Anxiety is a huge problem these days in our cats, dogs and horses (and humans). Dr. Donna has coined her approached DAPER. This stands for distance, amino acids, positive interactions, exercise, reducing treats. She combines styles of training and observation to recommend this approach despite considering it controversial and counter-intuitive. When our pet whines or cries we run up to hold him or her or we feed treats thinking we are distracting the pet, when really we may be creating more stress and anxiety through our actions. In the first step, we may allow the pet to be several feet away from us and use our voice cues or even gentle humming or soft music to calm from a distance. This way the pet learns "self-soothing." Note: this is different from ignoring his or her needs. Once there is a moment of calmness and quiet, then we can approach and touch and reward the dog. This way we are reinforcing the behavior we want rather than the stressful behavior. Many dogs may have anxiety due to nutritional deficiencies--amino acids such as theonine, tryptophan, taurine. B-vitamins especially thiamine and minerals such as calcium and especially magnesium can all provide a calming effect in the brain and many of our kibble fed dogs may not have enough of these in a bioavailable, non allergic form (note: synthesized amino acids can be highly allergic and thus not absorbed well). Because of this, we see a relationship between food-reactivity and behavior-reactivity. Raw fed dogs with additional B-vitamins and trace minerals (see my video/podcast on making your pet's vitamins) are very helpful. Positive interactions may mean different things to different folks. When the dog cries or whines due to stress, we tend to run to the dog and cradle him. I do not necessarily think this is positive. Sometimes we do this because we need this interaction, we are lonely or sad and we need to create a dependency on us. This may be difficult for pet caregivers to hear but all our actions and inactions the pet will read. I like to pet the dog and say "Good dog" or "Good kitty" when the pet is doing something I like, like sitting quietly or being respectful of others. The pet learns best by our voice, positional and modes of direct soft or rigid interaction. The pet may not learn well by getting treat rewards, unless the timing of those rewards is precise. Food can confuse dogs and cats. And the most anxious thing to hear from the person is, "It's okay, It's okay, It's okay," repeated over and over in a fast, breathless high pitched tone. To the pet, this is translated to, "Oh boy, I better get out of here fast!"