Anxiety
|
|
| work with the dosage on the anxiety meds with your vet - what is she on now? she might need another med they all respond differently. and work on training her using a primarily positive method so she learns she can trust you. |
| She is now on clomiprimine 50mg bid. She used to lose control of her bladder during thunderstorms and when she was anxious and now that has stopped thank goodness! |
| what is the issue now? sounds like it might be helping. usually the meds allow you to spend time training the dog so they can learn to cope better. the more skills they have the better they can cope and even eventually come off the medication (except I guess for thunderstorms if they have a severe phobia you normally really have to continue medication as they can literally be scared to death) |
| It has helped tremendously but last week she chewed up the bottom step and carpet was everywhere. When I leave the house she goes crazy. She starts barking and running back and forth between the windows. She has marked up my hardwood floors as well so I now I have to crate her while I am at work. She gets in ok but I feel horrible doing that. Thanks so much for responding! |
| she is probably very happy to be safe and secure in her crate. you can also try to put her in a "safe room" I use the bathroom and pick everything up. My anxious girl puts herself in her crate whenever she feels unsure - this morning she thought she heard the puppy coming and she ran into her crate - none of the other dogs will go near that crate when she is anywhere in the vacinity!!! |
| When I got Rosie she was 6 mths old and had never been around alot of humans (just breeder and mother), had to leave 13 TT's...she had terrible anxiety for the first 9 mths. My vet would not medicate her as he felt strongly against it and told me to crate her and work on leaving short periods, and then longer each time. I did this over Christmas break and then crated her when I went to work from Jan. to June (taught school). She went in fine and for her it was security...after awhile she would go in and close the door herself. I had never crated a dog before and like you felt really bad until I realized she didn't really mind. I put her crate by a window so she could see out. Then over that summer I left her out more and more when I left for short periods and she quit tearing things up and found comfortable places to lie down. I am training the new puppy to sleep in the crate at night and during the day. She likes it. Rosie is 8 and still has anxiety when facing unknown places and people at first...we have learned to deal with it and she is much better but never completely without it...the vet said she would always have it. The crate really helps them feel safe. The good news is her anxiety doesn't make her mean and she has never tried to bite anyone. She is very submissive with other animals. I would prefer to work with anxiety than aggression. It make take some time before your new baby calms down and feels secure with you and the new home. Use the crate and make it as nice as possible. |
lhall15 wrote: I would prefer to work with anxiety than aggression.
One of the causes of reactivity is anxiety and medication can help dogs overcome it, by allowing them to be receptive to training. Of course the vet is going to have you try training alone first in most cases. while I have been known to tell people to "suck it up" I can't quite get the dogs to understand that sentiment and would not be adverse to using what I could to help them. Glad to hear your girl only needed proper training. Not all dogs are so lucky. |
| Welcome and THANK YOU! |
| I was very hesitant with putting her on meds. I had a sheepie for 4 years before Sadie. She passed away in July from cancer and her only issue was not liking other dogs. Sadie was left in an empty apartment complex so it is hard with rescue dogs not knowing their past. I am just really patient with her and am willing to try anything. She does well in the crate and each day is a learning process with a rescue dog! |
sadielady wrote: I was very hesitant with putting her on meds. I had a sheepie for 4 years before Sadie. She passed away in July from cancer and her only issue was not liking other dogs. that's a big issue. Sadie was left in an empty apartment complex so it is hard with rescue dogs not knowing their past. At this point her past doesn't really matter. You have to work with what you have. I am just really patient with her and am willing to try anything. She does well in the crate and each day is a learning process with a rescue dog! With any dog. |
| Hi SadieLady; and welcome!!!!
It sounds like you are trying really hard to do the right thing by your newly adopted family member; I applaud your efforts! Have you tried reading up on canine anxiety? I had some issues with my girls, and found that reading really helped me make some educated decisions about how best to help my Sheepies. A friend of mine breeds Silken Windhounds, and she's always a good source of advice; she suggested the website www.Dogwise.com for books. I've ordered several there, and found hte site to be a great resource. Good Luck!!! |
It takes time for a dog to settle in and to also learn to trust that you will of course return to them. We keep a TV on when we leave... on either the food channel or the weather where there's a lot of talking. Might be best to choose the food channel 
When using clomicalm or clomipramine, they often recommend also using behavior modification... it's basically desensitizing the dog to things that cause or signal something stressful to them. Have you looked at this information? http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Conten ... C=0&A=1502 It took about 1 year to finally ween our Panda off clomipramine... she was a girl that couldn't stand to have a close door between herself and her human or she'd become destructive and wee/poo in the house. And she couldn't be crated so we puppy proofed a room. It's probably going to be a slow process but fortunately your baby tolerates crating. I agree with Kerry... many dogs find a crate soothing and they actually LIKE it. You might consider throwing a blanket over half of it so it's more den-like. If she's one that tries to chew on the blanket, you can first put a piece of cardboard on top... a piece that is that is larger than the kennel top... so the blanket hangs away from the sides of the crate. Hang in there! These special sheepies become very loyal companions. |
| Just a question re noise
How noisey is your home generally? Why do I ask? Well I wonder if you have a nice quiet home most of the time, that the dog is frightened by the shock of thunder, whereas if the home was a little louder day to day that things like thunder wouldn't be quite a large difference in noise levels as it would be with a quiet peacful home? We keep quite an noisey home, with either the TV on when we are watching that (and I particularly have a home cinema type of passion) or if the tv is off then either we are listening to music on the hifi or at least a radio is on - the Radio is left on as company when we are out and have to leave Archie at home. The house only goes quiet when we all go to bed. We carried on as normal when we first had our children as newborns, whereas friends crept around like being on eggshells yet they had issues with waking their children if the house wasn't absolutely silent, we adopted the same thoughts towards our pets, Archie isn't even bothered by fireworks, infact he likes to watch the pretty lights. It maybe something to consider. |
Thank you so much for the different websites. I am actually reading right now The Dog Listener by Jan Fennell. There is one chapter on anxiety that I find useful. (Sorry for any typos but I have a sheepie who thinks she is a lap dog at times and would like to join the discussion!  )
My house is pretty quiet. When I am home the TV is on and I do leave a radio on for her during the day. She might be secretly trying out for American Idol since she has great vocal skills! I do walk her daily (unless it is raining too hard) so she does get out and about. I do believe her issue is anxiety and not boredom. |
| a few other books to read - most of them are on my counter waiting their turn:
Dogs Are From Neptune - Jean Donaldson (read with a filter I have been told - I haven't read this one yet) Calming Signals - Turid Rugaas (a DVD - I need to order this one too) BONES WOULD RAIN FROM THE SKY: DEEPENING OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH DOGS- Suzanne Clothier Control Unleashed - Leslie McDevitt (less on anxiety more on training but wonderful skills based training for anxious dogs.) HELP FOR YOUR FEARFUL DOG: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO HELPING YOUR DOG CONQUER HIS FEARS - Nicole Wilde (I haven't finished this but it is older and some of the methods are questionable now - although it was recommended on the Shy K9 list ) Some days I wish Marley could just read - she has more down time than I do - why can't she spend her days reading through these things  |
Quote: Calming Signals - Turid Rugaas (a DVD - I need to order this one too)
I googled "calming signals" and found this article... very interesting! http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1 |
6Girls wrote: Quote: Calming Signals - Turid Rugaas (a DVD - I need to order this one too) I googled "calming signals" and found this article... very interesting! http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1 Really nice article - the moving slowly piece is very informative - Marley can be a snail! "A dog who is insecure will move slowly. If you wish to make a dog feel safer, then you can move slower. When I see a dog react to me with a calming signal, I immediately respond by moving slower." How many instructors have told me to walk faster with her and get her attention - no wonder she comes unglued in some of their classes!!! Again nice article. Thanks. I believe Turid is doing a local seminar here in the spring - if anyone is interested...... |
| I really like Jean Donaldson's books; they've been pretty helpful to me, though I haven't read Dogs are from Neptune yet. |
| I am just so thankful for finally joining the forum b/c all of this is such useful information!! I have bookmarked it all and will spend these rainy days reading. Sadie and I thank you all! |
6Girls wrote: Quote: Calming Signals - Turid Rugaas (a DVD - I need to order this one too) I googled "calming signals" and found this article... very interesting! http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1 Excellent article. Her book is very enlightening as well. Once you start really paying attention to your dog you start seeing all of these things and wondering why more dogs don't turn around and bite their owners out if sheer frustration at our utter lack of listening skills and finesse. And I don't mean just listening with your ears, you have to listen with your eyes.
Mind you, they read us like an open book. Often when you see a dog-human bond gone really wrong you can see the dog silently screaming at the owner to please listen. I miss the obvious with my own dogs too if I'm not paying attention, and probably much more often than I think I do. Kristine |
| Good article. I've just ordered the book "ON TALKING TERMS WITH DOGS: CALMING SIGNALS 2ND. ED." as well as the one he wrote for loose leash walking "MY DOG PULLS. WHAT DO I DO?". tonks and Luna are really doing well on leash; unless theres another dog or a distraction for them to lunge at. I'm hoping these two books will help! |
Darth Snuggle wrote: Good article. I've just ordered the book "ON TALKING TERMS WITH DOGS: CALMING SIGNALS 2ND. ED." as well as the one he wrote for loose leash walking "MY DOG PULLS. WHAT DO I DO?". tonks and Luna are really doing well on leash; unless theres another dog or a distraction for them to lunge at. I'm hoping these two books will help!
you probably want to also read susan clothier's stuff and try her auto check in - it will help with your girls' reactivity. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|