Exploring the World of My Anxious Dog
Hello everyone, this is Krista with Episode #184 on the Wag Out Loud pawdcast. Many of you know that last year, I started working with Dr. Judy Morgan and the Naturally Healthy Pets team. And to be honest, I can no longer do that job and run the Wag Out Loud business. So I've decided that my last Wag Out Loud episode will release at the end of the year. And it's been such a great learning experience for me, and I'm so proud of all the great content that I've shared over the last four and a half years. But if any of you are interested in taking over the pawdcast, please let me know. It would be great for someone else as passionate about canine health and wellness to carry on the legacy. And I have everything in place that I could easily teach you the ropes.
When it comes to your dog's health, one of the biggest areas overlooked is the mouth. Did you know that dental disease is the number one health issue that dogs face with over 80% of them having it by the age of three? So not only can our pups suffer from swollen gums, bad breath, loose teeth, actual tissue destruction and bone loss. But the bad bacteria that overtake their mouth can seep into their bloodstream and affect the heart, the liver and the kidneys. And yes, it could even be deadly. So fortunately, dental disease is manageable and preventable. So why not take care of your dog's teeth at home by brushing their teeth daily with a pet formulated toothpaste?
Welcome to the Wag Out Loud pawdcast, where we are obsessed with bringing you helpful tips on canine health care, nutrition, and overall wellbeing. If you'd like to support the show, check out the amazing online events, products and resources that I personally recommend on the Wag Out Loud website. I'm your host, Krista and I'm super excited to be bringing you yet another tail wagging episode.
Sarah Jones is the visionary creator behind the #dogsinyellow national awareness day on 20th March, dedicated to raising awareness for dogs that need space. Her passion for canine well-being and safety for her own dog Bella has inspired a nationwide movement, educating dog owners and the public about respecting a dog's need for personal space.
Welcome dog lovers! We have something new to learn today as I'm joined by my special guest, Sarah Jones, and we're going to be chatting about exploring the world of my anxious dog and boy do a lot of us have anxious dogs. Sarah, thanks so much for being with us today.
Thank you for inviting me.
Well, could you introduce yourself and share with us how you became so passionate about canine anxiety.
My name is Sarah Jones, and I'm the Founder of My Anxious Dog. And I got into the world of yellow because of my anxious dog Bella. And the problems and the issues that I had, I needed something to help me while out in public with her anxiety and fears.
And you've created something amazing which we're going to get into. I know that you sent me some background information. And I was really shocked that more than 70% of dogs suffer from anxiety or fear. And that was according to a study by the University of Helsinki. And a more recent report from PDSA PAW, back in 2022 of last year showed that a lot of owners have a lack of understanding of the needs of their pets. So we're seeing more issues, especially around behavioral problems. And that could be linked to lack of socialization. And especially during the pandemic, when we were two years with our dogs, did not leave our sides and then went back to the normal world and they were left alone. So why don't you chat more about your dog, Bella, and how you did get into this, as you said the world of yellow?
My Anxious Puppy Bella
Well, I had Bella from a puppy. She was eight weeks old. She's a cocker spaniel. Very pretty little puppy. And yeah, I've never never experienced anything quite like having an anxious puppy at all. At the time, when we went to see her from the breeder, she'd had a traumatic birth. And one of the puppies had died. Her mother had to have a cesarean surgery. And then she was about four or five weeks old and she got bitten quite badly on her back by one of the littermate pups. So when we picked her up at eight weeks old, you know, she still had quite quite a big sore on her. And then as she got a little bit older, we noticed her behavior was quite shy almost. If we went to we went, we registered at the local vet’s, there was a socialization class for the puppies, they invited like four or five, six people down with their puppies. And Bella just sat under my chair, when we got down there, watching the other puppies, you know, having fun and having little bundles, but she just sat very quietly. And I didn't really think anything of it or put anything together. And then we were doing flyball when she was about eight, nine months old, just learning the basis of of flyball. And we were in a park. And she was just doing a run finishing off it was only a small because it was for the younger dogs. And this dog from absolutely nowhere, ran across the park and just took her out from the side. And I think at the time, it sounded quite ferocious. I checked her over for bites and everything. And there was no, nothing like that. But I think she had soft tissue damage. So then when people touched her, it hurt her. And she remembered this. So then she not only had a fear of other dogs, but she had a fear of being touched by people. And this progressed very slowly. Because I didn't recognize the signs that she was showing that she didn't want to be touched by people to the point that she would growl and snap at people to tell them to go away. So having this little one year old, pretty little dog out in public then became a huge nightmare for me.
I can't even imagine. And I'm sure that other people not knowing the situation. Just thought she was aggressive. And they probably judged you like, Oh, what are you doing? You know, you're not helping this dog? So that just exasperated the problem, I'm sure.
Other Peoples’ Perceptions
Yeah, absolutely. People didn't understand. And of course, you know, I found myself not wanting to do anything with her so much because I was really apprehensive about going out in public with her.
Right. And why should we link the color yellow to an anxious dog?
Why the Color Yellow?
Well, yellow is the official warning color for caution. So in the UK, if you go to a building site or anything like that, it will there will be yellow, black and yellow tape. So it's, so it comes from there. And the idea behind it is it came from the horse world. that if you had a horse that kicked, it had a red ribbon on its tail. And the idea stemmed from there and it turned into a yellow ribbon. But obviously putting a yellow ribbon on a pretty little dog doesn't really help the situation.
Right. So walk us through, you have this one year old, obviously, fearful, and you thought maybe with aggression, you weren't sure? What were the steps that you took to uncover why Bella had this anxiety that just took over her whole world.
Training and Rehabilitation
So when she first started snapping, I spoke to the lady that we've done the training with who told me about the yellow, I think it's called the Yellow Dog Project. And then I saw a couple of behaviorists as well and then started to understand about the other side of owning a dog and about anxiety and fear and reactivity. So I looked into the yellow products and back then that was nine years ago, there was hardly anything available out there. And what was out there wasn't I didn't find suitable for Bella the wording on it wasn't quite right. The quality of it wasn't quite right. And the choice of products wasn't quite right. So I decided to design my own.
Well, that's cool. So what does Bella wear to alert others that she has anxiety.
Yellow Garments
She always has a yellow harness on I always use a yellow lead. And we always have either the wordings on there do not touch because that's immensely important. We have keep away and we also have anxious on the harness. So, in the winter and yesterday it was raining here. She had her anxious yellow little raincoat on.
So she won't let anybody else touch her besides yourself and your family?
Yeah, she's got a circle of people. And that's it. So if someone to Bella or if I'm out in public, and someone starts talking to her, normally, when you see a dog, you're looking at them, you're talk to them, and then people automatically put their handout to touch. Right? So if people then look at her and talk to her, she's instantly on guard, because she thinks next thing that's going to happen is the hand’s going to come down and touch me. So sure, yeah. So obviously, because of her issue, she was muzzle trained, as well, quite, quite young. So if we do go somewhere where it's really busy, still wear a yellow muzzle.
So at home during normal life, she's fine, she's calm, she's happy. It's when you go outside, to the world of scary things that she reacts, is that right?
She’s quite happy generally out and about, and she's quite happy that, you know, we've done so much training with behaviorists that she can walk behind another dog, walk past another dog. Oh, there's only a few dogs that she will actually bark and lunge at. She is very, she has improved a lot. So sometimes she will with smaller dogs she will want to sniff. So she will go in and sniff at a slight distance, but go in with a low growl as well as if to say, you know, she's obviously talking don't sniff Me I'm Scared or whatever that means. But it is quite odd that she wants to sniff but is also fearful.
And that's today. That's at age 11. Yeah. So she is still traumatized by what happened to her as a puppy. Yeah. So you've worked with different trainers and behaviorists and haven't been able to completely rehabilitate, because she just can't forget, right?
Compared to PTSD
No, I suppose it's a bit like PTSD in humans, you know, post traumatic stress disorder, I think it's a bit the same. And having over the last four years suffered that with myself, I can, I can relate to it a little bit more. So I can even relate to you know, what some of these dogs go through and how they feel I can sort of understand it now. Because some things that have happened in life that really, really scare you, and is a trauma, you don't really forget them. You just learn how to deal with these things, or maybe improve and I think that's what's happened with Bella, she's got a bit more confident. Out and About because of the yellow has helped her so much that people do give us space. I think doesn't, it makes a massive difference to my confidence and her confidence.
Yeah, definitely. And what do people say when they see you? Out? And about? Do they Question, you know, what's going on? Why is she wearing yellow? Can you tell me more about your dog?
Um, in the beginning, yes, that used to happen. And still, even today, you know, somebody, I was out, I had to get my tire fixed. I had to take Bella out of the car and stand to the side and the mechanic that was going to do the job approached me and said, Oh, your dogs really pretty. You know, and I had to explain why she’s got a yellow lead and a great big thing saying do not touch. Oh, yeah, I didn't see that. Now I can see it and understand. So it's growing and growing. I think the Awareness Day has made a huge difference with the awareness for it as well. Lots of lots, it's enabled a lot of owners with anxious and reactive dogs to get behind it as well. We call ourselves the yellow army.
I love it. We're going to talk more about the yellow army here in a minute, we're just going to take a quick commercial break, so hang tight, everybody.
SPONSOR AD
A shout out to my friends at Primalhealth for sponsoring this month's episodes. They are the makers of TEEF drinkable dental health for our dogs, and this is a product that I've been using for years. Over 80% of dogs over the age of three have active dental disease, so it's crucial that we get ahead of this condition. And TEEF is a patented 100% non toxic prebiotic formula that promotes protective bacteria to neutralize dangerous bacteria, even below the gum line. It's a human grade, safe and clinically proven powder that is easily added to your dog's drinking water. It promotes clean teeth, healthy gums, and fresh breath. We've already started adding teeth to Dutton’s drinking water as a preventative, and in addition to regular brushing, his teeth look amazing! So what are you waiting for order yours today by going to TEEFhealth.com . And use the code WOL to receive 20% off of your order.
And we are back from that commercial break. And Sarah is talking to us about exploring the world of my anxious dog. And I think so many of us can relate to this, of course, I think your instance is extreme. And that's why you started this army of yellow, which I love. So Sarah, you want to talk about people approaching you? You know, you said in the beginning, people were asking a lot of questions. What is the difference between anxiety? And aggression? Is it all fear based?
Fear Based?
The majority of people that I speak to and my dog Bella as well, it's fear based. A lot of people don't understand that and think it's general aggression. But when it was first happening to me, you know, I've seen a mixture of trainers and behaviorists and behaviorists have all said, she is not an aggressive dog. It is it comes from being fearful. And the problem is, as well is that is how a dog communicates. So it's our perception that we're getting wrong of how a dog communicates to us. So that's how the dog, my dog, Bella is talking to another dog. Yeah, it's doing it to a human. So the dog on dog would understand what that all means. But, yeah, it's our perception. So the yellow has almost given. Bella, a voice that humans can understand.
Right. And do you think if somebody has a puppy and they realize they are anxious, or that a traumatic event did happen? What would you suggest to people? Is it all about socializing them right afterwards? And trying to confront that fear or trigger?
What to do with Anxious Dog?
No, because it's all to do with levels of stacking. So, you know, if we have a bad experience with another dog, which is very rare nowadays, then I probably wouldn't take Bella out for a walk in a busy area, I'd make sure that we'd play in the garden, or we do more stuff in the house. We play games and things like that and have enrichment. So to let her calm down, and then when I go out again, I would try and make it fun and positive.
Right. That's great advice. Well, let's talk about the Awareness Day that you have put into place for March 20. How did that come about?
Awareness Day
It came because I was getting so frustrated with people saying to me, the yellow is a really good idea. But nobody knows what it means. I was like, if you’d do something about it and use it, everybody would know what it means. So it sort of stemmed from that for other people to be able to get involved on the day. Because obviously social media is the forefront of everything nowadays. So you know, to be able to use it for that was really important.
Are more people in the UK more aware of the dogs in yellow, or do you think it is becoming worldwide that people do know what it means?
Do Most Know What Yellow Means?
It's definitely becoming worldwide. I've I've had quite a few orders and interest from America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe. It's definitely definitely, you know, spreading. So obviously, I concentrate on the UK and yeah, I think it's definitely growing the awareness. So many people when I go out for a walk, give us space and know what it means now.
That's great. And what happens when you're out on a walk because I know it happens here all the time. Other dogs are off leash, and not or they you know, the owner thinks I have my dog under control and they're not. What do you do in that situation?
Confronting Other Dogs and People
Well, sometimes it's very difficult on where you go so picking where you go sometimes so I wouldn't go to a park, a busy Park. That would just be silly of me to go to a park for me to walk through a middle of the park with people, children and dogs running around. Um, but sometimes you can go to the countryside, big areas, and you do come across people with off leash dogs. And, you know, they'll say, Don't worry, my dog’s friendly. And to us with dogs on yellow lead, it means I've got no recall. you know, there's 11 million dogs in the UK now. And they recognize that 11% of the owners have no recall when their dog’s off leash, but that's over a million dogs that, you know, we have to contend with. Which is, you know, basically, they're out of control dogs.
And it's not fair to us that do have our dogs on a leash and have control.
Yeah. And then the trouble is, it can get into a situation where you're then having an argument with someone because their dog’s jumping all over your dog, your dog’s getting fearful. So taking months of training going backwards now. And then if your dog snaps, that person then gets cross with you, because they can't control their dog. So it's always a difficult consideration both ways is important. And I think as well, if you have a dog that doesn't like other dogs, or other people or both, it's considerate for you to use the yellow not to expect people to just to know. So I think it works both ways as well. I think it's it's important for us to use the yellow to let people know from a distance.
Absolutely. And if Bella is fearful of other people, do you ever have a pet sitter watch her?
We do surprisingly. She takes time. So when we go on holiday, the lady you know, I was very careful when researching who I picked. And I found someone suitable when she went for an hour. And then she and she happened to be a dog behaviorist and she was you know, dog walking business. So she was very experienced. But yeah, so she will go to the vet, she goes to the groomers. It's almost like she knows she has to have these things done. And it's okay.
That's fantastic.
But the complexity of the dog's mind?
Well, tell us about the survey that you did the impact of national dogs in yellow day.
Survey Results
Yeah, so we conducted the first ever survey back in December about how people felt the dogs in yellow, does it help them? Does it? Did it help them with the awareness. And, you know, all the different questions around it and over 1000 owners got involved in the report. And we got back 91% find, yellow enhanced their walks. Which, that's amazing. Just just really, really good. And 66% said they came into contact less with people and other dogs. So it's definitely definitely getting out there.
Right. And do you have any stories that you can share with us of people that found you, your company, my anxious dog that changed their dog's life?
Strong Community
I do. I have a few. Quite a few stories of people come in and just just relate me relating to them as well, you know that they're not the only person so I formed a Facebook group called Anxious Dogs UK, where people in similar situations can just come and ask for advice about all different things. And it was amazing how people thought that they were the only one with a dog like that or struggling with issues and things. So that's got about 10,000 people in that group now. So, you know, we try and support each other a lot. It can be very isolating sometimes when you first start off with an anxious or reactive dog.
Well, you are changing lives. That's so huge. Well, Sarah, as we are about to wrap up here, what are some words of advice that you would give to somebody that definitely has an anxious dog? What's the next step?
If you've got an anxious dog, and you don't have yellow, try it because like I say before it, it's like a voice for your dog. And it also it helped my anxiety when I was out with Bella you know, obviously because Bella is also not good with people. but it just gives you a little bit more confidence about being out in public rather than just, you know, when I see Bella now out in the garden or in a secure field, and she hasn't got a yellow on, she looks naked to me. So, you know, the yellow definitely, definitely is telling people your dog's personality. So whether it's even just a yellow ribbon or a lead slipcover or a lead, I mean, I go, we go out in full on yellow, but it just gives you the confidence. And I'm very, very proud to be using the yellow with her as well.
Well, I am so glad you started this initiative, you are obviously helping a lot of dogs and the people who love them. So Sarah, where can everybody find out more information about you, My Anxious Dog, and all of the amazing products that you do have available?
My website is www.myanxiousdog.co.uk. And I can also be found on Instagram and Facebook as well under @myanxiousdog. So we also have a My Anxious Dog, USA Facebook page too.
My Anxious Dog Yellow Products (@myanxiousdog) | Instagram
(20) My Anxious Dog (@Myanxiousdog) / Twitter
And I will have all of these links in the show notes for all of our listeners. Sarah, thank you so much for this yellow dog education. You know, that's what this is all about. We don't know what we don't know. And if you see a dog in yellow, we all need to pause and understand what it means and give them space. So I just want to thank you for being here today.
Thank you very much.
Thanks again to our friends at Primalhealth, makers of TEEF for sponsoring this month's episodes. Your dog deserves a healthy mouth. Go to TEEFhealth.com to learn more about this amazing product. And don't forget that the code WOL gets you 20% off of your order.
Thanks for listening. You'll find some helpful links in the show notes and if you enjoy the show, please be sure to follow and listen for free on your favorite podcast app. And please, please share your feedback. Visit WagOutLoud.com for great product recommendations with discounts, amazing online events and fantastic resources. That's also where to visit our Bark About It page where you can suggest topics, guests or products. Be advised that this show offers health and nutritional information and is designed for educational purposes only. You're encouraged to do your own research and should not rely on this information as a substitute for nor does it replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your dog's health, you should always consult a veterinarian or a nutrition expert. Have a tail wagging day and we'll catch you next time.
Don’t forget to Subscribe for FREE and please leave a review: Apple Podcasts | Android | Spotify I Stitcher I iHeartRADIO
The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. It is no substitute for professional care by a veterinarian, licensed nutritionist or other qualified professional. The host as well as guests who speak on this podcast express their own opinions, experience and conclusions, and Wag Out Loud LLC neither endorses or opposes any particular views discussed here.