Dog anxiety comes in all shapes and sizes, in all kinds of dogs, for all kinds of reasons. One thing all of us who have an anxious dog have in common - we want to do everything we can to alleviate our dog's stress and fear, to help our dog live life calm and happy.

Getting a handle on your dog's anxiety and helping your pup overcome it can seem like a lonely, daunting task. We're here for you.

And we've brought together Dogly Training and Wellness Advocates, experts in how to treat dog anxiety who are certified as positive reinforcement trainers, separation anxiety trainers, canine massage therapists, and canine naturopaths, to take you step by step through how to understand and successfully treat anxiety in your your pup.

To make it simple to jump in and learn how to help alleviate your dog's anxiety, we've organized the guides so you can easily access what you need to know about what matters for your individual dog and treating dog anxiety in 4 sections: understanding anxiety, separation anxiety, crate anxiety, and noise sensitivity/anxiety.

Here's a look at what you'll learn in each of the 18 guides:

A good starting point is understanding anxiety in dogs in the first 4 guides - to know what your dog is feeling and what to do about it.

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Dog Anxiety Guide 1: How to see your dog's stress and understand your dog's anxiety

Successfully treating dog anxiety starts with knowing how to really see the signs of stress in your dog, to decode what your dog is telling you in dog body language, and understand what root cause is likely to trigger anxiety in your dog. In this guide, you'll learn the 10 most common signs of stress in dogs, what they mean, and when you spot them, what to do in the moment to help your dog and what to do next to prevent or prepare for an anxiety trigger going forward.

Want to get started with this guide? Jump in and learn how to read your dog's stress signals here with certified canine naturopath, Reiki master, canine massage therapist, and Dogly Wellness Advocate Ranna Lynn.

Dog Anxiety Guide 2: How to build your dog's confidence

Why do trainers recommend confidence-builders for nervous and fearful dogs (for all dogs, really)? Because dogs thrive on predictability and feeling safe and secure - they're happier, healthier, and yes, less likely to have anxieties when they feel on top of things.

Regardless of what's specifically triggering your dog's anxiety, whether it's generalized anxiety or situational anxiety, it all springs from your dog feeling insecure, fearful, and worried about whatever might be happening.

In this guide, certified positive reinforcement trainer and Dogly Training Advocate Melissa Dallier shares how and why to create more predictability in your dog's life, how to give your dog more opportunities for active choice and soul-satisfying behaviors (like sniffari walks), and teaches you 7 confidence-fortifying games and skills to enjoy with your dog (from "go say hi" to pattern games).

If you're ready to start building your dog's confidence (and have fun growing your bond together at the same time, you'll find the full guide and accompanying video here.

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Dog Anxiety Guide 3: How to approach an anxious/scared dog - learn the treat/retreat "game"

The best way to approach a frightened, anxious dog is - don't. Any approach is almost certain to drive up the stress level. Instead, you want to set the stage to let the dog approach you.

How? You'll learn the treat/retreat "game," the first skill positive reinforcement trainer and Dogly Advocate Ruby Leslie teaches every fearful dog she works with. In this guide and video, Ruby takes you step by step through how to practice treat/retreat with your dog (including the secret to what makes it work and troubleshooting tips along the way).

To start teaching your dog treat/retreat, follow Ruby's training steps here.

Dog Anxiety Guide 4: How to prepare your dog to be left alone

With all the post-pandemic work schedule changes and more time spent at home, many of our dogs have gotten used to having us around and are out of practice at being alone. Even for dogs who haven't shown signs of stress with being home alone before, it's a good idea to prepare your dog with some simple practice before it becomes an issue or accelerates.

That's why positive reinforcement trainer, Certified Separation Anxiety Therapist, and Dogly Training Advocate Melissa Dallier created this guide to reduce anxiety around your leaving. Melissa shares 7 steps to take to help your dog stay comfortable during alone-time - along with pro tips on why and how to use a camera during these exercises and what to do if you spot signs of separation anxiety. You can start prepping your dog for alone-time with Melissa's step-by-step guidance here.

And that's a good segue into the next 9 guides here in the Anxiety Channel on separation anxiety - what you need to know about separation anxiety and the specific solutions if your dog is suffering with separation anxiety.

Dog Anxiety Guide 5: How to tell if it's actually separation anxiety

Working to overcome anxiety in dogs requires knowing what kind you're dealing with. Especially true with separation anxiety because it's classified as a panic disorder and has been shown to only respond to a very specific training treatment and not to others.

That's why it's important to know how to tell if that half-eaten couch or surprise accident you came home to was due to boredom, a medical issue, unexpected neighborhood fireworks... or separation anxiety. You'll learn all the exercises and tests experts use to sort it out and what to do next from certified positive reinforcement trainer and Dogly Training Advocate Ayelet Berger in this guide with accompanying video here.

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Dog Anxiety Guide 6: How desensitization will help your dog's separation anxiety

You may have already experienced firsthand that separation anxiety is a uniquely tricky anxiety, classified as a panic disorder, that doesn't respond to many of the usually helpful training techniques. Thankfully, systematic desensitization has proved to be one thing that works to alleviate panic disorders like separation anxiety - best with the guidance of a certified specialist in separation anxiety (such as a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer).

So what is desensitization and how do you go about making it work for your dog? In this guide, Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer and Dogly Advocate Melissa Dallier takes you through everything you need to know about desensitization, why and how it works, and the detailed steps to get started. When you're ready to begin, you can jump into the full guide here.

Dog Anxiety Guide 7: How to understand signs of separation anxiety and what to do - there is hope!

Are you and your dog struggling with separation anxiety despite what seems like your never-ending best efforts? You are not alone with that.

That's why Certified Separation Anxiety Therapist and Dogly Training Advocate Melissa Dallier created this guide to give you a separation anxiety specialist's eye-view of what your dog is actually experiencing physiologically and emotionally with separation anxiety - and what you can do to help that works. You can dive into this guide here and get a good foundation for getting the most out of the guides up next in this series.

Dog Anxiety Guide 8: How to set up your home for success

Setting up your home environment with your dog's separation anxiety related behaviors in mind can go a long way to set you and your pup up for success. CSAT and Dogly Training Advocate Melissa Dallier takes you through why and how every separation anxiety specialist assesses your environment as an essential part of your training/treatment plan.

Melissa shares how to set up your home base for success, including 7 key questions and tips for knowing how to make your environment supportive for your dog in this guide and accompanying video.

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Dog Anxiety Guides 9-12: How to make coming and going no big deal (a 4-part series)

Now that you have a solid foundation in understanding your dog's separation anxiety and what dog anxiety treatment works to alleviate it and why, this 4-part series of guides gets to the heart of your training work with your dog.

CSAT and Dogly Advocate Melissa Dallier takes you step by incremental step through how to make your comings and goings no big deal. You'll learn how to gradually desensitize your dog to the door and all your movements around it that signal to your dog you're leaving. Your goal: "make the door a bore" so your dog begins feeling comfortable and secure home alone after following these 4 guides:

• How to Make Coming & Going No Big Deal - Part 1
• How to Make Coming & Going No Big Deal - Part 2
• How to Make Coming & Going No Big Deal - Part 3
• How to Make Coming & Going No Big Deal - Part 4

Once your dog is comfortable with each guide's exercises, you'll move to the next, adding small elements like putting your shoes on or increasing the duration slightly. Take your time, enjoy working with your dog, and when you're finished with these guides, your dog should have a good base in finding your leaving a non-event.

Dog Anxiety Guide 13: 5 myths about about separation anxiety and the facts you need to know instead

In this last guide in the separation anxiety series, CSAT and Dogly Advocate Melissa debunks some of the myths surrounding separation anxiety that only distract you and your dog from making progress. Even more important, she replaces them with the corresponding facts instead.

Find out the facts separation anxiety experts want you to know so you can forget about the counterproductive myths here in this guide.

Next up and sometimes confused with separation anxiety is crate anxiety - what to know, how to help.

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Dog Anxiety Guide 14: How to know if it's confinement anxiety or separation anxiety

Confinement or crate anxiety can look a lot like separation anxiety so it can be hard to figure out what's actually causing your dog's anxiety-related behaviors. But knowing what you're dealing with makes all the difference in creating a training/treatment plan that works.

CSAT and Dogly Training Advocate Melissa Dallier has you covered in this guide including 8 questions to ask yourself to know if it's crate or separation anxiety, how to run an assessment on your dog, and what to do next to help your pup. To get started, you can jump into this guide here.

For all the dogs terrorized by thunder, fireworks, and other scary sounds, next up are 4 guides on what to know about noise anxiety and how to help...

Dog Anxiety Guide 15: How to get ahead of noise anxiety

Every dog parent with a noise-anxious dog knows how agonizing it is to see their dog thoroughly terrified, sometimes to the point of extreme physical distress. In this guide, certified positive trainer and Dogly Advocate Melissa Dallier explains what you can do to help your noise-sensitive dog feel secure and comfortable.

Melissa teaches you step by step how to work with your dog using counterconditioning to gradually change how your dog feels about the noise - replacing negative with positive feelings. And in the meantime, she shares 7 tips on how to get ahead of your dog's fear of thunder, fireworks, other noises the day of their happening. If you're ready to work with your dog on counterconditioning, you can start here.

Dog Anxiety Guide 16: How to help your dog cope with loud, unsettling noises

Helping your dog feel comfortable around frightening, loud noises starts with understanding your dog's feelings about safety and security.

In this guide, you'll learn the difference between safety and security for your dog, how that helps you change how your dog feels about noises, and useful skills including how to read your dog's body language to spot signs of stress early. You can start learning ways to help your dog feel secure here with positive reinforcement trainer and Dogly Advocate Tressa Fessenden-McKenzie.

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Dog Anxiety Guide 17: How to desensitize your dog to noises

Anxiety-causing noises don't always have to be the big booms of thunder or fireworks. Many dogs only react to earth-shattering noise, while other dogs get nervous and excited around everyday sounds like rolling garbage cans or the security system's small beep every time the door opens. If that sounds like your dog, force-free trainer and Dogly Training Advocate Richard Gonzalez has you and your dog covered in this guide.

Richard explains why desensitization along with positive reinforcement works for noise sensitivity and shows you how to do it step by step in this guide and video. You can check out the full guide and watch Richard demonstrate each step with client dog Maggie in the video here.

Dog Anxiety Guide 18: How to give a massage to help calm anxious dogs

One of the best ways to set up your dog for success against anxiety and stresses - and build your bond together at the same time - isn't a training technique. It's learning how to give your dog a calming, at-home massage that helps reduce noise anxiety as well as anxieties and nervousness in general. (You may be surprised to find how massaging your dog de-stresses you too.)

In this guide and accompanying video, certified canine massage therapist, Reiki master, and Dogly Wellness Advocate Ranna Lynn shares why massage is so beneficial for reducing your dog's stress and increasing overall wellness and mobility - and she shows you step by step, stroke by stroke, how to do it. You can get started learning how to calm your dog with massage in the guide and video here.

That's the Anxiety Channel here on Dogly!

If you've gone through each guide that matters to you in the Anxiety Channel, you and your dog should be solidly on the path to alleviating your dog's fears and stresses. Congrats! If you're just getting started, that's great too! A good starting point is how to see your dog's stress along with the other 3 guides in Understanding Anxiety, followed by the guides that address your dog's particular anxieties in Separation Anxiety, Noise Sensitivity, and Crate Anxiety.

Anxiety is just one of many channels here on Dogly. Be sure to check out other channels like Allergies in Wellness or Home-cooking in Nutrition to learn everything you need to know about your dog's training, nutrition, and overall wellness.

And, as always, you can speak with or work with any of the Advocates on Dogly if you ever need more personalized help. Don't go through stuff alone with your dog, we're here for you!