Anxious dog, at my wits end.

silv

silv

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hi there, just wondering if anyone else has had experience with an anxious dog. Background story, rescue 3 years ago, has always been well balanced, happy and very obedient . About 4 months ago I started noticing that he was acting oddly.
Example would come into the house and start digging and trying to get into the corner or the room, or into a kitchen cupboard, like he wanted to hide. He would be under my feet and wanting to lick me all the time a couple of times I have found him hiding under my bed. These episodes last for a couple of hours then he will back to normal.

Recently they have been becoming more frequent and happening now on an almost daily basis. I bought him a "thunder shirt" and a calming spray about 3 weeks ago, to be honest it has not really helped. I have also started him on a natural dog calming supplement, been on that for about 2 weeks but it is not making much difference either. Looking like I will need to take him for a visit to the vet.

I know some of this started when my neighbour started target shooting as a hobby, but that is only occasionally. Some days I can find no trigger factors. When i take him off the property for a walk he is back to his normal self.
I have 5 acres and two other dogs they pretty much have the run of the place and play together etc.
His safe place is his bed in the lounge but he won't settle there either.
I cannot think he is in pain as is very active.
I hate seeing him so stressed, any ideas?
PS am going to take him to a vet for an assessment.
 
Sorry to hear this. I have a noise sensitive parsons. If someone shoots or she hears a banger she gets very anxious. It could be that the neighbour has upset your dog.
 
I had a collie once that was like this. Firework season used to set him off and it took until at least December before he calmed down again. Once something really frightened him, he'd be waiting for it to happen again. I found that Rescue Remedy (the human one, sprayed onto a small piece of bread) helped, but the best thing is to condition the dog to the noise. You can probably get recordings of the shooting noise, so you can start off with the barely audible, while doing something the dog enjoys like playing or treats, and then build it up slowly. A dog behaviourist would be able to help too.
 
My dog gets anxious if there's maintenance stuff going on in the neighboring properties, got worse since the other two dogs died. So that (disturbance next door) would be the likely reason for me, but no harm in popping him to the vet.
She's on a high dose of Valerian, I occupy her with chews, if she's very upset I will crate her and she settles. If he wants to hide, then give him a safe space to hide.
 
Thank you for all the replies, he is 5 years old, cognitive decline checklist - he passes with flying colours. Had thought about the pain but cannot see that being a problem but happy to stand corrected. I think the next step is definitely the vet to rule that out and see what they come up with.
 
My dog started getting funny at a similar age. She's actually got much better in the last few weeks after I had to leave her in a different kennel to normal, as my preferred place was full. I think three days stuck next to a constantly barking dachshund has made her realise that it's not so bad around here after all!! I did hear her whining a bit this morning and then heard my neighbour was making or hammering at something.
 
I've a nearly 5yo that's recently been acting anxious/generally weird too, so it's almost a relief to know it's not just mine!
Vet check was all clear thankfully, so at least I know it's not from pain.
 
CorvusCorax said:
My dog started getting funny at a similar age. She's actually got much better in the last few weeks after I had to leave her in a different kennel to normal, as my preferred place was full. I think three days stuck next to a constantly barking dachshund has made her realise that it's not so bad around here after all!! I did hear her whining a bit this morning and then heard my neighbour was making or hammering at something.
Click to expand...

To confirm, he is demolishing his fruit cage :p
 
Interested to see what the vet says. One of mine has recently decided that he’d rather be outside/in a different room to the airfryer. We’ve had it years, never been an issue until recently.
 
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