Dog anxiety

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BenBhoy

BenBhoy

Well-Known Member
My 13yr old lurcher has always been highly strung (polite term). 9yrs ago first baby & dog became worse but we managed to get her right. Now we have a 12month old baby (3rd baby) and the last couple weeks dog been acting strange. Last night it became worse. She's clearly anxious especially around the now mobile & noisy baby. She just can't settle, restless panting.

Anybody have any remedies? Tried these natural one a day tablets etc?

Thanks 😔
 
Have you tried reducing her exposure to the baby? We did that with the jack russell (10yrs old) when my daughter was born, would bring her in, let her have a sniff and be in the general area then would either put her in a crate with a kong or just put her in a different room with something to keep her occupied until they were used to each other's presence and would build up the time and how close they were to each other . Our Shikoku was easier as he was a puppy at the time so other than just getting him to realise the baby was a human and not some form of prey he wasn't to worried
 
Build an outside kennel and run.

Dog clearly needs a safe, secure place it can go where it can settle and switch off and inside the house doesn’t sound the best place with 3 young kids.
 
Good advice above. Re kennel. Your dog may well be conflicted.

In the dog world prey moves fast and makes high pitched noises. Your dog may be restraining it’s self from following its natural instinct to chase and grip the fast moving high pitched small prey object. Child.

The conflict may be leading to severe anxiety and as mentioned the best way to manage it is to provide a safe space for your dog away from prey.
 
If not a kennel, a crate. Comfy, fave toys and feed there too.
Maybe that she's (we've all assumed that it's a bitch) stressing about pack hierarchy so Mrs needs to be the Alpha female.
Dogs are their best at the bottom of our pack.
 
Recently had good success with an adaptil collar, bought on Amazon for £20. May not work for all but definitely saw a change in ours.
 
It is a bitch yeah. She has a her bed in a recess beneath stairs in utility room. It's a real quiet out of the way spot & kids never go to her there. Trouble is recently she hasn't wanted to take herself there - last night she was pressing herself into corner of the room 😪😔

The 2 eldest kids are brilliant, absolutely 💯 respect & understand dogs. OK the baby is a baby but we don't let her hambug the dog at all.
 
BenBhoy said:
It is a bitch yeah. She has a her bed in a recess beneath stairs in utility room. It's a real quiet out of the way spot & kids never go to her there. Trouble is recently she hasn't wanted to take herself there - last night she was pressing herself into corner of the room 😪😔

The 2 eldest kids are brilliant, absolutely 💯 respect & understand dogs. OK the baby is a baby but we don't let her hambug the dog at all.
Click to expand...
I would entice her there with something, a kong is good as you could put something inside and freeze it to help it last longer. we used to use dog friendly peanut butter which kept them busy and happy. The other thing may be when the baby is being loud as they do try to slip a treat to the dog before she gets to anxious about it then move her away. For me the main thing was making sure they knew being around the baby was a good thing but would never let the baby or the dogs push their luck, so built up the duration they could be around each other
 
M'sahib (who trains dogs for a living) says feed the dog in her 'safe space' and put a baby gate between the two areas. It's a happy, good space for her. Good things happen.
Mrs P says that hiding in a corner is your dog trying to hide, trying to get away, so separate them and introduce them later. Let your dog get used to all the farty noises and smells and when she sticks her nose through the door, she may be ready.
 
Following this as I have a 3 1/2 year old lab bitch who is very nervous in a lot of situations. Was gun shy to start with but if fine in those circumstances now and love to track deer.

She sleeps out at night and often wants out to her kennel during the day. Clearly her safe space.

Although she has traveled in the car (crate in the boot of a SUV) she has started panting in the car. Does object to getting in but I was clearly not happy
 
Precision123 said:
M'sahib (who trains dogs for a living) says feed the dog in her 'safe space' and put a baby gate between the two areas. It's a happy, good space for her. Good things happen.
Mrs P says that hiding in a corner is your dog trying to hide, trying to get away, so separate them and introduce them later. Let your dog get used to all the farty noises and smells and when she sticks her nose through the door, she may be ready.
Click to expand...

Appreciate her input. If only this case was that logical -- she has a perfect safe space & we use a retractable baby gate across that room door (the dog can open doors) It's always been like that & dog been happy. But recently in the night she's discovered she can clear the baby gate and takes herself around the house/hides in other places.

We're away for couple of nights & my in laws have her - apparently been absolutely perfect just how she used to be, so it must be us/living with us.... 🥺
 
Might be worth having a chat with your vet. There are several options both pharmaceutical and nutraceutical available, one I have had good feedback on is Nutracalm (or similar). It's not a pharmaceutical and wont work for every individual but I have had a few people report good results. Adaptil plug-ins are supposed to help some individuals but again, not completely consistent.
It may be that some of the anxiety is stemming from Old Dog Cognitive Dysfunction in which case a medication called Propentophylline might be of benefit. If none of the above have any effect then there are the traditional anxiety medications to try, off licence but often used.
Some options to consider.
 
Update - had her 2nd visit to vet last night. Diagnosed with senile dementia 😔.

Given couple of different meds 🤞 to keep her as normal as possible.
 
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