Stress can take a toll on your pets

Go ahead, give in to that little voice inside your head and just say it, "Phew, it's over!"

As fun as the holidays are and as nice as it is to spend time with family — whether caused by the prep work, the shopping, the cooking, cleaning, entertaining, spending time with the diverse personalities family is comprised of or the combination thereof — the holidays can be remarkably and exceedingly stressful.

Quite frankly, there's a darn good possibility, regardless of the belly laughs and happy elves, the jolly old man and his missus are sporting pigment challenged locks because Christmas can be exhausting and downright stressful.

Clinically speaking, stress is that state that results when something disturbs or threatens psychological and physical balance. Faced with a perceived threat to itself, the body responds with a flood of adrenaline and other hormones designed to enable flight or fight, and voila — stress.

On the surface, stress appears to be an acute state that happens in response to a specific and immediate trigger — that terrifying moment when a snake coils to strike or the seconds between slipping and hitting the ground — and while those things do fit the definition, the unfortunate reality is there are plenty of protracted and far more subtle scenarios that cause stress.

And those who endure such things over an extended period of time usually start to show some signs.

Simply put, ongoing stress overtaxes the body, and just as overuse or strain causes accelerated wear and tear for a machine, the body also begins to age and deteriorate sooner than it should — in essence, short-term stress can save a life, long-term stress can shorten it.

Gray hair, wrinkles, tiredness, aches and pains and health problems — all those things expected to come with aging, only happening well before their time.

The effects on humans have received a great deal of attention, but when it comes to animals, research has been a bit less consistent, especially when it comes to the aging powers of stress.

It's well established humans develop gray hair prematurely as a result of stress, however when animal behaviorists realized there had been no similar studies on premature graying in dogs, they got to work.

Published this month in "Applied Animal Behavior Science," the study was led by Denver animal behaviorist Camille King and coauthored by world-renowned animal scientist and autism spokesperson Temple Grandin, whose work on humane treatment of slaughter animals has earned her prominent standing in her field.

Evaluating 400 privately owned pet dogs between 1 and 4 years old, the team looked for signs of graying muzzle hairs and balanced that data against owner responses to questionnaires.

Looking specifically for issues that would induce stress, owners were asked about such things as destruction when left alone, hair loss at vet exams or when in new places, cringing or cowering around groups of people, jumping on people, inability to calm, loss of focus, hyperactivity after exercising, or fear of loud noises, unfamiliar animals and people.

What the researchers found was a significant connection between the development of premature gray muzzle hair and issues related to anxiety, impulsivity and fear.

With a clear association drawn between graying muzzles in dogs under 4 years old and stress, the researchers hope the knowledge can help animal professionals quickly spot and diagnose underlying issues of anxiety and impulsivity.

Luckily, there are plenty of productive ways for both pooches and humans to deal with stress, provided the signs are heeded. So if the color is fading on the muzzle (or top of the head) before it's time, pay attention — there's a good chance change is needed.

Sharna Johnson is always searching for ponies. You can reach her at: [email protected]