Calming Canines: Unveiling the Magic of Dog Lick Mat For Anxiety Relief
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In the intricate dance of our lives, our canine companions bring boundless joy and unconditional love. Yet, amidst the wagging tails and playful antics, there are moments when our furry friends face anxiety and boredom. Enter the “dog lick mat for anxiety” â a simple yet potent solution gaining traction in the pet care realm offering a soothing balm to our four-legged family members, fostering a calmer and happier existence.
Understanding Canine Anxiety
I’ve been dealing with Jasper’s anxiety for years and honestly it’s too long of a topic to just put into this one section fully, so I’ll give the brief key points here and draft up a full on post on dealing with anxiety in the future.
Warning Signs of Anxiety To Look For
Dogs communicate a lot of information through body language, the twitch of an ear, the flick of an eye, these may all seem like nothing to us but can mean everything to a dog.
Along with communication we can tell a lot about a dog from their behaviour and body language. Warning signs of anxiety in dogs can be any of the following:
- Trembling
- Panting
- Pacing
- Hiding
- Drooling
- Tail-tucked
- Ears back
- Jumpy
- Urination
- Whining
- Displacement behaviours (yawning, sneezing, sniffing the ground, avoiding eye contact etc)
And many more.
Importance of Addressing Anxiety in Dogs
Someone explained the importance of addressing anxiety and it changed how I looked at the importance of the issue.
you learn to catch a ball with your right hand when growing up, when someone throws you a ballâŚyou catch it with your right hand.
What does this mean? Doing a certain behaviour strengthens said behaviour. If you learn to catch a ball with your right hand, you’ll always catch a ball with your right hand (mostly). If our dogs constantly go through anxious behaviours without them being addressed, these will be strengthened.
This is something I noticed at a late point in Jasper, a lot of his anxious behaviours are all habits that he’s got used to and ones I don’t think he really has control over such as trembling before going outside.
How To Address Anxiety
It’s hard to actually say, anxiety looks different in different dogs in different situations.
Anxious dogs generally display behaviours to release anxious energy, one of the best ways to deal with that anxious energy is through mental stimulation.
Mental Stimulation For Anxious Dogs
A lot of dog owners focus on physical energy when dealing with anxious and reactive dogs, thinking more walks and exercise will curb these issues. To an extent physical exercise is essential for all our dogs but mental stimulation is an overlooked element to dealing with these issues.
Mental stimulation helps our dogs think, gives them challenges, boosts confidence, tires them out mentally, preoccupies, distracts, soothes and so much more.
When it comes to anxiety in dogs, providing daily mental stimulation gives our dogs something to do instead of these anxious behaviours whilst also providing benefits such as soothing and calming benefits and on a long enough scale developing a balanced dog. Discover more ideas on how to mentally stimulate your dog in this guide on my blog.
The Science Behind Dog Lick Mats
Along with the numerous benefits, the science behind lick mats lies simply behind licking.
Licking, for dogs, along with showing affection can actually be very soothing. The behaviour of licking is calming for dogs and helps put them at ease and relieve anxiety.
The issue with constant licking is that it can become an issue, our dogs may âlick themselves rawâ if they find they have a lot of anxious energy and nowhere to channel any of it. This is where licking mats come into play, this is why dog lick mats for anxiety relief are the way forward!
Alongside with providing an outlet for this behaviour, the texture of the lick mats and the designs create more of a soothing effect on the tongue of the dog (the lickimat soother is designed to create more of a stimulating effect with the numerous divots).
How to Introduce the Dog Lick Mat
Introducing a dog to a lick mat involves positive reinforcement. Start by allowing your dog to inspect the mat, then spread a familiar treat or favourite food on it. Encourage your dog to explore and lick, associating the mat with a positive and enjoyable experience.
Slowly build up the difficulty of the mat to avoid your dog losing interest although this shouldn’t be difficult.
Using Dog Lick Mat for Anxiety Relief
It’s easy adding these bad boys into your dog’s daily routine. I’m sure you can think of plenty of times when your dog is getting into trouble trying to find something to do OR when they’re sat around bored with nothing to do.
Either prepare a lick mat for your dog on the spot or prepare it beforehand and freeze it for an extra long refreshing experience.
I usually find a lick mat to last a good 10-15 minutes for Jasper but he does spend about 15 minutes after licking it. When I do give him his mat, I pair it with other things such as hiding treats in a towel and cardboard so the whole experience lasts longer and tires him out even longer.
As mentioned above you can also use the lickimat splash at times when grooming or going to vet or other times of stress/anxiety where distraction and these calming behaviours are required.
Give it a try! Get a few lick mats and add them to your dog’s daily routine to reduce repeating anxious behaviours and provide relief.
Jasper’s Experience
The main benefit I’ve seen from using dog lick mat for anxiety for Jasper is the contrast in behaviour from when he starts to when he finishes. At the start he tries wolfing everything down but then he gets to a point where he slows downs and then kind of goes into a trance-like licking phase (it’s quite funny and disturbing to watchâŚespecially if he maintains eye contact).
I highly recommend these especially if you want to find something for your dog to do during the day. Getting a couple of these through the day will benefit all dogs in a large number of ways including reducing anxiety, alleviating boredom and hopefully leading to a reduction in anxious and destructive behaviours.
Dog Lick Mat For Anxiety: Choosing The Perfect Lick Mat
There are quite a few lick mats out there and they come in different styles. Below I am going to recommend 4, each that will provide a different benefits, there will be one perfect for you and your dog, discover more.
LickiMat Soother
The lickimat soother provides extra tongue stimulation with the design and divots. Great For creating a lasting stimulating experience!
LickiMat Tuff
These are for those dogs that tend to chew things. A tougher backing and larger sections great for wet and raw food. I prefer these when it comes to Jasper but we do have a collection.
LickiMat Splash
An attachable lick mat. Great for when you have to wash your dog, take them to the vets or groomers by keeping them distracted/making the experience more positive for them.
Lickimat Yoggie Pot
A fun sized of the products. Spread your dogs favourite filling into the Yoggie pot and let your dog work their way through it. The shaping can provide fun and stimulation as it rolls around on the floor.
Looking For Recipes?
Take a look at my blog post over here for 10 ideas of what to put on dog lick mat, from fruit to yoghurt, to vegetables and dog biscuits.
I also have a free lick mat bundle including recipe ebook with 24 recipes! Check it out!
Final Thoughts
By incorporating the “dog lick mat for anxiety,” you can expect to see a variety of benefitsâcalmer demeanour and increased contentment for your dog.
Do you have any experiences with lick mats? How do you use them? What benefits have you experienced? Share below đ
