A very anxious dog
Hi all,
So I adopted Zeus about four months ago. He was a breeder in a puppy mill I think and had no socialization and lived outside all his life before coming to me. His training has been going well. He was housebroken within 2 weeks, knows how to sit, stay, shake, and come. However, I have had to take him twice to the vet for colitis and I am noticing more and more how much of a stressed and anxious dog he is. He exhibits all the behaviors of stress I am not sure how to help him. I just recently started classes again so I am not sure if our new schedule has been especially hard for him but he used to be able to go upstairs like a pro and now he resists me on that too which is no good since we live on the second floor. He is scared of things such as me clicking a pen or opening a marker. How do I help him not be so stressed so he doesn't keep getting colitis?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Donna and Lilly on
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I have heard alot of good things about the thundershirt. I dont have one but I did notice that when I put on Lillys life jacket, which is sort of shaped like a thundershirt, she really just about fell asleep on a boat ride. She is also an anxious corgi. Her safe place is home. I try to keep our routine the same, and she is doing better when we go out. We do go to the farmers market, so she is used to that everyweek.
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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Is he food motivated? If so, I'd start carrying a treat pouch whenever you leave the house and using it liberally around "scary" things. The thundershirt might be worth a try too.
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She is pretty good when we are out. She is a little agressive around other dogs, but we are working on that. She thinks she has to protect me. So I just keep trying to be the alpha, and be calm.
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Permalink Reply by Holly on
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I don't know much about colitis but I do have experience with an anxious adopted adult dog. I adopted Sully under similar circumstances and I have been exposing her gently but firmly to as much as possible so she can live a real life from now on. It was at least two months before she actually slept. She would dose, but she was on such high-alert she would jump up at the slightest sound, even my reaching for a tissue. She sleeps on a bed beside me and she always followed me from room to room. She freaked whenever she heard any unfamiliar noise. I live in a quiet rural setting so she wasn't stressed too often, but I wanted to socialize her, even at three-years-old, to normal life activity. If she reacts in fear to minor situations, not genuine fright-fests, think guy with weed-wacker, woman in a large straw hat, vs. fireworks or raging dog attack, I gently take her through it again with me very close by which seems to make her calm in future similar situations.
Fortunately for me, I live very close to a small college campus with animal behavior students. One of my highly recommended fellow students helped me understand how to build her confidence. She taught me to give my dog choices, when reasonable, and how to reward her for signs of confidence. Sully is almost a new dog in far less time than I would ever have imagined. She is not allowed (gently redirected) to show signs of submission, such as going belly-up and excessive licking. Instead she gets major treats for eye contact and holding her ears upright, a sign of confidence, I was told. I thought she would never be able to understand how to get rewarded for raising her ears, but now I just have to smile at her and she proudly raises her big corgi ears. The absolute best benefit of this extensive training is watching her sleep. She is now longer on hyper-alert. I can move about the house and she is relaxed enough to stay put. She even sleeps through some things such as my showering or washing dishes. That is almost a miracle for her. It feels so good to see her so relaxed! I do think being calm and low-key at all times, and not letting Sully see my concern about anything she encounters as well as ignoring her unfounded yelping behaviors, really helped her face the same in similar fashion. She has constipation issues but I am not sure those are related. Those have been relieved by adding pumpkin and peas to her dog food. I am sure Zeus will become more confident and secure each day, but I know it is hard to watch them be anxious.
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Permalink Reply by Loan & Zeus on
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That is really helpful! I didn't know that his always going belly up was a bad thing. I will definitely try to correct this behavior. He just keeps exhibiting stressful behaviors like panting or licking his lips, that being a first time dog-owner I wasn't aware that it was bad. I am working on establishing a new routine with him because i just started my last year of classes so I know that has been stressful for him. Hopefully things can work itself out soon.
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Sully went belly up whenever I went near her. I learned not to go near her for anything, to pat her or put on her leash for example, unless I had a small treat in my hand. When she went down I simply turned my back on her silently, which all dogs hate. As soon as she was up I gave her lots of praise and/or a treat. Now she very rarely goes belly up unless she is sleeping or resting alone, which is different and easy to interpret as non-submissive. Being cute and very sweet gets lots of sympathy from everyone and it fed into Sully's less than confident behaviors. I am not a hard-ass about it since I know she learned those behaviors out of genuine fear, but I have gotten to the point that I can calmly say "no" to yelping over nothing, and praise her better responses without traumatizing her. The credit goes to the brilliant young student, and the caring foster shelter provider who rescued her before I got her, but Sully gets the most credit for learning to trust after having her comfort and well-being ignored for so long.
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This is really helpful! I too was feeding into his cuteness and reinforcing his submissive behaviors and then getting frustrated when he got too fearful of things. I will definitely try this advice!
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Also the first time Zeus had colitis he was very constipated. This time around he just has really bad diarrhea...
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The plain canned pumpkin seems to help with diarrhea and constipation. Sully needed something because she was constipated when she arrived which led to impacted anal glands. The vet recommended a high-fiber diet which I am sure helps, but I learned about the pumpkin from web searches. She also develops hot spots that may be due to allergies, but could also be related to anxiety, which seems kind of crazy since Sully is so low-key I nick-named her "Speed Bump." Still she has her fears which sometimes manifests as health problems such as hot spots. I did learn of some really simple, low-cost treatments for it on this site.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Great job Holly and Sully! Everyone adopting a shy dog would benefit from reading your posts. I agree with not encouraging the submissive flopping in front of you, while rewarding more confident behavior, but even shy dogs love belly rubs. Having a quiet time sitting on the floor near the dog and doing some belly rubs can be a relaxing and bonding experience too. Good luck Loan & Zeus.
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I agree about giving the belly rubs. I read that dog owners should always initiate cuddling and such, rather than giving attention whenever they come to you so they see develop confidence in you as there leader. The goal of course is for the owner to go to the dog often to give him or her affection. I didn't have that much faith in that method, but it did seem to stop her following me around in desperation and begging for reassurance. On her own she often hurries over to her bed when I come toward her so she can roll over on her blanket and stuffed monkey when I pet her and give her massages. I can tell when she is feeling confident and happy about getting rubbed because she doesn't have that awful, "please don't shoot" look on her face and her ears are up and relaxed. She also makes these weird little noises like purring and goes into pure bliss mode. I still have so much to learn as a pet owner, but she really taught me a lot about how to make her happy in a short time. I hope Zeus is getting more comfortable each day, especially with his colitis! Poor pup.Maybe by Thanksgiving you will repost with much better news. Good luck! He looks so cute..
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Permalink Reply by Karen Dadisman on
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I use a calming collar on Rocky when we travel. He gets stressed and gets colitis then even though he looks relaxed and happy in the car. He loves being with us in the car so not sure why the stress. We are careful not to let him see us pack the car when we are going to GA for the winter. I now take them to get their pre-travel baths while we pack the car. We put the calming collar on several days before we leave and he wears it for several days after we get to the house in GA. I get it at Menards (no affiliation). I'm sure you can find one. It has lavender and other herbal things. It really seems to help him get through the trip without the bloody poops. They are supposed to last a month so we buy another one for the trip home. They cost about $8 and are worth every penny!
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