New Anxiety

[Guest SarahW]

Oh how glad I am to find this website today! Copper joined our family three months ago - he is about 21 mos old now. I'm told he never made it off the farm to the track, so his whole life experience until Labor Day was at a farm in Kansas with 1,000+ greyhounds, pens, and little human contact and no experience with life off the farm. In the first week, he learned about hardwood floors, stairs (we have a 2 story house), and comfy furniture. Seemed to be settling in pretty good, though he rarely left our family room, refused to walk on the linoleum in the kitchen, and almost never ventured upstairs. We have a 2.5 year old rescue dog - a true mixed breed mutt - and the two of them have gotten along just fine from day one.

 

Then after Christmas we went to visit family for a few days and the dogs spent 4 nights at the kennel. They had a great time at the kennel - tearing around the fenced yard etc. - but were thrilled when we came to pick them up. Copper wagged and wagged, and wagged some more when we got home. And then he refused to leave our foyer for about 2 days - whining and carrying on. He has this weird new thing where he is looking up - sometimes we think he sees shadows or something on the ceiling or reflections in the glass or off the fireplace door. He did come back into the family room after a few days, but has never fully gotten back to where he was before Christmas. For instance, I always walk the two dogs in the morning and Copper always used to come back from the walks ready to play and he and Lucky would wrestle around for a while in the mornings. Now there is no playing between the two dogs in the house. Though on walks, it is quite common for Copper to initiate wrestling type play (probably similar to what they do off leash in the yard at the kennel). Another weird thing is that he won't jump up on the furniture anymore - even what had been his favorite chair (and he'd pout if someone else got there first).

 

About 10 days ago, a new behavior started - whining, crying, and into barking during the night. At first it was once a night - around 3-4a. I tried ignoring it (Copper will not come upstairs and sleep in our room despite our efforts to encourage this, so both dogs are downstairs), and the barking got louder. I have two kids that need to sleep, so I can't do the "tough love" approach very easily. Next I tried just going downstairs, turning on a light or talking quietly to him to try and settle him back down. As soon as I was downstairs, he actually started pacing and panting and whining more, but it appeared to indicate he needed to go out. So then I did what I did with my kids - I get up, take the dogs out, not for a walk but just into the yard to do their business, and back inside with no play, no talk, no petting, and then I go back to bed. My hope is that this would resolve his anxiety, let him relieve himself, and then eventually he'd settle enough to no longer need that nighttime break. But over the last few nights, these "wake up calls" are coming more and more frequently. About every two hours. He also, at times, bites at the gate we have between the family room and the back door, and has tried to squish his head through the cat door in that gate. Many times I end up just staying downstairs and sleeping in the chair from about 3a on, so I can "shush" him and then he'll settle back down and go to sleep.

 

Last night, after we took the dogs out at 10p, 1a, and he was barking again at 3:30a, I tried giving the dogs a Kong with peanut butter, thinking maybe he was just awake and bored. Copper gave it two polite licks when I first offered it and then igored it and was back to barking before I was back in bed.

 

It's so hard to watch him be so freaked out, but even harder to tolerate the sleep deprivation night after night (I work FT). I keep reminding myself that he is still new to all this, but I can't help wondering if there is a way for us to help him cope (which may in turn help us cope). I'm guessing everyone with a rescue greyhound has gone through this in some form or fashion, so any suggestions or support would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Guest iclarkz]

My thought about the nighttime thing is it sounds like he doesn't like sleeping away from you. Is there any way to entice him to come up stairs with you all? Treats? His favorite bed? Have you tried a sound machine or a radio while he sleeps? He may just be used to the sounds of the kennel and miss it.

 

Sorry you are in a rough patch. . . .I am sure more experienced people will have more ideas.

[Guest grey_dreams]

Hi Sarah It seems that Copper has gone through a lot of changes in 3 months. He was just getting used to your family, house, and routine, and then he was in a boarding kennel for four days, and then back to your house. That might be quite a lot of changes for shy/anxious dogs. It seems to me that something happened at the kennel, something that might have been ok for most dogs, but that was beyond Copper's abilities to deal with, and that ratcheted up his anxiety level. Now he is back in your home, but maybe he's not sure yet that it is his home. Are your stairs carpeted? If not, you could fix them so that they will be safe for him to walk on. Shy dogs and particularly shy greyhounds can be extremely sensitive to slick/shiny floors, and you write that he won't walk on the linoleum in your kitchen. Put some rubber-backed throw rugs around that he can walk on safely, and put some carpet or carpet tiles on the stairs. If you can teach him how to go upstairs to join you in the bedroom, he might be able to settle more during the night. You could also try giving melatonin in the late evening, start with 1 mg, then if he's ok go to 2-3 mg per day (you can buy 1 mg tablets). Melatonin is a natural compound that helps the sleep cycle, which is often disrupted in anxious animals and humans. These are just a few ideas to start with.

 

How old are your children? How many? Is your house busy or quiet?

 

Keep us updated about how Copper is doing.

[BatterseaBrindl]

At this point some 'Tough Love' may be needed....

 

Once you're sure he does not have to potty and is not cold (our Greys wear jammies) then do not acknowledge his barking/whining.

It won't take too many nights for hime to 'get it'.

 

And yes...put down some rubber backed carpets on all slippery floor surfaces.

And bring him upstairs to sleep....Where does Lucky sleep?

[Guest june]

One of my girls became anxious after the first time I boarded her. It was really crazy because she is the easiest going most laid back of my dogs, but something just messed with her head. I did the melatonin and although it helped it wasn't quite enough so I got some anti-anxiety medication from my vet and used it along with behavior modification. Lots of work and it took about 3 weeks but she is fine now. Good luck.

[Guest PiagetsMom]

I will share a similar situation that I've been working with for my Maya. She was here for 6 months, and something happened in our back yard that very much changed her behavior. I was outside with her, and I did not see or hear anything myself, but she's really never been the same since.

 

She started retreating often to another room by herself, stopped playing with her toys, and became very reactive on leash. After months of doing all that I knew to do, and hoping that with time she would move past it, last September I decided to contact a veterinary behaviorist to help us. We've been working on some training exercises and behavior modification, and we just changed Maya to her second type of anti-anxiety medication, after seeing no results with the first. It's been a challenge, for me and for her.

 

Three months is a very short time for a new pup, and many, many things are going to change for Copper in the coming months as he continues to settle in. If you are feeling concerned or confused about his behavior, I second, at the very least, for you to contact your adoption group for their advice and direction. Hopefully they can point you in the right direction for help, or a conversation with your veterinarian might be another choice.

 

As to your nightime issues, it sounds as though Copper is not sleeping in your bedroom with you. My pups have always been babygated in our room with us at night, and they've always been perfectly content to be there on their own beds. I don't know if that's something that you would consider, but it seems to work for many pups.

 

Good luck - I hope you can find some answers to Copper's issues

[JohnF]

Try reading and sending back calming Signals to your anxious hound. [ Lick towards your nose (means I'm noticing you), yawn widely (I'm cool though) and look away ]

Your dog should then get the idea that you are on top of any problem and not upset about being called.

 

Turid Rugass's article makes interesting reading anyway... see link

http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1

 

Remember too that they mostly live in the moment and so coming back from the kennel will have been destabilizing.

Also, if my Peggy thinks there is a hedgehog or stray cat outside she will be on edge for several hours.

[GeorgeofNE]

Where did you get the idea he had "little human contact"??

 

Greyhound puppies have TONS of human contact.

[a_daerr]

The first and only time I boarded Henry, he came back withdrawn and anxious. It took him several weeks to get back to normal. Boarding is a tricky thing because there's no way to really know if your dog had a good experience or a traumatic one. When I say traumatic, I don't mean that he was beaten or starved, but it's very possible that something happened causing him stress and anxiety in some way. It sounds like Copper's gone through a lot of changes within three short months. So he might just need some time and reassurance. As for the barking and whining, it sounds like he's just needing your presence right now. If you don't want him in your bedroom, that's certainly your decision. But my advice is this- whatever you do, try to be consistent. It sounds like he's already learned that this behavior gets him attention. If you spend time and energy trying this and trying that (i.e. walks didn't work, maybe he wants a kong... that didn't work, maybe I'll just sleep in the chair), then you are inadvertently reinforcing the behavior. You'll most likely have to either ignore the whining or change his sleeping location so he's not alone.

[Guest SarahW]

Thanks everyone. A few answers to the questions I remember from your replies...

(1) my information on his "life at the farm" is just what I was told when I asked about his experience there (i.e. little human contact). I've never been there, so acknowledge I could be very wrong.

(2) our stairs and upstairs is carpeted. Copper has been able to go up and down the stairs since his second day in the house, and he does sometimes but not often and he never ever stays upstairs.

(3) our main floor is hardwood, or tile, or linoleum. He has no issues with the hardwood (though we do have some rugs down in the popular locations) or the tile or the laundry room linoleum - just the kitchen linoleum. Weird huh? Maybe it's the lovely 70s pattern of it :-)

(4) I have been in touch with our greyhound rescue group - was recommended to talk to the vet about short term use of anti-anxiety meds, so he had an appointment this a.m. and I am waiting to hear from my husband about the appointment. I understand several other dogs that were brought with Copper were also very very anxious and a short term of meds helped them through the early stages.

(5) Our house is moderately busy, but not particularly loud or rambunctious (2 adults and a 4th and 2nd grader and activities and TV/music/computer stuff).

(6) I would dearly love for Copper to sleep upstairs - but when I've tried to make him stay with me, his anxiety really revs up (pacing, panting, refusing to lay down, etc.) We keep Lucky restricted (on a long lead) at night because he is a destroyer of anything he gets his teeth on. He either sleeps on a chair in the family room or the top step he can reach on his lead.

 

Thanks for all the support. I'll keep you posted! And I'll try to figure out how you all have added photos of your dogs and do the same so you can see my beautiful boy!

Edited February 1, 2013 by SarahW

[BatterseaBrindl]

Thanks for all the support. I'll keep you posted! And I'll try to figure out how you all have added photos of your dogs and do the same so you can see my beautiful boy!

 

Upload into Photobucket and the copy the IMG link to here.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Anti-anxiety meds are not "short term". It takes weeks if not months for the meds to become fully effective. I have a very shy girl that was originally terrified of all men, including me.

 

What I found very effective is obedience training. If you cannot find a good "greyhound centered" obedience class, pick up a book from the library on dog training and get to training. 5-10 minutes a day is all you need.

 

Secondly I wonder if there are new sounds in the house (such as the heater), or ceiling fans that were not on before? Lots of hounds will walk on one type of floor such as wood, but not shiny surfaces. You see when they can see a reflection in the surface it really confuses their depth perception, hence why they dont want to walk on the surface. One way to defeat this is to turn off the lights in the room with the shiny floor and walk your hound in the room.

 

For the nighttime, I would get your hound to go up the stairs with you in your room, baby-gate the hound into a small area in your room, turn off the lights and go to sleep. He is perfectly capable of holding his elimination for the entire night, there should be no reason to get up with him. The more you do this, the more of a problem it will become.

 

I personally dont agree with the medication route as there are no scientific studies proving effectiveness with canines.

 

Chad

[JJNg]

I personally dont agree with the medication route as there are no scientific studies proving effectiveness with canines.

 

If you're referring to general anxiety and spookiness, you're right, there are no scientific studies. These issues are often too varied and differ too much between individuals to design any standardized studies. However, there are studies proving effectiveness of medication in dogs for specific anxiety-related problems like separation anxiety and storm phobia. And personally, I see no reason why these drugs wouldn't also help with other types of anxiety.

 

That said, I do agree that most cases probably don't need medication. I prefer to rely more on time, patience, and gentle training myself. However, especially in severe cases, where anxiety is affecting the dog's quality of life on a daily basis, medication can be very helpful.

[Guest iclarkz]

I read the flourescent lights can emit a noise that greys are sensitive to. . . Is he looking up at a flourescent bulb?

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

JJ, can you PM me the specific studies or ways to find the studies? Thanks, Chad.

[Guest SarahW]

UPDATE: hi again. Vet recommended Prozac, on a two month taper. We're trying it to see if helps him come out of his shell a little further. We were told it will take a couple weeks for the meds to build up a therapeutic level, but I actually saw some improved behaviors just this weekend - he was actually nosing what used to be his favorite chair and acting like he was working up the courage to jump into it, which he hasn't done since December. So whatever the reason for it, I'm thrilled to see some improvements.

 

Given the time it will take to see if the meds work, I was pretty nervous about the sleeping situation (or rather the NOT sleeping situation) in the meantime. While Copper sleeps in a fleece and the house is generally warm-ish at night and he's on a nice bed, he didn't seem cold or shivery and his ears weren't cold or anything, so I hadn't really thought much about the temperature at night. Two nights ago, when he woke me up at 2:30a, I turned the furnace on just enough so the blowers came on and Copper went straight to the bed nearest the blower and slept the rest of the night - in fact I woke HIM up at 7:30a when I got up. Last night, that didn't appear to work, but then I realized that I had put a laundry basket down, blocking his path to the bed by the blower, and once I moved the basket - there he went right back to the bed and again, I had to wake him up this morning. So tonight we're changing the timer on the furnace so at least the blower stays on and we'll see what happens. I agree with the poster above who said there is no reason he can't hold his elimination through the night - I know that because Copper was doing just that for the first two and a half months with us. I think his one calm place, though, is outside, so when he'd wake up in a panic, that was somewhere he wanted to go to relax.

 

Thank you everyone for all the comments - the thing about the fluorescent bulbs intrigues me especially. I had wondered about the static or the sounds from the various electronics in our home - we're in Minnesota so it is drier than dry indoors these days due to the bitter cold outside and furnace heat, and I'm sure there is huge static beyond what we can sense.

 

RE: baby-gating him in our bedroom at night:

While I am inclined to follow the suggestions about baby-gating him in our bedroom, I'm not willing to drag him bodily up the stairs, so will wait on that until he is willing to walk up the steps himself.

 

RE: obedience training:

I actually started this weekend working on eye contact, "come" and "bed".

 

RE: meds:

I view meds as "short term" when given for just a specified period of time. For now, we're planning to try them for this two month taper and then see how he does without. Personally, I think it the meds can help manage his anxiety so he can get used to things a little easier, it will be a good thing, and then when they've served their purpose, we'll stop. I actually think Copper will turn out to be quite a laid back and social animal in the long run.

 

Thanks again everyone!

Edited February 4, 2013 by SarahW

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Sarah,

 

I foster broken leg hounds. I get them typically when they are just coming out of their casts and have limited mobility on the mending leg. Guess when they learn how to walk up and down stairs, immediately upon entering my house. You see I have stairs to get into the house, as well as stairs that go out into the back yard where they have to eliminate. 8 open faced wood steps outside, difficult. Inside, the stairs are carpeted and easier to handle. I would think that your hound's sleeping near you will be much more beneficial to his mental health, than the few days of fear it takes to teach him how to go up and down stairs. Dont sell your hound short, he can learn the stairs in a few days, they all do in my house. The longest it took any foster of mine was 5 days, typically its 3. Just my opinion...

 

 

 

Chad

[Guest grey_dreams]

Thank you everyone for all the comments - the thing about the fluorescent bulbs intrigues me especially. I had wondered about the static or the sounds from the various electronics in our home - we're in Minnesota so it is drier than dry indoors these days due to the bitter cold outside and furnace heat, and I'm sure there is huge static beyond what we can sense.

 

 

RE: meds:

I view meds as "short term" when given for just a specified period of time. For now, we're planning to try them for this two month taper and then see how he does without. Personally, I think it the meds can help manage his anxiety so he can get used to things a little easier, it will be a good thing, and then when they've served their purpose, we'll stop. I actually think Copper will turn out to be quite a laid back and social animal in the long run.

 

 

It might be possible that there is something about the fluorescent lights that bothers him, but you will be able to tell that easily - if he's more-or-less ok when they are off, and then if he perks up or reacts when you turn them on.

 

Static can be a real problem. Especially when it is dry and then the dog is in pyjamas that propagate the static electricity along their body. A solution is to use some kind of "oily compound" on Copper - by this I mean either Furminator waterless shampoo, or a dab of dog conditioner, or maybe even a bit of organic coconut oil. Just use a tiny bit, rub it through the palms of your hands, and then rub over his body. The oils prevent the electron migration that causes static electricity. You can also use a bit of whichever compound you choose to rub over the flannel/fleece pyjamas so that they don't propagate the electrical charge. This will have to be repeated every day or couple of days in very dry conditions.

 

Glad that you are seeing some relaxation with the meds. Meds are just that what you have said - an immediate solution to help him relax and relearn that his home is safe. Very anxious dogs do need some help, and the anxiety blocks new learning. Your weaning-off plan sounds good. I hope that it will really help.