💌 Stray Knows She's Finally Home

<sub>“A dog wags its tail with its heart”
- Martin Buxbaum</sub>

💕 The Stray Who Stayed

🐩 Dog Rescued from Riverbank

🐈‍⬛ How to Ease Pet Anxiety

⭐️ $75 Lotto Winner (at bottom) 

^Heartwarmers
The Roadside Stray Who Wanted to Stay
 

• Scarlet was wandering a small township all alone - she had escaped her home in the midst of a thunderstorm.

• A family picked her up on the side of the road, brought her in, and checked to see if she had a microchip - she did.

• Her owner said that he simply couldn’t keep her on his property. She’d run off every time she was scared, and he wondered if her rescue family would consider keeping her.

• They did, and it was the best decision they ever made. Watch as this family takes Scarlet into their home and works to keep her calm and remind her how truly loved she is. 💙

^{“I heard a very faint bark…”}
Traveller Pulls Dog from Deep Riverside Mud

• A New Zealand man was canoeing across Canada on a months-long journey.

• As he paddled the Manitoba wilderness, he heard a faint bark from a riverside thicket of driftwood and mud.

• The bark was so faint that he had already passed, but he took notice and looped back to investigate.

• He found a large white dog pinned beneath a massive log, submerged in mud and unable to move.

• Her name was Ivy. Her family had been searching for her for days with no luck and they feared the worst.

• The New Zealand man is a sailboat captain and plans to name his boat “Ivy” in honor of the beautiful dog who was fortunate enough to catch his attention.

^{Front Page Pets}
Mother & Her Kittens Saved from Inside Train Station Wall

• Transit station workers in PA worked for days to try and save a mother cat and her kittens from the interior wall of their building.

• Nobody is sure how she managed to get inside of the wall, but it’s clear that she did it to protect her newborn kittens.

• The whole family was clean and free from illness, so this stray fulfilled her duties and took excellent care of her family.

• The crew had to remove an entire section of the wall to get the family of cats out safe & sound.

^{The Pet Owner’s Predicament:}
What Can You Do to Ease Pet Anxiety?

Anxiety appears in a number of different forms, especially when it comes to our pets.

This makes it difficult to truly understand and identify anxiety in dogs and cats, because a lot of the “anxious behaviors” you’re supposed to look out for resemble otherwise healthy behaviors.

For example, your dog might actually appear to be extra-friendly when they’re anxious, licking your face or approaching you with a little more love than normal.

The same goes for cats — Herbie meows consistently when it’s time for him to tell us about his day, but he sounds awfully similar when he’s startled by thunderstorms or suspects that we’re going to be leaving the house for longer than normal.

In other cases, you know for a fact that your pet is displaying anxious behaviors. What can you do, though? Do you want to sedate them with medications? Make a lifestyle change that could help their emotional state?

The following ideas should give you some food for thought, and maybe even a solution to your pet’s emotional distress.

^{Step 1}
Recognize Anxiety for What It Is - Real.

Dogs and cats are incredibly social & emotional beings, but we don’t have to tell that to any of you! Still, it’s easy to brush off an instance or two of anxious behavior from your pet without truly considering what they feel like in the moment.

Dogs have literally evolved to connect with us emotionally and mirror our emotions so it’s safe to say that their version of anxiety isn’t too far off from our own, and you don’t have to spend too much time around cats to realize that they have a lot of feelings about us.

“What are you doing over there?”

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, food.”

“Wait, are those your keys? Your shoes? Are you leaving? No.”

“If you’re not going to listen to me, I will knock over everything that I possibly can. Each item will be fragile and loud.”

You get the picture.

These creatures feel on every level - the deep ones and the shallow ones. They have pet peeves, they have deep loves for their families, and they can have a deep sense of anxiety when the time comes.

It’s reasonable to think that anxious pets feel very similarly to us when we ourselves are anxious, except that our pets don’t have the knowledge to calm themselves down or reason their way out of things.

So, if their feelings go unaddressed, they struggle and continue to get worse in many cases. It’s our responsibility to do something, but what we’re supposed to do is often unclear.

You’ll never get a perfect answer on how to help your pet’s anxiety, but the following things have proven to help a great deal of pets.

^{How to help}
3 Strategies to Relieve Pet Anxiety

1. Training Around The Trigger

What triggers your pet’s anxiety? Is it the sounds you make as you get ready to leave? Is it thunder? Is it the presence of other people?

Whatever the source is, there are ways to train them or adjust your lifestyle to avoid the trigger. We’ll use separation anxiety as an example.

Separation Anxiety Training:

Dogs who suffer from separation anxiety might genuinely benefit from crate training. Crate training familiarizes your pet with their kennel in a comfortable way, allowing them to spend gradually-increasing amounts of time there in peace.

If your dog paces around the house nervously while you’re gone, fearing you’ll never come back, an afternoon spent resting in their crate peacefully would be a better alternative.

Cats tend to benefit less from crate training, however. For cats with separation anxiety, consider creating an incredibly warm and fuzzy space that’s isolated from any sounds or sights while you’re out of the house. A nice blanket-filled cove in the basement could do the trick, for example.

These spaces give your pets the chance to resign back to a comfortable place while you’re not around. You can even get them situated there before you get ready to leave so they’re not able to hear the jangling of keys, the shuffling for a pair of clean socks, or the common path you walk on your way out the door - all of which can be anxiety-inducing for pets with separation anxiety.

2. Exercise
^{(Wait? Does that mean we have to exercise too?!)}

Fortunately, we and our pets have a very simple solution to most forms of anxiety, and it happens within our own body. When we or our pets exercise, we release endorphins, improve blood flow, reduce cortisol (the stress hormone), improve coping abilities, reduce frustration, and the list goes on… and on…. and on……

It’s like, we get it. Leave us alone already!

Unfortunately, exercise can be difficult to do… for humans.

Not for pets. Pets are typically more than willing to exercise and this is a beautiful thing because regular, dedicated periods of exercise for your pet will likely reduce their anxiety measurably.

Even if their anxiety gets triggered by a stimuli like thunder or separation, they’ll be able to tolerate it better if they have all of those positive brain chemicals and endorphins entering their brains on a daily basis.

If your pet struggles regularly with anxiety, it might be time to shuffle your schedule around and make time to exercise with your dog or cat for an hour or so each day.

That could mean walks, runs, playtime with toys, or anything that gets your dog moving. Cat’s can be a little trickier, click below for more tips.

Here’s a guide on how to exercise indoor cats.

3. Non-Sedative Anti-Anxiety Options
^{(for light to moderate anxiety)}

For pets with severe anxiety that causes destructive behaviors, your only option may be to contact your veterinarian about strong anti-anxiety medication.

For most pets, though, there are other options that won’t put your pet into a daze.

We’re talking about plant-based oils and treats that are backed by research, include multiple calming ingredients (that are also backed by science), and allow your pet to handle stress better.

In our experience, the following three natural ingredients have helped our pets the most:

1. Hemp oil: Organic hemp oil contains a number of natural chemicals that can measurably reduce anxious behaviors in dogs and cats.

2. Chamomile: Chamomile contains something called apigenin which has an effect similar to anti-anxiety medication. It’s important to note that neither dogs nor cats should actually eat chamomile flowers or consume any products made for humans. Too much can be dangerous for pets. Stick to chamomile products that are specifically made for pets.

3. Tryptophan: Tryptophan is that funny little compound in turkey that makes us all so sleepy after Thanksgiving. Well, it works for pets too. Natural products with tryptophan can help pets calm down a great deal.

In pet-appropriate dosages, these ingredients can make a big difference in your best friend’s overall stress levels. We offer a number of products with these ingredients, and they’ve helped thousands of pets stay calm. Take a look below if you think your furry friend could use some help.

^{(If you find something you like, use code LOLAHERBIE for 15% off.)}

Our Favorite Finds This Week ⬇️

^{Dramatic Doggos}
Dog Devastated After Losing Ball

Heartwarmers
Cats Face Seeing Owner After 7 Years

^{Golden Gifts}
Golden Retriever Welcomes Rescue Puppy Home

^{A breakdown:}
Last Week’s Poll Responses

We had a lot of responses to last week’s article on the pros and cons of letting pets go outside unattended. Many of you have stories about shelter animals coming in from the outdoors with a number of health and wellness issues.

Plus, many of you noted that there are too many predators and illnesses lurking to let your pets roam outside. We agree! 

We’re looking forward to what you all have to say this week! As a reminder, respond to the poll above ⬆️ to enter into the lotto below. ⬇️

^{Share this newsletter, get stylish prizes!}
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