Sudden Barking And Anxiety Onset After 16 Months At Home

[Guest ArwynsMom]

I've read a few threads about barking but they all seem to be soon after the Grey first gets home. We've had our girl for 16 months and all of a sudden she's started to bark and we can't find a reason for it because she doesn't appear to be barking AT anything. We have a view fence with a walking path and lake and she had never once barked at cats, dogs, people, birds, anything before. We thought at first she was reacting negatively to sports on TV, she used to just run outside when my husband would get excited about a score but never bark. He stopped cheering thought and she got better for awhile, then started going out when he had sports on at all, so he stopped watching them in the living room. But she still had never barked.

 

So within the last few weeks she goes out and barks and is shaking like a leaf when I go up to her. Like, fourth of July fireworks kind of shaking. The vet put her on Solaquin a couple of days ago and said Greys are high strung. It breaks my heart to see her so scared and I want to fix whatever has her upset. Has anyone else had this happen and do you have any suggestions?

 

Arwyn's Mom,

Layne

[Time4ANap]

If she's home alone during the day, most likely something has happened to cause this. A break-in attempt, loud construction work close by, loud banging etc, or something like an animal or person in the yard that she didn't want there.

 

We know another dog who became like this after the home was broken into through a glass door. She now alerts and barks to anyone and everything within the area that she considers to be her territory.

 

Being in Gilbert, is there a chance that you've had a bunch of helicopters and aircraft buzzing the house in recent weeks with the military maneuvers that were going on in the Phoenix area?

 

You might try keeping some low level music or TV on when no one is home with her to help block other noise. It may just take time for her to regain some confidence if this is what happened.

[Walliered]

Vet is wrong.

[KickReturn]

You didn't mention how much exercise she is getting.

[seeh2o]

I know of a couple who has a newly (6-9 months) adopted greyhound, they actual adopted 2 year old littermates. The male started having night time anxiety, panting, pacing, vocalizing all night. They had blood work done, a physical exam, ophthalmology visit - everything came out normal. They are going to meet with a behaviorist shortly, started him on Clomicalm (about 3 weeks in on that). He has done a milder version of this when staying overnight at friends, but not as bad.

 

My vet gave me, and another friend, a liquid tincture of aconite. It is used for extreme fear reactions, after seizures, etc. If it works for the dog,it works almost instantly, it's really a miracle. I've used it with Doodles when she was having a strong fear reaction, she calmed down before I put the dropper back in the bottle.

 

The couple with the frail make tried using it last week, under a vet's supervision, and in two nights the behavior ceased. The first night they gave it to him at the very first sign of distress, then additional doses, took him for a walk and he settled down for the night. The second night, again, they gave it at the first sign of distress, fewer additional doses were needed and that was it, he settled for the night. If you have a vet who practices both western and homeopathic medicine, it might be worth giving it a try. I keep it in my emergency kit now, I won't be without it.

[KickReturn]

Tincture of Aconite. Very good to know. Thanks for the tip. Should the OP try this, please come back and tell us your results.

[GeorgeofNE]

Your vet doesn't sound like he or she knows much about greyhounds because MOST greyhounds are the very opposite of high strung.

 

There is probably an animal out there that you can't see. I see you're in AZ. Could be a lot of different things. If it's only outside that she's barking, bring her in. If she is randomly barking INSIDE, she may have just gotten comfortable enough in your home to let you know what she thinks!

[Guest ArwynsMom]

Thank you everyone for your comments. We take her for a walk almost every morning and have started back to week day evenings recently since the weather is better now. Plus dog parks twice a month, so I think she gets plenty of exercise. I can tell the TV gets her anxious so I'd rather not leave it on, but I will try leaving the radio on something calming and very low.

 

The neighbors have not complained she is barking while we are out so I think it is only while we are home. It does seem to be TV related and sports in specific but I just sat on the sofa the other night with the TV off and she still went out and barked. It strikes me as odd to have started all of a sudden when she rarely barked for 15 months prior. So I'm still not convinced it's just having the TV on because she doesn't do it all the time.

 

If the herbal remedy doesn't seem to be helping I will look into the Clomicalm and Aconite.

 

Thanks again for the input.

 

Layne

Edited November 28, 2016 by ArwynsMom

[KickReturn]

Members of this forum know me to be relentless on the exercise issue. When I read about a problem with the mouth - chewing or barking, I suspect a lack of exercise. I live in a neighborhood filled with dogs. None of them bark except for the ones that are never walked - and those dogs bark a lot!. A good test would be to see if Arwyn ever barks on days when she has had a major amount of exercise. Granted the sudden onset of barking is very strange. Good luck, I hope this gets resolved.

[GeorgeofNE]

Putting your dog on drugs 24/7 because she periodically barks seems rather extreme to me.

 

I agree--she needs more exercise.

[Sundrop]

Greys are not high strung at all. Your vet has no clue.

 

Our boy started exhibiting weird behavior this past year. We'd had him only about 8 months when we lost our girl to osteo. We were not ready to adopt again right away. Immediately after having some large trees in our front & back yards pruned and cleaned up, he started acting strangely. The day the tree guys were here, he was running from window to window, nose dripping, ears up, etc. - which is expected. But the behavior continued (you can see the thread here, it might give you some tips, also). I was so concerned for our boy, it was hard to watch him frantically running from window to window and acting terrified for seemingly no reason.

 

In the end, he calmed down after we borrowed our neighbor's dog to come over and spend time with him, and also just taking him with us everywhere. A couple weeks later, we adopted again and he hasn't displayed the behavior since. We took him on longer walks, brought him with us to Home Depot, pet store, etc. (just to get him out & about) and set up play dates with the neighbor's pup (they love each other). He was already getting two walks per day, but I think he likely had numerous small issues that just became one big one. Once we relaxed him and involved him more, and adopted a sister for him, he was totally fine.

 

By the way, you mention the neighbors tell you she barks while you are gone. Are you leaving the TV on then? We always leave the radio on for the dogs when we leave - loud enough so they hear it, but not blaring, normally on the classical station.

 

Good luck!

Edited December 2, 2016 by Sundrop