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Next year in May, we'll be going out of the country for a two and a half week vacation. I have three dogs and I've already made reservations to board them at a kennel. My two older dogs have been boarded before, but my oldest dog (one of the two who have boarding experience) who is a ten year old Jack Russell Terrier, gets VERY excited at kennels and barks NON-STOP.
Now, I have worked in dog kennels a lot and I know that there is almost always a dog barking somewhere and it's impossible to get all the dogs to stop barking entirely. However, I've taken my dogs to work with me before and the way my JRT barks is not typical in my opinion -- she literally BARKS NON-STOP rarely without taking breaths for hours on end. It's an angry, agitated bark, and very loud. She gets low to the ground and just belts it out. You can hear it over the other dogs. Not aggressive, just one of those "PAY ATTENTION TO ME" barks. And every time we pick her up after boarding, she's barked so much that she is literally hoarse. We've also had kennel workers tell us that she barks a lot more than the other dogs.
I don't really think she has separation anxiety either. I think she just wants to be out and exploring and playing rather than being confined to a kennel. She HATES not being included in everyone's business.
I also have a young Chihuahua who has never been boarded before. Every vacation we've gone on recently has been a road trip and we've just taken him along since he is quiet and easily portable. But he is skittish around pretty much everyone and I know he's going to freak out when we board him. So I want to try Rescue Remedy on both him and my JRT. And maybe even my other dog, who gets anxious in kennels too but not AS anxious as the other two get. If anyone has ever used Rescue Remedy I'd love to know your thoughts on it and if it works.
It seems to have a temporary calming effect, and might help them with the initial separation anxiety, but isn't a long-term solution.
Well I realize it isn't long-term. They (the kennel staff) would have to give them the RR a few times a day, like a dose of medication. I know it would be tedious but I figure it's better than having to listen to an extremely loud dog screaming in their ears all day until she eventually goes hoarse. :\
i LOVE rescue remedy, use it on myself and use it on my critters (as needed) kept the cats and macaw calm on the 18hour car ride to our new home without making them drowsy or "drugging them up"
I highy reccomend it!
I've had dozens of clients try it with very mixed results. Like the Thundershirt, it is one of those case-by-case things. Some dogs are instantly calmed by it, others seem to be completely unaffected, and plenty of dogs fall somewhere in between those 2 responses. They are somewhat better / less agitated with RR but not completely relieved. One thing I've never heard of personally is a dog becoming MORE anxious due to RR, so in that sense I suppose there is no harm in giving it a try. Have you looked on Amazon at the reviews for the product?
I have used it for the dogs and myself and when the dogs have something stressful going on I put it in their drinking water so they are getting it all day when ever they drink. I would put some on Jazz's tongue before we left for the vets and after we pulled up at the vets and the vets did notice that she was calmer and not threatening him like she would if she had not gotten it . I take it myself when I know I will be having a bad night at work and yes I do feel calmer and not so overwhelmed. Don't know if it will help with the barking as that sounds like it has become a routine for her.
The two times I have used it on Pitstop, she has be positively affected and remained fairly calm.
I just have the spray form and spray a little in front of her face.
I have been told that it is the aroma, as much as the actual content that is the calming element.
Hopefully, you are not leaving your dogs at a location where they spend their entire day (all two and half weeks worth) locked up in kennels.
Hopefully you can find a place that will give them opportunity for play and exercise and even where they can stay together.
Being together will help a lot with the anxiety, as well.
The two times I have used it on Pitstop, she has be positively affected and remained fairly calm.
I just have the spray form and spray a little in front of her face.
I have been told that it is the aroma, as much as the actual content that is the calming element.
Hopefully, you are not leaving your dogs at a location where they spend their entire day (all two and half weeks worth) locked up in kennels.
Hopefully you can find a place that will give them opportunity for play and exercise and even where they can stay together.
Being together will help a lot with the anxiety, as well.
They assured me they will be let out 3-4 times per day to be walked or to play, but if you're familiar with JRTs, they can go all day without stopping and are very determined. It's very hard to get her to calm down when she's excited, which is why she barks. I once boarded the two older dogs at the aforementioned kennel I used to work at, and my boss at the time told me she let them out at least two times more a day than some of the other dogs, to still have her barking all the damned time. I don't believe she was lying because I worked with her closely and I never saw anything sketchy about the way she worked with the dogs. She seemed to care about dogs a lot.
We plan on having my boyfriend's sister drop by a couple of times unexpectedly to check up on them though, to make sure they are alright and everything.
Have you thought about a pet sitter? That's what I use when I go out of town and my dog gets to stay in 'his" home.
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