by Ethel Smith

Created on: May 18, 2008   Last Updated: July 12, 2008

Your dog is a part of your home and needs to be able to fit in and have a place in the pecking order. Although you should not pander to an animal it deserves love and care from you. No-one forced you to take a pet into your home and so, as a responsible owner, you owe your dog, your family and your neighbourhood a well adjusted, happy and healthy dog.If you can calm a nervous dog down it will be much easier for you all to live together and be much healthier for the pet. Make sure that your dog has a quiet corner for his or her bed so that when the going gets tough and noisy around the house the dog can find its own peaceful place. After all every one needs their own quiet time and animals are no different from people in this respect.

NERVOUS DOGS

Some dogs are nervous and highly strung, no matter how hard you try and calm them down. This can partly be because some breeds are more excitable, on the whole or just because it is the dogs nature. However other breeds will nearly always be calm and reliable. Of course there are dogs that will only get nervous in certain situations. After all we all know folks who are always calm and others who are constant nervous wrecks. Similarly some people are frightened of the dark or thunder and it is only these things that make them nervous. Finally, surroundings and the animal's upbringing can affect dogs and make for a nervous disposition. If a dog has been mistreated and perhaps had some stressful puppy years the damage may have been done then. Never forget that dogs, like children, pick up on a person's mood and outlook and tend to follow the leader.

So how can a nervous dog's owner help ease the situation and improve the quality of life for all concerned?

SOCIALISING

Obviously if you have a dog from a very young age you will be able to train it well. Dogs need to socialise and be around plenty of other animals, people and different situations in order to cope well with life. If a dog has never seen a vacuum cleaner in operation before, it may be terrified when you get this monstrosity out of the cupboard and begin cleaning. Try to make sure that your pet is around normal everyday objects and gets used to them from a young age.

Socialising is important for your dog and this means with people outside of the family unit as well as other dogs. The more a dog socialises the less nervous it will be.

CONFRONTING FEARS

Having said that my four year old bitch has the jitters at present because of my new Dyson vacuum cleaner. I think it

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