Taking Buster to the Vet

[Tuxedodog]

We have a running joke at our house that as soon as there are a few "extra" $$$ in the bank, usually the horse spends it on the vet, but it is now Buster's turn - unfortunately he chose not to wait for extra! I got a lot of good advice from you all about his recent changes in behavior, taking off while we are out walking, the separation anxiety - he is now working on removing the stud between the overhead garage door and the "people" door, there is a new pile of sawdust and splinters every day from him trying to scratch his way out. The latest is that he is having "accidents" both overnight and while we are away at work. Saturday he spent the morning in the yard, had a trip to the barn to play with his girlfriends and then spent another couple hours in the yard. We put him in the garage for less than 2 hours while we ran some errands and there was a puddle and some piles. Could this be a new aspect of the separation issue? We had talked about medicating him, but it wasn't my first choice, I guess the vet and I will be revisiting that. I have an appointment for tomorrow night, but I welcome any advice or suggestions.

[Jedismom]

Hi,

 

I've gone back and revisited some of your prior posts to get an idea of the advice you were given. It seems that you've been dealing with SA for quite some time now. I hope the vet is able to help. Let us know how that goes.

 

I'm wondering what you've tried so far? Some of the advice you were given mentioned putting soft music on or the tv, giving Buster a kong to occupy himself with, perhaps getting him a companion if that's possible and if not, another dog (one dog if multiple dogs are overwhelming) to play with at a friends house occasionally. My girl Cadi, who has very mild SA likes to cuddle sometimes with something that has my smell on it. Is he trying to get in the house? Is there a problem with him spending time in the house? Has he been destructive there in the past? Perhaps he would relax more if he felt more of your presence.

 

Cadi's behavior (she also has some OCD issues) starts to get worse when we've gone without our daily walk or obedience training for a few days. Spending time just hanging out outside is not really excersise nor is it stimulating enough. Also, having Jedi there has helped her tremendously, that's why I mentioned a companion. It may get to the point where I need to medicate also, right now I'm looking into accupuncture.

 

Good luck and I hope some of this helps!

[Tranquilis]

In general, when there's no 'adult supervison' available, I put my dogs up in their crates. They don't mess there, and have been taught that their crates are sanctuaries from the world. Suka, especailly, hates to see me go but she settles in her crate. She doesn't have full-blown SA though, so I don't know if this will work for you.

[Tuxedodog]

Buster is the nicest, sweetest dog but he is really having a problem being on his own. We briefly considered getting him a companion, but we don't want him to feel that he has to share us with another dog, or for him to teach another dog his less desireable behaviors. We tried crating him - he sleeps in his crate with the door open, but shutting him is was as close to disaster as I ever want to get. He broke the welds and the crate was bent and mangled with sharp things in all directions. Music and kongs had no impact. He liked the treats but I had to use cheese whiz since I am allergic to peanut butter and can't risk getting any on me, and he quickly tired of the same thing, he is not food motivated. I will try leaving him some smelly clothes in his crate, that is one thing I haven't tried.

 

On the weekends when we go away, we take Buster with us, we go for lots of walks and he has lots of space to go exploring and he wears himself out so there are no issues, he also spends the night with us but being older at least one of us gets up in the middle of the night and he gets to go out. During the week we have less time, I live in a place where we can't go walking at night, in the winter it is unsafe and this summer the mosquitoes and deer flies chased us indoors (we live next to a swamp) I take Buster to the barn to play with the dogs, he wears them out!

 

Buster has been on this binge of destruction since his buddy passed away almost 3 years ago. We spent huge amounts of quality time with him and it made no difference, we kinda hoped that he would get over it. The latest potty problems have driven my husband over the edge, he had resigned himself to sweeping up the remains of the woodwork each evening, but cleaning up a mess every night and coming out to one in the morning has not been well received. Buster is His dog, and I have been making excuses for Buster for the past couple of years. Buster has never been abused by humans, as upset as my husband is with the dog, he has never laid a hand on him, but the other dog we had was very domineering. Three years later, Buster will not eat if he is in the garage, he wasn't allowed by the other dog, and he still won't. When we take him with us, where Bubba never ruled, he is a totally different dog. The vet suggested an animal behaviorist, but it just isn't in the budget. We are going to try as small a dose as we can of something to see if it helps him. He has to be unhappy, he just hates being by himself. When I tell him it is doggy bedtime, he gets up and slinks out with his head down and tail between his legs. I can't leave him in the house unsupervised. Before I married my husband, he told me he fell asleep with the dogs in the house and Buster chewed off the end of one of the steps, and I have cleaned up a number of poops on the carpeting. We need to have blood, urine and feces tests before he gets any meds, the vet is having a special for older pets that will make this a little less painful on the wallet. I won't get the bloodwork, etc done until next week, so I will update to let you know how things are working out for Buster. I appreciate all of the advice, I know there is no magic wand, but I want one for him so badly.

[Tranquilis]

Wow.

 

That's a serious case of SA, alright. OK, you're probably correct that you're nearing the 'needs meds' stage here. At least, perhaps, for a while to help you ease through the first stages of dealing with SA. One thing you've mentioned, which I'd suggest was a good idea for any high-drive dog; "A tired dog is a good dog." Unfortunately, beyond that, I can't help any further - This is a level of SA beyond my meager skills.

[Tuxedodog]

Well, I am picking up Buster's meds tonight, it has been a long road. I got his bloodwork done a couple weeks ago and his Thyroid levels came back as off, so the "discount" labwork rolled over into the very expensive. His thyroid is on the low side of normal, so he is okay in that respect. The vet had a few things to say about side effects that I truly hope he doesn't get. He mentioned that some dogs get very agressive on the drug (I won't know what it is until I pick it up), I wasn't prepared for that. Several people on the forum have indicated that their dogs are on anti-anxiety meds, have any of you had bad reactions? I need a little board mojo for Buster, I just hope that this works out for him.

[urge to herd]

Shonie is on clomiprimine, (generic for clomicalm) and it's worked wonders. No side effects.

 

I'm wondering if Buster isn't confused by the changes in routine? For a couple day, he spends a lot of time with you and gets lots of attention/activity, then for 5 days he has very limited access to you and very limited activity. Then back to a couple days of lots of time with his humans.

 

I understand that you both work, but perhaps a middle of the road approach would help, so that he doesn't have the extremes to swing between. As well, try some trick training in the house, games of find the toy, find the other human in another room, anything that will engage him with you, not other dogs. And, there's a book called "I'll Be Home Soon" that might be helpful.

 

I put off having Shonie medicated way too long. She'd have been a happier dog, and we'd have been a happier household.

 

Tufts University has a long distance consultation program for behavior issues. Might be worth looking into.

 

Good luck!

 

Ruth

[martySQ]

You say your dog misses his buddy...yet that dog was dominant. Why not try getting your dog another buddy that is from a rescue and shown not to be the top dog...? dogs can learn that more is better and not taking away from their quuality time... it might be more fun for your dog to share time with you with another dog who has energy enough to keep up with him...

I didn't go back and read all the older posts, so dismiss my thoughts if it isn't appropriate.

[Tuxedodog]

Ruth, thank you for the clear view from the outside. I wouldn't know where to begin with teaching Buster things to do. He is very willing and obedient if you can integrate new actions into an existing routine, but I wouldn't know where to begin to start from scratch with him. He doesn't deal well with change, it took months of short trips to go do something fun in the car before he stopped getting sick before the end of the driveway. He loves going to our property, but the level of anxiety and hysteria that he exhibits before we get there is painful for us. He seems to interpret all actions as punishment until proven otherwise. If he was a rescue dog, I would have assumed he was abused, I am guessing he was by the other dog, but not by people. My husband got him before I met him and the person he was involved with at the time was interested in agility, Buster wasn't, so his life revolved around the other dog. My main concern is that we make sure that he be healthy, safe and be as happy as he can be without 24/7 companionship. A second dog is out of the question financially, we spend far more on our pets than we do on ourselves. I started him on the generic Prozac on Friday, I will give an update after he has been on the drug for awhile.

[urge to herd]

Some of us are just wired differently myself included. Hopefully, Buster will benefit from the generic prozac - I can never remember it's name - and you can start some basic training. Have you had a trainer come out to your home?

 

Will he come when you call? Does he sit when told to? If he does these things, he can learn to do other things. There are some great books about trick training, as well as many, many You Tube videos. Starting with something like Idiot's Guide to Fun and Games with Your Dog, which you might be able to find at www.half.com, should break it down for you.

 

Good luck to you and Buster. He's lucky to have you.

 

Ruth