To think that dogs are not born anxious

[bonbon2023]

And that their owners make them the way they are?

I'm on a couple of Facebook groups for the breeds of dogs I own and the amount of reactive/anxious dogs is getting ridiculous now. I'm seeing countless posts a day to the point I've left the groups. Dogs are not born this way it's what you do in bringing them up. The not ever leaving a dog to settle/be alone. Thinking a dog won't survive home alone if you leave the house for 5/6 hrs. A normal dog can be but the helicopter dog ownership is not helping them at all. And they are creating a rod for their own back, therefore ending up with a dog they can't control (or is controlling them) and then they are ending up rehomed. The final straw for me was a woman asking if she could give her dog a raw chicken wing that the butcher had given her saying her dog would love it, the comments went wild saying she shouldn't give her dog it, to the point she just threw it away. Some even telling her to freeze it first for two weeks 🤦🏻‍♀️
Dog ownership has changed massively in the last 10/15 years (since socially media) it's like dogs aren't treated like dogs anymore or aren't allowed to be because their owners are an anxious mess themselves 😬

I can't be the only one who thinks like this?

No it doesn't. It says "dogs are not born anxious".
Being predisposed to something and actually developing it are two totally different things.

I also think you're right that dogs are babied too much.

And, to be controversial, I think the doodling of so many breeds hasn't helped either. So many of them are completely neurotic and treated like babies, it's grim to see tbh.

I have two dogs from the same litter - same mother, different fathers (I presume, they look nothing like one another). We got them both at 8 weeks and they've never been apart and never been mistreated. One is as soppy as anything and loves everyone, the other is petrified of (most) men and very reactive. So, yes, in my very limited experience, they can be born anxious.

Ozzie, black and white, and Preto (the bag of nerves) 10 years ago 😀

https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.3594.epdf?sharing_token=wREtAfL_b1-Y7D1vNLz-2tRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PNRKbL1XKfDUHrLnX87GGppyj-gR9-bCs9xsAkAVaTlYOjcWHg2UdZdDQ6m-30AlYPT_AFLM8PvWx-LpZr96tVy5tRnjpGBH_uKyAgWC5gtSmyTnHgzzhR69FunAets56C8etJGLmQK2Gcl-CZOOO1s2WF6UEJRN2r8jg1LrPdWg%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.bbc.com

Yes. Actual fear can be passed. Again, research epigenetics.

I've got a cocker spaniel that we rescued at 5 months old. He's the most chilled out lovely natured boy imaginable. Our sprocker pup came from a litter of 9, we chose her as she was bred locally and brought her home at 10 weeks. She's unbelievably anxious. We can't have the TV on loud, she hides under a bed if someone shouts and we can't ever watch a sporting match. She's terrified of her own shadow, and it really pisses me off that anyone would judge me for being respsonsible. We went to puppy classes and it took her 4 weeks to come out from under the chairs in the hall. The trainer saw us for months after and said it's really common in springers/sprockers. She is well socialised, well walked, well fed and she comes from an adoring loving home where she and our other dog are very much the family dogs and not substitute children.

Freezing is to kill parasites, not bacteria. And is just as effective with supermarket wings frozen at home.

Yup. I think if you haven't experienced a super anxious puppy then you don't get it. Ours is the fifth dog that we have had. She isn't babied or anything else, she came to us as a bag of nerves and she's stayed a bag nerves. Sometimes we think we are making progress then something happens like when an off lead jack Russel with no discernable owner attacked her she goes right back again. It has really put me of having a dog again as it can be a lot to deal with but I know 100% that she was this way when we got it, it isn't anything we have done.

I agree. There are many dogs being rehomed because their owners are unable to live up to the ridiculous expectations other people put on them. The financial costs of dog walkers, kennels, doggy daycare and pet psychologists is a joke.

They are dogs not humans

I agree like the “breeders” who cross cocker spaniels with poodles….

The breed specific groups on fb are the absolute worst. Insanity and obsession at its finest. I have an Akita. They have a specific set of breed traits that make them "interesting". The amount of inexperienced dog owners that post absolute bullshit with complete disregard for the breed and known traits.

The most common is "everyone said don't get another dog with an Akita but I thought it would be ok and now..." stupid.

This with bells on

I’ve had dogs all my life and yes, totally agree with you, like parenting dog ownership is a web of anxiety now.

An example is the recent heat, owners obviously have taken in the message that a) dogs shouldn’t be left on their own at all and b) they should be walked every day without fail. The result is absolute social media outrage at people walking their dogs in 32 degree heat through town. There’s no sense about it.

The other is socialisation and off lead dogs, you get some owners who are absolutely paranoid and won’t let their dogs mix, and then they become nervous. It’s not necessarily breed either, as some nervier breeds brought up by chilled owners end up ok.

Theres a lot of nervous owners but also a lot of absolutely hysterical dog haters who think each dog is about to maul them, which makes matters even more complicated (I can see my own privilege here though as I live in a small rural town with naice people with naice dogs, I may feel differently with certain breeds and certain owners).

If its raw its fine.

My sister's dog was absolutely born anxious, and despite robust socialization and training still is anxious as an older dog. My dog has never liked being by himself - even as a tiny pup he was always glued to his mum or another puppy!

I don’t know why not having dog walkers is meant to be a positive thing. I could leave my dog home alone and fuck off to work all day. It may have been socially acceptable 20 years ago but nowadays, most people know it’s unkind to leave dogs for hours on end. Mine wouldn’t be distressed outwardly but it’s a better quality of life not to be home alone all day for 5 days a week. I’ve had dog walkers in the past but now I am lucky to have a family member who helps.

Correction: unkind to leave most dogs home alone all day on a regular basis.

Genetics and breeding can definitely play its part in anxiety but equally so does socialisation and training! Its 6 of one and half a dozen of the other!

But it won't kill bacteria which is FAR more common.

Parasitic freeing applies more to freshly caught fish. Food chain mean should be for the most part parasite free due to processing.

Absolutely not true! Fresh meat from a supermarket ( fit for human consumption) is absolutely fine! Its things like road kill or wild meat that needs to be frozen for a couple of weeks to kill any nasties!

I see what you did there! 😄

Absolutely this.
Idiots breeding without looking at physical and emotional health of parents-
Breeding from known aggressive lines..

A lot of people have dogs they are incapable of controlling.
” Reactive” is the new phrase.
Years ago it’s was just called a badly trained dog.

The trend for importing from overseas - and selling those to anyone- definitely was a trend a few years ago.

There we’re lots of dogs from Romania that have disappeared now.
Wether given up to other rescue centres or euthanised, I don’t know.

These were often a handful for the inexperienced owner - one woman was badly bitten by her Imported “ Rescue “ dog.

She gave it back to the rescue place, but lost her money.

For people looking to get a dog - a REPUTABLE rescue place where they match the dog to you or go via a breed rescue or club.
Never buy from an online ad.

My dog was absolutely fine until they were attacked by an off-leash dog (my dog was on the leash). This resulted in a few hours of surgery and two weeks with a cone on. Now my dog is anxious. Hope this helps your understanding.

What am i missing? How can they be different fathers if they were the same litter?

I'm so sorry - mine was the same, though luckily he didn't need surgery.

These threads totally ignore the fact that sometimes, you can do everything right and still end up with an anxious dog through absolutely no fault of your own.

You can do all the training and socialising in the world, but you can't control everything. Even the best behaved dogs can get attacked, or sick, or get into accidents or injured and can become anxious and reactive as a result.

My dog was absolutely fine until two off-lead terriers ran up to him on a path, pinned him to the floor and bit him multiple times at just seventeen weeks of age. Funnily enough, he's been a bit scared of dogs since then.

It's possible. Dogs are polygamous and can have puppies from multiple fathers in the same litter. It's the same with cats.