For pity's sake! Life with a neurotic dog

tizerbelle

So last year I adopted two rescue terriers (little boy dog - JRT and little girl dog - JRT-Corgi X) both 8 years old and long time kennel mates.

For the life of me I cannot figure out how little boy dog has survived this long. I have just had to remove a small kong from the floor because he is absolutely terrified of it - he would rather stand in the freezing cold outside than be in the same room as it. He has the same reaction to squeaky toys. So little girl dog who loves squeaky toys can't have any because he panics when he sees one. Never mind hears one - which is a problem in the vets waiting area if someone decides to test out the toys on sale. We can only have non-squeaky toys in the house - so basically tug ropes and that is it.

If rain hits the window in the wrong way - terrified
Muddy puddles - can't walk through them
Soggy leaf stuck to his foot - he's crippled for life
Dismantle/build furniture - he's in bits in the room furthest from the action
Tell the cat off - he's a quivering wreck

Little girl dog - complete opposite. No neurosis but then again she is of the nice but totally dim variety. Little boy dog highly intelligent - maybe this is the problem?

Anyone else got a neurotic dog?

geri1965_2

No, but I have a very scaredy cat, who is pretty much scared of everything! I had him on my lap the other day and I wanted to open a bottle of Coke. I knew it would freak him out if I did it too close to him, so I passed it to OH who was on the other side of the room. So far, so good. OH passed it to me, and I poured it into my glass. Big mistake - the fizzing from the glass freaked him out and he legged it upstairs.

tizerbelle

geri - think thats pretty universal with cats. Both of mine hate the noise of fizzing pop although granted neither of them dash upstairs to get away from it.

Demon cat used to go and hide under my bed if he heard other cats having a fight and wouldn't come out until I told him it was safe

trolleyrun

My rescue had a fear of puddles and mud when I first got her. I think she was a townie dog. She'd stand in front of mud or puddle and look at me as if saying "But mummy, I can't possibly walk through this". I refused to pick her up and pander to her, so she had to gt on with it. Initially, she'd walk through it like she was a "bimbo" in platform heels - rather quite amusing, really
She HAD to get used to mud and puddles, due to the winter we've had. She now has no issues with it, although I doubt she'll voluntarily jump in the sea
She has other fears as well, but she's learned that when I say "It's alright" that there isn't any harm.

At the moment though, she's sitting with a bucket on her head and feeling sorry for herself. She got spayed the other day and can't understand why she's not allowed to jump around. Silly thing she is

dibuzz

My staffie wouldnt walk through puddles when we got her.
5 years later she will walk through a puddle but wont go out if its raining. Ive tried to walk her in the rain but even if she gets through the door she drags me back in.
I have been known to crouch over her in the back garden with a golf umbrella just so she can have a wee.

OnAndUp

You can get bands / t-shirts to help dogs with anxiety some people reckon they really help things like these?

https://mekuti.co.uk/tshirts.htm

https://mekuti.co.uk/bodywraps.htm

tizerbelle

thanks all for replying - nice to know there are others out there.

I don't pander to his foibles especially when its only a muddy puddle and will not pick him up. I recognise the bimbo on stilettos walk - add ataxia into that mix and it heightens the effect.

I have actually considered getting an awning / canopy over the first part of the back yard so he'll go out in the rain so I have sympathy with the brolley for the dog idea. He's okay if it starts raining when we are out but has to be persuaded to leave the house if its already raining.

He has a thundershirt - loves wearing it or to be more accuate loves the attention when its being put on/taken off but doesn't do a jot for his nerves! Typical!

As I say both dogs were together for many many years with the same owner before I got them (previous owner died) and little girl dog is a gung-ho, lifes for living and rolling in fox poo, wading through puddles, stuffing your face with food type but he is a scaredy-cat worry-wart. Its odd the marked difference in them.

minimad1970

My dog is scared of the noise the toaster makes when you put the bread in and the occassional pinging noise that the tv makes, he jumps off the sofa like a rocket and runs upstairs. He's also terrified of those automatic air freshener sprays and as for fireworks they're a nightmare.:eek:

tizerbelle

minimad1970 wrote: »

My dog is scared of the noise the toaster makes when you put the bread in and the occassional pinging noise that the tv makes, he jumps off the sofa like a rocket and runs upstairs. He's also terrified of those automatic air freshener sprays and as for fireworks they're a nightmare.:eek:

Him and me both! Bought one when I had the old two dogs, there we were, me, big dog, little dog and demon cat all relaxing in the front room, air freshener goes off and three of us leapt out of our skin. Little dog, deaf as a post, was the only one that didn't react. Needless to say air freshener didn't get a chance to go off a second time

krlyr

Might be worth a medical checkup. My slightly-freaked-out dog started becoming more-and-more-freaked-out (e.g. starting to become reactive at dogs, buggies, etc.), as well as developing separation anxiety, and on further investigation with the vet she was diagnosed as hypothyroid. One symptom of hypothyroidism is anxiety, and other symptoms can be OCD-type behaviours. Thyroid disease does seem to be mentioned as something the breed can suffer from.

http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/hypothyroidism-in-dogs

UK vets don't always know a whole lot about hypothyroidism, and sometimes don't even know the best tests to diagnose the issue. A simple TSH test can be quite inaccurate in dogs - a dog can have a normal TSH result but still be hypothyroid. You need to do a thorough panel - as close to the full 6 values as they'll do in the US (my vets had access to a 5 value test - TSH, T3, free T3, T4 and tgAA - just the free T4 missing) and even then, the results can be interpreted differently. Dr Jean Dodds, a US vet specialising in thyroid conditions, feels that a dog can be "in range" on paper but still hypothyroid - she believes the age and breed of a dog can play a part in what their ideal range should be.

My dog has certainly improved since starting on thyroid medication and her easily-spooked behaviour calmed down a lot, almost instantly. May just be something worth ruling out

geri1965_2

tizerbelle wrote: »

geri - think thats pretty universal with cats. Both of mine hate the noise of fizzing pop although granted neither of them dash upstairs to get away from it.

My other cat will happily sit on my lap whilst I pour a fizzy drink. In fact hardly anything bothers her, she doesn't even get bothered by fireworks.

She is not a rescue cat though.