I can cue "sad, puppy eyes" if only I could cue happy. Sigh.
Cue: "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "CRASH!" and also brilliant flashes of lightening right outside our window.
Zoe immediately has a panic attack. Now I do count myself lucky that her panic attacks are mild compared to some other dogs. She will shiver, pace, whine and sometimes drool but not always. She's not jumping through the windows or destructive. She is still able to eat when she's upset, too but she can't focus on anything and asking her to do anything (sit, down, etc.) is impossible. She just can't function.
Lately she's been having a lot of general anxiety anyways. I figure it's because our move was stressful and then right after we moved in they did massive construction on our building and in the apartment above us, simultaneously. It was nonstop and went on for a couple of weeks. I honestly wish I had asked our vet for some good drugs for her while this was happening but it didn't really occur to me to do so at the time. Don't ask me why! I thought she might get used to it but I was kidding myself, this is Zoe. She didn't like the noise and would hang out in the bedroom but she wasn't in full panic. I always tell people there's fallout to everything and lately we've been living with that fallout. The neighbors can't walk across their floor (our ceiling) without Zoe leaving the room and not being happy.
I do my best to support her through it, any time she's afraid. So as soon as I heard the thunder I put her thundershirt on, although I haven't found it to be that helpful in the past. I also turned on some fans and her "Through A Dog's Ear" classical music and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. I also gave her some medication. I don't currently have any RX sedatives on hand but in the past I've found that benadryl slightly helps to chill her out. So she got a benadryl and I also decided to give her an herbal anxiety remedy called "valerian root". This was our first time trying it. I've been researching different herbal remedies for a while. I'm not a huge believer in them but I figured it was worth a shot.
Usually when Zoe has a panic attack it's because of fireworks. It can take her hours to calm down, sometimes an entire night. We usually have to crate her to stop her from pacing. This time I sat with her for a while, she decided that the bathroom was a safe place but then after a little bit she didn't like it in there so I crated her in the bedroom with her calming music and fans and let her be. Comforting her does not seem to help even though I feel like I should be doing something to make her feel better. I feel awful for her and I wish there was some way for me to tell her that she's safe.
Around 10:30-11pm the thunderstorms went on their way to terrorize some other part of the Pacific Northwest and it was calm again. It even stopped raining. By 12-12:30am Zoe was back to normal. I was able to take her out of the crate, walk her outside for potty time and when she came back in she even played with Phoenix. This has never happened, ever. Usually she's fine by the next morning but sometimes not. I don't know if it had anything to do with adding the valerian root or what but I was pretty happy she felt better and I'm definitely going to try it again next time. It really upsets me when she is so afraid.
This is just us, living the anxious life. I've been trying to counter condition and desensitize her to the noises but it's so hard to predict or set up! Sometimes I feel like this is just going to be our life and I feel really sad and kind of frustrated about it. I'd rather work with Phoenix with her dog aggression because she's easier to work with and is actually making progress. I'm beginning to consider a full time anxiety medication for Zoe and we are looking into our options. I will keep everyone updated with our progress and whatnot as we go.
Do you have a fearful dog? What do you do when they freak out?
Disclaimer: The author of ZoePhee is not a vet and not affiliated with any vets other than our own. Please do not give your dog something without thoroughly researching it and/or consulting with your vet.
I hope you feel better today. Have you tried that Canine Calm Spray? I was surprised how well that worked for the fireworks and thunder storms. Our dogs are generally not anxious but in Spring the first storms get them. I think if either fireworks or thunder happened more often they would get over it...lol. We try not to act any differently when these things are happening so as not to cue them that there is anything amiss. But our Golden was a lot like Zoe and he never got over it. He was a fairly soft dog. Thanks for joining the hop!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I haven't tried the spray you recommended but I will look into it! Yeah, Zoe is an extremely soft dog. She is so sensitive to everything we have to be careful because she shuts down. It's so sad.
DeleteI think Zoe's sad puppy looks likes mischievous puppy. Maybe it's the ears. I love those ears.
ReplyDeleteI suffer from migraines too. They're horrible, and difficult to explain how debilitating they are to non-sufferers. I was lucky enough to find a medication that helps, and a doctor who didn't think I was crazy asking for anti-nausea drugs to go along with. I'm glad you feel better.
LOL! We love her ears, too. :D
DeleteI'm sorry about your migraines! You are totally right. It's hard to explain how painful it is. My husband came home and was banging around even though I had already texted him the minute the migraine came on. He didn't mean to make noise but he just doesn't get how horrible the pain is. I've had them since I was a kid and we haven't really found any drugs that help.
I'm so sorry. It's very sad when our pets are out of sorts, it makes us feel totally helpless. Neither of my dogs freaks about the thunder, but on occasion Sampson will run outside and bark at the sky after a big boomer. Lately the wind has really been bothering him and when it's super windy, he wants to be near one of us. If the wind is during the day, he goes downstairs to my moms and lays on her bed. I think it's because she is in the basement and the wind noise is less down there, whatever it is he feels better down there so we let him.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's the Valerian root and maybe giving it to her when you have notice of storms might help her anxiety attacks to not be as strong.
Thanks for joining the blog hop and please keep us posted.
Awe thank you! It is very upsetting when she's freaked out and I feel helpless a lot of the time.
DeleteThat's so funny about Sampson barking at the sky!
Fireworks for Wilson, thunderstorms and fireworks for Jimmy. Even something landing in an empty dumpster will set Jimmy on edge. Loud, heavy rain on a metal roof, too! I don't really do much for it, just wait it out.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried lavendar? It is supposed to help as well as Rescue Remedy.
Awe poor boys!! We feel your pain!
DeleteHi Y'all!
ReplyDeleteOh gee whiz, poor girl.
Y'all come on by,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Yeah, it's sad. :(
DeleteThat is the hardest thing to help a pet with! Luckily the only thing me and Stanley are scared of is skate boards.
ReplyDeleteYour Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
That's good that you don't have many fears! The girls are not a fan of skate boards either!
DeletePoor pup..we don't have to deal with this with Dante and Ziva. Our former foster was and still is a nervous wreak when it comes to things like fireworks and thunder. What has worked best for her is being locked in a dark bathroom, well not locked but door mostly closed. My grandma crates her anxious heeler mix that hates thunder and that helps her. Unfortunately its just the way it goes, unless you want to look into anti anxiety meds, but I try to avoid things like that.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Yeah we are starting to look into anxiety medication. Her general anxiety is through the roof right now and it could be that the medication can just get us over that hump so that the counter conditioning and desensitization can start to work. They can't learn anything when they are afraid which is why I'm not making much progress. I'm hoping that the drugs would be temporary.
DeleteI found a blog you might be able to relate with!
ReplyDeletehttp://margebl0g.blogspot.com/2011/09/shy-dog-101.html
Thanks! I will check that out!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about the anxiety. Katie has a touch of it with fireworks, but she simply goes to an interior bathroom with no windows and sleeps in there and is fine. No idea what to do if a dog is as anxious as yours. Hope your migraine goes away.
ReplyDeletePoor girl! I hope your head is feeling better. I second Two Brown Dogs on the spray recommendation! It stinks, but it helps Pike with his separation anxiety.
ReplyDeletePike completely shuts down at the vet (I have to carry him and he has to be physically manipulated into a position where he can be examined. He freezes and won't uncurl on his own :'(), and has mild separation anxiety. Nola is still anxious over nail trimming despite two years of work, but other than that none of mine are fearful. Thank god!
Barley's also terrified of thunder and fireworks. She usually tries to squish herself behind the toilet--and she's kind of too big to do that. Sometimes she hides under the bed. I tried to do some training with her when I first got her, but she won't take treats during storms/fireworks and like you said, they don't come frequently enough (thank goodness) for me to do consistent training--so I just kind of decided to let it go. She's not hurting herself or destroying anything, so I've found it's better to just let her find her safe place and wait it out--I usually try to busy myself with something because I think my concern and attempts at comforting just add to her stress. If it's a situation I know is coming up (like 4th of July), we try to go for a really long walk before the situation starts so she can be worn out by the time the stress rolls around. I tried anxiety meds for the cat, but trying to give them to him gave us both more anxiety, so I stopped. Hope that you find something that works for Zoe soon--it is so hard to see them scared.
ReplyDeleteGosh, that is really hard. I am happy to hear that the dog aggression situation is showing improvement, as that's more what we're dealing with now with me (and I suppose I've been making progress, too). My Papa used to have a female Vizsla who had these same kinds of panic attacks in response to loud noises like thunder and fireworks. She never grew out of it; it was a similar scene where the humans could only do so much to comfort her. If there's a good and safe medication to have for when the stimulus arises, it might be a good idea to have some on hand. *wags* - Gilligan from WagsAhoy.com
ReplyDeleteThere are some natural products (that are not drugs) that you can try to see if they help Zoe feel less anxious. None of these products work in all cases but many people report good results with these products. You may find that one of these products works really well for Zoe so I will recommend several products that you can try.
ReplyDeleteOne product is called Adaptil (made by Ceva). It contains Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP) which is a synthetic version of the pheromones produced by mother dogs to calm and reassure their puppies. Adaptil comes in collar, spray, and plug-in diffuser forms.
Another product that you could try is called Anxitane (made by Virbac Animal Health). It is a naturally occurring amino acid (L-Theanine) which helps to calm and relax both dogs and cats.
Composure (made by Vetri-Science Laboratories) also contains the amino acid L-Theanine as well as colostrum calming complex and thiamine.
Zylkène (made by Vetoquinol) contains a natural product derived from casein (a protein in milk) which is known to promote the relaxation of newborns after breastfeeding.
All of these products are available on online retailers. If you try one of these products, I would recommend using the product for at least six weeks to see if it works.
Thank you so much! This was really helpful! I had heard that L-theanine was good for anxiety but I wasn't sure!
DeleteAwww poor sweet pup <3
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your headache too btw, that's not a fun situation at all!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Thank you!
DeleteSuch a touch situation to be in; anxiety is not something that's easy to remedy. It has so many causes/triggers and can be a nightmare to live with. I'm glad you're helping her through it with an open mind. Many people might seem to be opposed to medication but it's a personal choice and in some cases can be the only "quick" way to make it tolerable. Anxiety takes it toll, and it's no fun to live with. Anyone that has severe anxiety (dogs included) might need to look into medication to help aid the process of managing it. I've seen a lot of great success stories with medication & desensitization techniques. Wish you guys the best, I know it's a tough road but you've got a good head on your shoulders and I know you'll make wise decisions when it comes to helping Zoe.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!! I hope I can figure something out for her that helps!
DeleteHave you tried melatonin supplements? Riley isn't afraid of storms, but he is TERRIFIED of the ice maker in our refrigerator. I have no idea where he got this fear, but it's quite sad to see - he will make himself as small as possible and hunch into a corner, shaking like a leaf. Obviously we can't predict when it's going to make a noise, but we have found that melatonin definitely helps to calm him down and stop the shaking. We are much more comfortable using that than medication for the time being.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry you have migraines! People don't really understand how awful "just a headache" can be. I had them several times a week up until about a year ago, and they were awful - sometimes they would even make me vomit. I tried several meds, but all the side effects were making things worse. Due to an unrelated condition, my doctor told me to try cutting out gluten...I did, and not only did my other (heart-related) symptoms stop...so did the migraines. I was skeptical at first, but since cutting out gluten, I have only had a migraine about once every three months, and they are much less severe. Worth a try? Good luck to both you and Zoe! <3