Help with new greyhound severe anxiety going to bed at night

[RaineysMom]

I apologize this is SO long.  I am desperately seeking help with our newly adopted Rick.  Rick is 4.5 YO (raced 2.5 years, 127 races), adopted on November 13^th.   Rick is EXTREMELY smart and VERY food motivated so that has helped with training doing stairs, etc.  Unfortunately, he ALSO is very sound sensitive – he wasn’t at first but has become more so in the past 2.5 months we’ve had him (I SWEAR it was from the 2 doses of Drontal Plus he got in Dec and Jan that weirded him out – he had a bad neurological reaction both times).

We have a tri-level house and our bedroom/master bath is on the top floor.  We have a large x-pen set up in one corner of the room, which happens to be closest to the bathroom (only place it can fit).  Each night he would HAPPILY bound up the stairs at bedtime and literally BOUNCE into the x-pen and lie down for his bedtime cookies.  He would lie on his bed all night long and slept perfectly through the night.

Then, back on January 7^th, our village shut the water off to our block and when back on, I had to run the water in all the faucets for 5 minutes to get the air and crappy water that had backed up out and get the water running normally.  I started with the upstairs guest bathroom sink and horrible air and water spurted out (loudly) and when I flushed the toilet it rumbled and thundered and literally rocked. After both started running ok, I looked downstairs and Rick was standing at the gate panting, clearly spooked.   I waited a couple hours, then did the rest of the faucets in the house. He seemed to be ok since it wasn’t as bad or as loud after the first ones I did.

Anyway, that night he came up just fine, went in his x-pen and slept happy all night.  The next morning, I went to take my shower (he was in the x-pen right outside) and when I turned on the shower faucet that horrible air/water sound happened because I had FORGOTTEN to run this one with the others – I looked out at Rick and he was clearly spooked and panting again.  I showered quickly and he was lying quietly on his bed when I came out. That night, he was a little reluctant to come up the stairs and go in his x-pen at bedtime but did but started panting right away and lied down on the rug next to his bed instead of on his bed.  He panted about 5 minutes then was fine all night, lying on the bed most of the night.  Bruce showered the next morning and he clearly was not happy with the shower running.  We showered one more time each after that in the morning (with him there) but have since switched to doing it at night with him in the living room with the TV volume up and all the doors closed so he couldn’t hear the shower (this for the last 2 weeks now) hoping if he didn’t hear it for a while he’d forget about it.

Since the 8^th, it’s become increasingly harder to get him to come up the stairs and as soon as he’s in the room he starts panting, doesn’t want to go in his x-pen and just wants to get out of the room (we’ve been giving super-high value treats the past week hoping that would make him feel better about being there).  He has been distressed and panting in his x-pen for longer and longer before finally settling down some (Saturday night it was over an hour) and won’t lie on his bed, just on the floor. Yesterday, we decided to let him have run of the bedroom (thinking the x-pen or old bed was the problem) and put a different bed in the corner by Bruce where Larry used to sleep.  We had him come up (during the daytime) to check it out - he bounded up the stairs happily and romped around the bedroom, not at all scared or stressed like he has been at bedtime.  But when we went to go to bed last night, Bruce had to leash him to even get him up the stairs.  He started pacing and panting that super-panicked fast panting (way worse than he had before), CLEARLY very distressed (he had the run of the room).  We tried to wait it out but after 20 minutes he wasn’t better and I was afraid he’d have a stroke or something so he ended up sleeping downstairs with Bruce.

Does anyone have ANY suggestions or advice on what we can do to either figure out what the heck is going on with him and how to desensitize him to being in the room?  We really want him to sleep with us (so we know he’s ok, and also so he can let us know if he has to go potty) and are at our wit’s end.  This is killing me to see him so distressed and unhappy at night.  We don’t know what to try or do at this point.

Thanks in advance for reading all of this and for any help.

[Jerilyn]

I'm no expert, but I would probably try to desensitize the whole bedtime routine since he's OK in the bedroom during the day. Like go up to the bedroom with him, close the drapes, shut the door, turn off the lights, lay down on the bed just for a couple minutes. Repeat at random times throughout the day. Maybe plug a DAP diffuser in the bedroom, I've not really seen results from them but other people have.

Good luck, I imagine it's stressful for all of you. 

[1Moregrey]

Poor guy he probably thought the house was out to get him.  If I was a dog I would be scared too.  Think of it as someone who has been in a tornado or earthquake going back to the scene is scary especially since it came out of nowhere for him.
Several things to break down his fear: sound of the water in the pipes,

sound of the shower running

being in his safe place and disturbed 

I would start by moving him to a new room to sleep for a while and see if that helps with night time panting and restless.  

Then since he is food motivated:

1 take him into the bathroom during the day and give him medium value treats or what works for him. Just a few minutes at a time during the day.  Several times a day.

Talk to him mater of factly “nothing in here will hurt you” same tone as ordering coffee.

2 next day or when he is comfortable turn on/off the faucet and give treats. “Nothing in here will hurt you”Just a few time several timesaver day.

3 Then the shower on and off give him treats. “Nothing in here will hurt you” several times a day.

4 With steps 1-3 do 30 minutes before bedtime then take him to another area to sleep.
5 When he is comfortable with all that then you can try bring him in at bed time if he remains calm try having him in the x pen.

Also you are right to switch his bed for another one in the house. Just what I would try to recondition him.  I would also talk to him and tell him a story about what he heard and that he is safe and the noise can not hurt him. 
 

My new girl is very sensitive to sound and touch when she hears things she runs out of the room.  So I tell her it is not real it is just tv I turn the sound on and off, it was me, the cat or what ever.  Now she hears something lifts her head and look to me to tell her what it is.  If I say it was me, cat, tv she just looks like can you be quiet and goes back to what she was doing. Your tone makes a huge difference need to be mater of fact, if you sound worried then they will worry.

Hope this helps

[HeyRunDog]

As well as the good advice already given you could try an Adaptil Diffuser and give him a couple of Adaptil Express tablets a couple of hours before bedtime just to take the edge off his fear and until he gets used to the sound again. They work with Grace for fireworks and when she has to go to the vets.

[cleptogrey]

blood work at vet and see if his thyroid or something else is off?

and yes, that drontal plus can do strange things, including neurological issues to a dog. our adoption group had a female who  went temporarily blind and had other neurological issues as well as signs of poisoning from it. 5k in vet bills at the Animal Medical Center. It turns out she has the mutated gene that many border collies and wind hounds have. My own girl had a"mystery fever" 105 and enlarged spleen- duh, she was dosed w/ drontal plus just before this happened. every vet and bayer said it was safe-well, i'm not administering that again.