Cassie is 21 months old she has always been a timid dog but recently any loud noise or anything new to her sends her into a tizzy. She hides and trembles badly and will only settle to sleep if i am with her. I think it started with fireworks at halloween and progressed severely from there. Is there anything i can do to help. I dont think its separation anxiety as she doesnt destroy and soil the house when we are absent which is rare anyway. Need help as its not nice to witness.
Poor Carrie and you are quite right you both need help with this and I would suggest you ask your vet to refer you to someone who is properly qualified to help you:
They will work with you and your vet to help Cassie cope better in the big scary world.
Meanwhile there are several things you can do that might help her and that is to make sure when she is frightened she has somewhere to go where she feels safe and secure. You can also add an Adaptil plug in which is a pheromone diffuser close to where she sleeps or use it in a spray form on a neckerchief around her neck. It also comes as a collar. Don’t try and force her to do or go anywhere if she acts frightened and remain really calm and act as if loud thunderstorms are the most boring things in the world. If she sees something new like a blue wheelie bin (dogs often cope with green but when a blue one pops up oh my!) and looks frightened simply and quietly touch it and just stand there. Cassie will come up eventually and allow her to sniff at it give her a treat, if she will take one, and continue on with your walk.
The behaviourist will suggest that you should desensitise and counter condition her to all the noises she is frightened of. You can start with thunder and fireworks. To do this you need a cd called sound therapy http://www.soundtherapy4pets.com/
This site will explain how they work and guide you through but basically you play the sounds at such a low volume your dog hardly hears it and does not respond so you then play a great fun game or offer treats during this time. Then very slowly over days and weeks you begin to increase the sound and only move on if your dog is happy at that volume until you can play them very loudly and all your dog wants is to play or eat.
Your vet with your behaviourist will monitor the situation as you move through these stages and hopefully after a few months she will be able to cope better. However, she will not suddenly become overnight a bold and fearless Cassie and you will have to monitor and manage her carefully. But hopefully she will improve and life won’t be quite as scary from now on.
thanks for reply. I tried the adaptil spray but didn't find it helpful, however my local pet shop sells the collars so i will try that in the mean time. I am due to see our vet this week for Cassie's next dose of lungworm prevention so i will talk to him then about help as i think it is my last option. It is harder than u would think to use a computer with a terrfied 3-4 stone dog on your knee!
There is something called Zylkene which is a milk protein capsule that may also help. However, these things generally only work alongside behavioural modification. We tend to use them to help chip away at the anxiety. Get yourself qualified help you will be surprised at the results.
Expert answer
Hi Steph
Poor Carrie and you are quite right you both need help with this and I would suggest you ask your vet to refer you to someone who is properly qualified to help you:
http://www.apbc.org.uk/
http://asab.nottingham.ac.uk/accred/reg.php
They will work with you and your vet to help Cassie cope better in the big scary world.
Meanwhile there are several things you can do that might help her and that is to make sure when she is frightened she has somewhere to go where she feels safe and secure. You can also add an Adaptil plug in which is a pheromone diffuser close to where she sleeps or use it in a spray form on a neckerchief around her neck. It also comes as a collar. Don’t try and force her to do or go anywhere if she acts frightened and remain really calm and act as if loud thunderstorms are the most boring things in the world. If she sees something new like a blue wheelie bin (dogs often cope with green but when a blue one pops up oh my!) and looks frightened simply and quietly touch it and just stand there. Cassie will come up eventually and allow her to sniff at it give her a treat, if she will take one, and continue on with your walk.
http://www.ceva.co.uk/en/Products/Products-list/Adaptil-Diffuser
The behaviourist will suggest that you should desensitise and counter condition her to all the noises she is frightened of. You can start with thunder and fireworks. To do this you need a cd called sound therapy http://www.soundtherapy4pets.com/
This site will explain how they work and guide you through but basically you play the sounds at such a low volume your dog hardly hears it and does not respond so you then play a great fun game or offer treats during this time. Then very slowly over days and weeks you begin to increase the sound and only move on if your dog is happy at that volume until you can play them very loudly and all your dog wants is to play or eat.
Your vet with your behaviourist will monitor the situation as you move through these stages and hopefully after a few months she will be able to cope better. However, she will not suddenly become overnight a bold and fearless Cassie and you will have to monitor and manage her carefully. But hopefully she will improve and life won’t be quite as scary from now on.
Wishing you and Cassie all the best
Rosie Barclay.
thanks for reply. I tried the adaptil spray but didn't find it helpful, however my local pet shop sells the collars so i will try that in the mean time. I am due to see our vet this week for Cassie's next dose of lungworm prevention so i will talk to him then about help as i think it is my last option. It is harder than u would think to use a computer with a terrfied 3-4 stone dog on your knee!
There is something called Zylkene which is a milk protein capsule that may also help. However, these things generally only work alongside behavioural modification. We tend to use them to help chip away at the anxiety. Get yourself qualified help you will be surprised at the results.