So, you have a dog with anxiety.

As pet owners, it can be heart-breaking to watch our beloved pooches shiver, shake, pace and pant whenever an anxiety attack strikes. Of course, we want to help! But until recently, options were limited in terms of anti-anxiety products made specifically for pets.

Luckily, times have changed.

 Calming an anxious dog doesn’t need to be a struggle anymore. In addition to training and behavior modification, there is an exciting new product which promises to soothe your anxious dog, in the healthiest and most natural way possible.

It’s called Brave Paws.

The magic ingredient?

Extracts from the Souroubea plant.

Why Do Dogs Experience Anxiety?

Given the fact that they don’t work 9-5 jobs, have zero bills to pay, and no family members to look after, many people assume that dogs don’t feel stress. “What could they possible have to worry about?” you might wonder. “Other than eating, playing, and sleeping, there is nothing my dog needs to do that would lead them to feel anxious.

Yet, in actuality, that’s not quite true.

Anxiety is defined as a state of unease or obsessive concern over an event. It’s more

than a fleeting discomfort or fear. Anxiety is common in many living creatures, and as such, even dogs are known to show heightened levels of anxiety – despite their relatively comfortable lives!

For dogs, anxiety comes from three major sources. First, fear-related anxiety, as the name suggests, is triggered by events that scare the animal. It is most often felt by dogs when they hear loud noises or are exposed to a new environment. For example, a noisy grooming facility. Second is separation-related anxiety. This occurs when a dog is segregated or becomes detached from their home, place of comfort, family, or owner. You’ll know right away if this is your dog because they will bark, bark, bark. They may also destroy furniture, claws at the doors, chew on wall and window ledges, etc…Yikes.

The last category of canine anxiety is related to age. When dogs enter their golden senior years, it’s likely that their health will decline. Vision loss, hearing impairment, and Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome (the canine equivalent of Alzheimer's disease) are understandably stressful experiences for older dogs.  

Proven Ways to Prevent Anxiety in Dogs

Like the old saying goes, the best medicine is preventive.

Here are two easy ideas to stop a dog from developing anxiety. If it suits your lifestyle, consider introducing another animal companion. Oftentimes, adding a fellow cat or dog to the “household pack” will help soothe an anxious pooch. Not ready for an additional four-legged friend?

That’s okay!

You can also learn to read your dog’s body language. This is paramount to knowing when the dog is scared or uneasy. Furthermore, don’t forget that good nutrition plays an important role in the mental and physical state of a dog.

It Didn’t Work…My Dog is Still Anxious. Now What?

If prevention fails, it is important to know what else can be done to get rid of anxiety in dogs.

There are several ways to treat an anxious dog. This includes reconditioning or reprograming the dog to be able to respond positively to its anxiety-related trigger, desensitization of the dog by exposure to the source of anxiety, which helps it develop resistance, and the use of medications. 

You can also opt for a plant-based solution. For instance, tapping into the powers of Souroubea. This botanical approach to using medications to curb anxiety in dogs has proven very effective with little to no side effects. The leaves of Souroubea spp., contain a primary anxiolytic chemical called Butelinic Acid.

Here’s how it all works:

Simply put, Souroubea extracts have anxiolytic – AKA anti-anxiety – effects. The plant has the capacity to reduce stress-induced cortisol levels in canines, and this makes it a very formidable anxiolytic medication. In fact, the drug was once tested on a group of Beagle dogs with fear-related anxiety, using thunderstorms as a trigger. Sixty beagle dogs were assigned into six experimental groups, each receiving: a placebo, different doses of the test drug, or diazepam.

In the end, dogs who received the Souroubea-Platanus tablets showed greater inactivity (and less anxiety) than the dogs placed in other groups.

So, this study determined that Souroubea extract is useful for treating anxiety in not just humans, but animals too.

Your dog included!