New Grey With Sudden Fear Or Anxiety Of Going Outside

[Guest DunksMom]

Hi GTers! Its been a while since my last post so here's a background:

 

We adopted our second greyhound, Winnie (3 years old), at the end of March this year after losing our first grey, Dunkin, very suddenly in December of 2013 to hemangiosarcoma. She was very outgoing, loved meeting people, enthusiastic about walking and even ran 3 miles with me every morning. She was very attached to me, following me everywhere in the house. If i got up she would get up and follow. She played often with squeaky toys and was in general a very happy and confident dog. Mid August some changes started to develop.

 

August 24 - we left the house to go for our morning walk/run (6am) and she got to the end of the driveway and pulled HARD to go back to the house. I thought it was weird but went back to the house with her and we didn't walk that morning. I dropped her off at daycare (she has a private suite with access to outside all day) and picked her up that evening did a short walk and everything that night was normal.

 

August 25 - she did the same thing with the morning walk and so we didn't walk and she went to daycare and a friend picked her up and brought her home as my husband and i were attending an evening event. My friend said she tried to take her for a walk and she got to the driveway and pulled to go back to the house.

 

After these 2 noticeable events Winnie would sometimes not come out of the crate in the mornings, so no walk and other times do short walks in the morning and evening but was nervous on her walks. She would do long mid day walks on the weekends and seem fine. I started to notice that she wasn't playing with her squeakies as much and was not being as affectionate in the evenings at home. She would eat and put herself to bed in her crate. This was weird considering that normally after dinner she would play and snuggle on the couch.

 

Where we're at today:

 

She won't go for walks at all.

She will intermittently either only go out to do her business or other times is totally fine and will lay down outside.

She consistently doesn't want to come out of the crate when she knows its time to go to daycare but is not adverse to going into the daycare.

She is freaked out and panicked for morning and evening on leash walking to the car, attempt to walk to potty after daycare or attempt at a short walk. wide eyes, panting, erratic pulling to get either into the car or into a building. doesn't matter what building (vet, daycare, home)

She intermittently seems down or depressed inside the house. not playing, not asking for pets, withdrawn to her crate.

 

I've taken her to our vet for testing and the results are that her Total T4 was a little low (.6) for greyhounds and there was a slightly high white blood cell count in her urine along with a little bacteria (sample was a free catch). Vet said that the bacteria could be from the free catch method but the higher WBC indicated a possible UTI, so 2 weeks of amoxicillan was prescribed. Vet said maybe that could be what prompted the change in behavior. I haven't noticed anything significant when she urinates like she's in pain or straining. I suggested to vet that we run a full thyroid with free T4 and HST so we go back on Tuesday to have more blood drawn for that testing.

 

I'm at a complete loss and looking for any advice or suggestions. Does this seem medical or behavioral to you?

 

As I was writing this, Winnie asked to go outside and was playing with her ball as the neighbors landscapers were mowing and weedwhacking..... so it's not sound related i guess.... sigh...

 

I know it was a long post but thanks for reading!

 

 

[BatterseaBrindl]

Is it darker out now in the mornings and evenings

[robinw]

I wish I had an answer for you. Could something have happened of which you might not be aware?

 

In the meantime, you might want to look into this no pull, no escape harness. My Iker was too afraid to walk around. I purchased the harness and,now he,goes out without problem, and even seems relaxed. I think there's something about it that is comforting. It is from the One Stop Harness Shop, which is only on Facebook.

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/568743733161925/?ref=ts&fref=ts

[BauersMom]

Something really similar happened to our first grey, Bauer. He went from being a very outgoing, normal dog to hiding in our closet and being completely freaked out by the outside.

 

He did get put on thyroid meds which helped, so investigating with further bloodwork there is a good place to start. He would still get really anxious at random times during the day (better than the WHOLE day for sure) that we were unable to figure out, so he was put on an anti-anxiety med as well. I believe Xanax... and that was the final push to getting him back to normal.

 

We never really figured out what changed for him. He was such a happy, confident dog beforehand. Wish I had an explanation.

[JohnF]

Are you getting calming signals from Winnie when she shows this spooky behaviour? Doing displacement activity, 'licking-yawning and looking-away'.

That's what you'd normally see in a dog who was trying not to worry you because it felt ill or whatever.

 

Possibly your dog has associated going out at that time of day with some kind of animal lurking outside, an insect or spider bite, or maybe even been freaked by a moth or something. Whatever has happened you appear to have given her the idea that you think its not a good idea to continue outside either.

 

Can she still see well? Has she developed corns? Has she got sore feet from something?

 

The only time when one of mine (a Borzoi) did something like that and refused point blank to go up along the trail of her her most favourite walk of all, was when she was feeling ill prior to being diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure. She must have just felt rotten and didn't want to go. Most of her joy at doing anything much else went away too.

 

All you can do is let the vet treat any obvious problems, and try not to act weird or upset around the dog yourself

[Guest Scouts_mom]

I'm really glad you are talking with your vet as this sounds medical more than behavioral.

[Guest DunksMom]

Thanks for the responses.

 

No corns, no sore feet, no vision problems (she plays catch with laser accuracy!)

I can't think of anything that would have scared her or anything that happened that i can pinpoint. She's never out in the yard unsupervised and she acts normal at daycare i'm told.

 

Winnie has been going out into the yard yesterday and today with no problems, she even laid down outside in the grass! I'm wary of trying to take her for a walk just yet so I think we'll stick to celebrating the small victory for now She seems peppier, playing with her squeakies and even some zoomies in the yard. She's been on the amoxicillan for 2 days now and just this morning i did notice her strain to pee once, so maybe she did have a UTI and was associating walks and outside with pain from the UTI when she pees.....

 

Anyhow, she seems to be acting a little more normal (besides the paint peeling gas) but I will keep you posted on her thyroid results.

[bradymom]

So glad she is feeling better.

[juliemac]

glad for the progress!

[GeorgeofNE]

I wonder if she'd be happier if you stopped sending her to daycare?

 

I know that Buck sleeps ALL DAY on his couch while I'm at work. He is happiest inside, at home. I do walk him daily--he's not crazy about it, but I don't have a yard.

 

She doesn't NEED to be at daycare unless you work crazy long hours, and it could be that the entire process is upsetting to her.

 

Just my 2 cents!

[3greytjoys]

Whether medical or behavioral, I agree with you to reduce the size of Winnie's world by holding off on walks until she's feeling much more comfortable in her own environment.

 

Aside from medical discomfort or injury, if you can't think of any other changes that happened during summer, a few possibilities:

Physical and/or mental over-stimulation while still adjusting to a new life.

(I assume her exercise endurance was built up very, very gradually during her first several months off the track.)

Stress

Fear

A different type of outside noise might have frightened her, even while she was inside the house.

A neighbor's dog barking could be enough warning (in dogs' language) for her to retreat back.

 

I assume your daycare doesn't have web video for their clients to view their dogs(?).

They may not recognize stress or subtle changes in sensitive Greyhounds. Many dogs, especially Greyhounds do not thrive in daycare or vacation kennel environments. Some Greys are not comfortable in mixed breed dog environments, stress when hearing vocal or play style differences (even if only hearing others play roughly near their kennel), etc. I'd suggest asking a pet sitter (preferably Greyhound savvy) to stop by your home mid-day to provide a yard potty outing and a few minutes of toy play in your fenced yard.

 

Stress level hormones can remain heightened in a dog's system for hours or days. Winnie might be so stressed after silently struggling through daycare that it affects her evening hours during your work week. If her car rides typically lead to being dropped off at daycare or to visit the vet's office, I'm a little surprised she's not dreading getting into the car. If that begins to happen, try planning more fun (for her) car ride destinations where she can relax knowing you'll have fun together. After you think she can handle a short walk again, you might try driving her to a quiet park to see if her demeanor improves while walking in a different setting (away from potentially scary triggers in your neighborhood or daycare center).

 

Hope Winnie feels better soon.

[Guest DunksMom]

I wonder if she'd be happier if you stopped sending her to daycare?

 

I know that Buck sleeps ALL DAY on his couch while I'm at work. He is happiest inside, at home. I do walk him daily--he's not crazy about it, but I don't have a yard.

 

She doesn't NEED to be at daycare unless you work crazy long hours, and it could be that the entire process is upsetting to her.

 

Just my 2 cents!

 

Hi Susan! Long time no "see". Your boy George was in the same group of pups from GW as Dunkin'! Don't know if you remember us or not Winnie has some separation anxiety, she "sings" when we leave her home so that's why she goes to daycare. She's got a private room with access to outside all day and gets a half hour of one on one playtime with the kennel staff (she gets snarky with the other dogs). She doesn't hesitate going into daycare, wags her tail when she sees the girls at the front desk and prances back to her suite, so I think she likes it there.... I asked the kennel staff at daycare whether they've noticed anything off but they say she is going outside during the day with no hesitation, plays fetch with her squeaky ball at playtime and seems normal. sigh.......

[Guest DunksMom]

I wish I had an answer for you. Could something have happened of which you might not be aware?

 

In the meantime, you might want to look into this no pull, no escape harness. My Iker was too afraid to walk around. I purchased the harness and,now he,goes out without problem, and even seems relaxed. I think there's something about it that is comforting. It is from the One Stop Harness Shop, which is only on Facebook.

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/568743733161925/?ref=ts&fref=ts

Robin,

I've ordered a harness for Winnie and it should be here in about two weeks. We'll see if that makes a difference (fingers crossed).

 

 

Whether medical or behavioral, I agree with you to reduce the size of Winnie's world by holding off on walks until she's feeling much more comfortable in her own environment.

 

Aside from medical discomfort or injury, if you can't think of any other changes that happened during summer, a few possibilities:

Physical and/or mental over-stimulation while still adjusting to a new life.

(I assume her exercise endurance was built up very, very gradually during her first several months off the track.)

Stress

Fear

A different type of outside noise might have frightened her, even while she was inside the house.

A neighbor's dog barking could be enough warning (in dogs' language) for her to retreat back.

 

 

Definitely not going to drag her out on walks now. She seems comfortable in the house and I've noticed that on weekends she will spend time outside in the yard. I'm expecting the test results for the free T4 and TSH back either today or tomorrow but if all is normal there, I have a recommendation from my adoption group for a behaviorist and will start there.

 

Poor Winnie! She's such a loving and sweet girl I just want her to be happy.

[GeorgeofNE]

She may or may not like going to daycare, but she may also be confused about where she belongs if she is spending all that time there, basically alone in her "suite."

 

Is that her home? Is your house her home? Just my opinion because I have a semi-spook and I know his most favorite thing of all is to be on HIS couch. When grocery boy comes (he is terrified of men) he lays on his couch, frozen like a rabbit, hoping he is invisible. That's what makes him most comfortable!

 

The stress of being surrounded by other dogs she doesn't want to and cannot interact with would concern ME.

 

George was with the group of GW dogs named after citrus fruits. I think it was just him (Lime) and one other (Lemon, renamed by her family, thank God).