to your dog through body language and tone, which teaches your dog new behavior. This method does not work and may stress or increase the energy level of your dog. Instead, resort to learn how to use a calm yet firm voice when refocusing your dog from bad behavior.
Apart from yelling, below are additional tips on how to correct your dog;
Don’t use pain
Just like humans, dogs make mistakes and don’t deserve physical pain as a way of correction. Instead of inflicting pain and discomfort using shock or prong collars, opt for alternative correction methods. As for physical correction, even if you don’t hit your dog, methods such as alpha rolling and pin downs introduces your dog to bad habits that they can replicate with other dogs or children.
Using physical correction measures to correct or control your dog causes distrust in your hands and often makes them defensive. Note that dogs are not naturally aggressive. Their aggression is a learned behavior that results from improper socialization, history, and poor training methods.
Don’t correct the dog after a bad incident
It is common to get back home to the realization that your dog has torn your sofa apart or bad toileting accident. Naturally, your first thought would be to yell and correct the dog. However, remember that dogs don’t have long-term memories. If you correct them after the act, they might not associate the correction with the bad behavior. Therefore, correction should be done immediately, when the dog is about or when in the act of doing the bad behavior.
Avoid direct eye contact
The final correction advice recommends that you should avoid direct eye contact with your dog. Humans naturally make full eye contact to emphasize their seriousness. However, dogs can perceive direct eye contact as a threatening gesture, which makes him/her question your intentions. They can start feeling fearful, leading to a flight or fight response.
What Happens if You Don’t Want Your Dog Anymore?
It is certainly a shame that you don’t want your dog anymore. However, in some situations, the feeling can’t be helped, especially if it has to do with dog behavior or post-partum dog depression. If you are undergoing this, consider the following options;
- Give out your dog to family and friends
- Contact rescue groups
- Find animal sanctuaries near you
- Take him/her to an animal shelter
- Give out to animal control facilities
FAQ
Can Dogs Become Suicidal?
Yes. Dogs can become suicidal by depression. Dogs with strong bonds often change their behavior if they lose their companions. This may lead them into depression, reject the food, and ultimately die.
Am I a bad person for rehoming my dog?
You shouldn’t feel bad for rehoming your dog. It could be the only option to preventing dangerous situations from happening, especially if you have an aggressive or dangerous dog at home. However, it becomes a liability to the rescue centers, shelter workers, and the next owner.
Will my dog miss me if I give him away?
Humans and dogs form unbreakable bonds. Therefore, your dog will definitely miss you if you give him away. Dogs hardly forget good parents. However, if you are sending the dog to an equally loving home, love and loyalty to the new family grow.
Can my anxiety make my dog anxious?
Apparently, new studies suggest that the relationship between dog owners and their pets runs both ways. Owners with chronic stress and anxiety can pass to their dogs.
The Bottom Line
Dogs are supposed to bring joy, love, and companionship. However, this doesn’t always happen. Aggressive dogs are frustrating, but you shouldn’t allow them to sink you into depression. The guide above outlines possible strategies to avoid succumbing to frustrations from your dog. If you feel the situation won’t ease, involve your family and friends, consult other dog owners, and invest in training.