canine
Stress Matters In the first part of a new series, Diane Garrod examines the signs of canine stress and explains how the level of stress can be assessed
S
tress is a very real issue in dogs. It can cause them to go on autopi lot, so to speak, where they are just going through the motions of daily life while their reactivity or aggression increases. Such dogs may be on information overload and, in our busy, noisy human world, stress can be a daily occurrence for our dogs. By understanding what stress is, recognizing the outward signs, and being aware of what goes on internally, we can target our behavior modification programs to be resultsoriented and create longlasting change. We can say that, generally, stress is present as a dog learns how to cope with real life. We have all seen many examples of stress signals ap pearing, such as on car rides, during vet visits, and in interactions with other dogs or unfamiliar people. Along with the bad stress, there is, of course, good stress, known as eustress. Eustress is defined as “a positive form of stress having a beneficial effect on health, motivation, perform ance, and emotional wellbeing” (MerriamWebster, 2019). Indeed, stress is natural, a means of survival. Separation anxiety cases are good examples of nonadaptive re sponses to what some dogs find stressful. The guardian leaves the dog home alone because they must go out to work so they can feed and care for the dog amongst other things. But the dog has other ideas. When the guardian gets ready to leave, the clues, or predeparture cues, are evident. These may include picking up the car keys, putting on shoes or sunglasses, putting on a coat and/or picking up a purse or briefcase. These antecedents (ie. everything that typically happens be fore the stressful event) set the stage for panic. This state of panic can occur before, during and/or after the guardian's actual disappearing act. The dog may whine for hours, resulting in complaints from the neigh bors. Sometimes the whining may turn into howling or incessant bark ing and the neighbor, who has had enough, will make a recording of it. The guardian, who may previously have been unaware, is now paying full attention. The signs of stress, including whining, howling, chewing, destruction, panting and excessive greeting behavior, cannot be ig nored. This is just one of many scenarios where stress is revealed.
Photo © Diane Garrod
A walk is stressful for this dog as indicated by the tense body, tail up, hard stare, ears forward, paw up, pulling on leash, and inattentiveness to his guardian; guardians need to take care not to put their dogs in such situations
•
What Is Stress? As previously stated, stress is a life function and necessary for survival, yet,as in the example above, too much stress can cause behavior, learn ing and health problems. There are three main stress chemicals: adrenaline (epinephrine), cortisol and noradrenaline (norepinephrine) (Klein, 2014). When en countering a stressful event, these chemicals are released to help the dog get through it. However, if the stressful events occur close to each other, it becomes harder and takes longer for the dog to come down from them, the chemicals build up, and reactivity and/or aggression can become more frequent and perhaps more intense. Internally, it looks like this:
States O'Heare (2017): "In order for behavior change procedures to influence what the dog learns, the dog's level of stress must be reduced.”
36
BARKS from the Guild/November 2019
•
Adrenaline (epinephrine) is a hormone produced by the adrenal medulla when the body prepares for survival, i.e. fight or flight. Indications that adrenaline has been triggered include a dog that is overenergetic, extremely alert, doesn’t take treats or doesn’t eat his food. Adrenaline can build when there is stress but not necessarily actual danger. In such situations, a dog may outwardly become restless and irritable. He should be removed or redirected because he is indicating he is not comfortable with something in the environment. High levels of adrenaline can lead to chronic stress which may be manifested as insomnia, pacing, whining, aggressive behavior, obsessive compulsive dis order behaviors, and/or an inability to relax. This already sounds quite typical of many of the behavior cases we may see. Cortisol is a “steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex, that regulates carbohydrate metabolism, maintains blood pres sure, and is released in response to stress.” (The American Her itage Medical Dictionary, 2007). In survival mode, “the optimal amounts of cortisol can be life saving,” but when the body “con tinuously releases cortisol, chronic elevated levels can lead to serious issues.” (Klein, 2014). Cortisol levels “increase each time a stressful event occurs” (Bradley, 2019) and have a “halflife of 70 – 110 minutes. This means it can take five to eight hours for the body to completely remove it. If only a short time goes by between events, hormones from the previous events have not had time to clear and there is an additive effect.” (Hill, 2013).