Displacement Signals

• Separation anxiety in canines is an emotional disorder easily treated with medications.dog image by Oleg Salamaha from Fotolia.com
  
  According to the Delta Society, an organization that certifies therapy animals, when some dogs become anxious they may exhibit "displacement signals." These signals include yawning, lip-licking, averting their eyes, sniffing, pacing, blinking and scratching.
  
  

Situations

• Dogs put in new situations can become anxious and nervous.dog image by Marcin Wy...?uda from Fotolia.com
  
  Situations that cause anxiety in dogs vary in each dog since all dogs are individuals. An event that causes one dog extreme stress may not bother another dog at all. Predicaments that can cause a dog to stress out include the sound of thunder, being separated from the family, meeting a new dog, or change in environment.
  
  

Redirecting

• So if Rover is feeling anxious due to an upset in the normal routine or because there is a thunderstorm in the area, he may scratch himself as a displacement signal. Just as hives are an outward display of anxiety in a human, itching and scratching is an outward display of anxiety in dogs.