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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    Feb 2015
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    Urgent Behaviour Help Needed

    Hi, we have a four and a half year old fox red bitch from working stock. We've had her from a puppy and followed all the training guides. We are now at a point where she is practically awake all night with anxiety.

    For around the first 3 years, she was caged overnight and would willingly go in and would sleep well. We would also cage her if we went out during the day, albeit only for short periods. We're not quite sure what or when caused the change, but she will not now go into the cage and she will also not even enter her daytime basket in the lounge. She will quickly jump out of it and sleeps on a wooden floor during the day.

    At night, she won't sleep in the basket when we put her in the kitchen, preferring to sleep on a stone tiled floor. We have to erect lots of items to then stop her from making attention grabbing noises by moving her drink bowl around the floor for example. She's also scratching the kitchen cupboards. She will also scratch the for and cries. She has now also taken to barking constantly until she receives attention. We then take her into the lounge and she calms down and sleeps. We leave her there with a light on but very soon afterwards she begins crying again and scratches the large rug constantly.... In fact she scratches this rug many times during the day and evening until we stop her. She is ok during the day/evening with sleeping when we are with her.

    We we had some kind of dog whisperer come and she had some of her fur analysed and sold us some strong smelling bottles which are meant to calm her down and reduce the anxiety.

    She has become quite a frightened dog and does not like any loud noises whatsoever. She does attempt to run off when she hears a gunshot. We really don't know what we can do and Tilly is slowly getting more and more anxious and causing more night time disruption with her barking and scratching.

    if anybody out there can offer us any help or advice, we would be really grateful.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog
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    May 2014
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    Ellicott City, MD
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    For a sudden change like this, I'd be at the vet's office...she could be in pain or feeling another type of new sensation that's scaring her. Anxiety can also cause overheating and with that, if she's prone, could exacerbate seizures. I had that with a previous yellow girl. One thing that worked to a certain extent with Honey was the DAP pheromone product...mimics the pheromones of a pregnant bitch which serves to calm the dog.

    I've had success with anxiety/nervousness with my Sunnie...nowhere near as intense as what you've got with Tilly...with a combination of PetzLife @Eaze (in meals) and Rescue Remedy Pet four times during the day.

    I've never tried any prescription anti-anxiety vet meds and so can't comment on that.


    If Tilly checks out OK health-wise, I'd talk with the vet about some kind of med...OTC like my combination, or prescription. That kind of anxiety is no good for Tilly or for you.

    Hope someone else here has more to add. Welcome to the board.

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    Charlotte K. (02-15-2015)

  4. #3
    Senior Dog Doreen Davis's Avatar
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    May 2014
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    New York
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    What Barb said..I'd have her physically evaluated and then evaluate some anxiety drugs. There are newer prescription drugs that are mild that might break this anxiety cycle. Any changes or exposure to something traumatic while you weren't there that you can think of? A sudden switch in behavior like this makes you suspect some seminal event.

  5. #4
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Totally agree, a vet visit is top of the list.

    Maybe some loud noise happened while you were out that traumatized her. It's going to take time. Once she checks out OK with the vet, keeping her awake more during the day and keeping her exercised will help her sleep more at night.

  6. #5
    Puppy michael m's Avatar
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    Jun 2014
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    Clarence NY
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    A vet visit could prove useful just to eliminate some of your concerns by confirming that it is not a physical issue.

    That said, I wonder if you might not be feeding into your dog's issues. You can or might have actually re-inforce her anxiety and bad behavior by giving her extra attention when she started to "misbehave". I know that you did it out of love and concern for your dog, but you might have made the problem worse. You stated that you go to her and do things to help her when she started the behavior and a dog will increase the intensity of the unwanted behavior, if the reward is that you give extra attention.

    If you want to attempt to get the dog to go back to the cage/kennel, you might try putting a highly prized treat, such as a dingo rawhide chew, into the cage with the dog and see if the dog will stay calm while it enjoys the treat. This will also let you know if there may be a way to move her back to her former, normal behavior.
    Best of luck and I hope this helps.
    Michael
    Michael M.Hidden Content

 



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