The Causes and Effects of Canine Trauma and Helping a Dog Heal

Canine trauma is a common issue that’s unique to each individual dog. Every dog will perceive and process experiences differently, but it’s important to know the causes, effects, and how to help a dog through trauma.

Canine trauma is an internal response caused by distressing external events. The impact compromises the dog’s perceived level of safety, creates internal disruption and discord, and sets the stage for a tricky road ahead for many. Although trauma won’t happen to every dog, pet parents can prepare themselves by learning about what canine trauma is and how to help dogs through it.

What Is Canine Trauma and How Does It Happen?

Despite what many believe, trauma is not the actual event. It’s not the circumstance or the occurrence. Rather, trauma is how the event or circumstance is internalized. Dogs are a social species of animal and are wired for connection, and trauma rewires them for protection. Trauma removes a dog’s sense of safety, peace, security, joy, and confidence. This directly alters their self and world perceptions, beliefs, and associations.

While the individual determines what’s traumatic, trauma-causing events include:

• Physical abuse
• Neglect
• Mistreatment
• Being attacked by another dog or animal
• Living in isolation
• Natural calamities
• Unexpected accidents
• Abandonment
• Living with emotionally and mentally unstable people
• Their needs going unmet and unprovided for

How Trauma Manifests in Dogs

Identifying trauma in dogs can be difficult, as it often gets overshadowed by other behaviors and misinterpreted by people. Although trauma expresses itself in a myriad of ways, the more common signs include:

• An overactive defense drive (e.g. fight, flight, freezing up, hoodwinking, and avoidance)
• Odd or excessive vocalization
• Hypervigilance
• Changes in appetite and digestive issues
• Self-isolation and hiding
• Easily triggered and reactive (while dogs don’t live in the past, trauma gets stored in the body and can often get activated through associations and memories)
• Depression
• Physically trying to make themselves smaller (lowering and flattening the ears, averting the eyes, tucking the tail, rounding the back and lowering to the ground)

Helping a Dog Navigate and Heal from Trauma

Canine trauma is complex and requires a patient, consistent, holistic behavioral approach that replenishes their sense of safety, trust, and confidence. For starters, it’s critical to maintain a consistent, structured routine to create a level of predictability and certainty. That includes creating and sticking to routines around their wake time, relief, feeding, structured walking (a fundamental part of the trust and healing process), exercise, and sleep.

Keeping your own emotions in check and maintaining a calm and patient approach are also of utmost importance, as dogs are looking to us for cues on how to feel. Never force, push, or rush a dog through the rebuilding and healing process. Slow and steady wins this race.

Consistency, need-meeting, and dependability are canine love languages, especially for those navigating trauma. This includes:

• Consistently showing up with stable energy
• Following through
• Meeting the dog’s essential, individual, and breed-specific needs

This combination provides much-needed reassurance for dogs who are struggling and builds your level of dependability, safety, trust, and relevance in the dog’s eyes. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do.

Although every dog’s healing journey is as unique and individual as they are, these things work together to create the foundation needed for the rest of their healing journey.

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