Sooooo close to giving up (lab, veterinarian, wound, adopted)

[Bench Warmer]

To answer your questions about what we have tried...


We bought a DAP diffuser..

We bought an aroma therapy kit.

We've changed his relationship with his crate.. He loves his crate.. when he's not running around playing, he's sleeping in his crate.. which we have made very very very cozy for him.

We've enrolled him in doggy daycare.

I exercise him A LOT before I take off for work.

We've practiced leaving him alone for short periods of time.. (30 seconds.. 1 minute. etc.) We've pretended like we were about to leave, then not leave.. trying to desensitize his anxiety..

We've left the radio on..

We've covered his crate with a blanket to simulate night time.. (He sleeps all night in his crate, no problems.. his crate is in the living room, we sleep in the bedroom, where he can not see us at all.. Plus my GF leaves at 530am, and he doesn't even care.. he goes right back to sleep no problem.... although today we woke up to a pooped crate.. i think he's getting us back for leaving him home the past 3 days)

I'm thinking about borrowing my aunts cat for a day to see if he freaks out .. maybe he'd find comfort in seeing the cat walk around the apartment while we are gone.. I have no idea.. maybe it would make matters worse..


The breeder said he never showed these problems while he was with her (7 months) .. He flew in to Phoenix, AZ from Sacramento, CA.. when he arrived he was quiet as a mouse.. no poop in his crate.. no pee.. (4 hour flight with layover).. I'm wondering if that's where he picked up his anxiety... either that or the breeder is lying.. maybe he had anxiety his whole life, hence the reason he was available at age 7 months.. Her story was he was supposed to be a show dog, but 1 of his testicles didn't drop. they waited and waited, but then accepted the fact that his testy would not drop... The testicle thing was true, but who knows about the rest of the story... His parents and a few of his brothers are show dog champions.. So I believe the breeder is not lying, but who knows..


I want this to work so bad.. I fell in love with the little bastard the minute i first saw him.. he is a handsome dog.. he is very loving to.. I love when he plays with me.. or when we lay down together how he snuggles up close.. I hate thinking about giving him away.. but I'm in such a bad situation... We live in an APT.. and will live in an APT for the next 8 months.. we dont have a backyard we could leave him in.. our neighbors deserve their peace and quiet.. I cant afford all this day care... god forbid I lose my job... we'd be screwed..


I spoke with the day care today.. I asked if he showed any signs of anxiety during day care.. and they said.. before he gets put in the playroom, he gets crated for the first 30 minutes while they get things situated.. anyways, the first thing he does when he is crated is poops... that's what the guy said... he does that when we leave to.. so he gets nervous, and poops.. franticly runs around his crate.. and gets it everywhere.. we don't have the guts to leave him out of the crate while we are gone due to the fear of what we might walk in on...

we have put him in the bathroom one time instead of the crate... that was a big mistake.. he got poop everywhere... all over the walls and door.. and floor. it was horrible..



I just don't know what to do.. i couldn't sleep at all last night. it was the only thing i could think about..




P.S the dog share sounds like it could be an option.. where could i get more info on that? and medicating sounds scary to me.. I have anxieties to. I understand how sucky it can be.. i've tried the medications and felt like a damn zombie.. no one deserves to feel that way!!

anyways thanks for your help so far.. i needed to get all this off of my chest...

[Shagbark Hickory]

Maybe I missed it...
Is this a puppy we're talking about here???

How long have you had him?

[Bench Warmer]

Originally Posted by Shagbark Hickory

Maybe I missed it...
Is this a puppy we're talking about here???

How long have you had him?

he's almost 11 months old.. we got him in april.. we've had him for almost 4 months

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Please don't project your feelings onto the dog! Meds will help him feel less anxious and not be a zombie. You need an anxiolytic that is specific for anxiety, not a tranquilizer or antidepressant. My late dog did well on ACE for loud noises - thunderstorms, fireworks, etc.

[Bench Warmer]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

Please don't project your feelings onto the dog! Meds will help him feel less anxious and not be a zombie. You need an anxiolytic that is specific for anxiety, not a tranquilizer or antidepressant. My late dog did well on ACE for loud noises - thunderstorms, fireworks, etc.

believe me when I tell you.. I've been so angry... To the point where I wanted to rip some ones face off.. but I didnt.. he's been treated like a king through out this whole ordeal... we love him way to much to ever hurt him... I woke up to a nasty poopy crate this morning.. we put a ton of pillow, sheets and blankets in his crate.. so its not like when he does that its an easy clean..its a pain.. everything has to go thru the laundry.. I hate to take the crate to the carwash to power wash it.. its a process.. yea I was pissed.. but i didn't even yell at him.. He isn't doing this to be a jerk.. he's traumatized big time.. I want to be the one who gets him thru this... believe me

[Honeycrisp]

I think Clomicalm is over the counter and perhaps natural - would prob. start w/ a low dosage (and prob. up his exercise before you leave, make a quick getaway and when you come home, ignore him for the first 5-10 minutes). I totally understand your frustration - and hope he'll relax when you're gone and get more confident, will learn that being alone is not always a bad thing. Best of luck.

[Blondie621]

I think this may work.......another dog to keep him company! How is he with other dogs? Does he get along? I know of someone who had a dog with this anxiety and they got another little dog and wala...it stopped. Maybe stop by your local shelter and let him pick out a female spayed friend on a trial basis, explain your situation. Sometimes they just need another shoulder to lean on and keep them company.
Good luck and I hope something works out soon for your furry friend!

What breed of dog is he?

[Dashdog]

For a dog share thing I would start by going to a nearby retirement place ( retirement not assisted living) and asking if you could post a notice saying you are looking for someone that would enjoy spending a few hours a day in the company of a dog. You might also want to check with any dog type activities like a dog park, obedience or agility club as maybe some one that owns a dog would like a part time 2nd dog so their dog has a buddy to play with and would be willing to take him for a few hours. Some might do it like my coworker for free just because they enjoy it, some might expect pay but it would still be cheaper then dog day care or some might do it as an exchange type thing like you being willing to watch their dog when they go away for short weekend trips. Or if a person works nights you be willing to come take their dog out on an evening walk with your own dog. ( you could ask to post such a note at a hospital as most hospitals now work 12 hr shifts and there are dog owners that work night shifts that might love the idea ) Maybe you could even find a retirement place where the activities director is a dog lover and would be willing to have your dog come visit a few times a week where all the seniors that wanted to could come spend time with him or he with them at their apartment. One of the ladies in agility has a small dog and she is the activities director at an assisted living place and her dog goes to work with her and has tons of " grandparents" at the place that spoil him rotten.

Are there other dog owners in the apartments? you might try meeting with them and maybe a dog share type situation could work out among the group such as I work nights and I myself would not mind watching a neighbors dog for a few hours during the day time as it could hang with my dogs and go on walks with us and in return that person could take my dogs out on a walk in the evenings when I am at work. I doubt if there is any offical dog share programs out there but hey you could be the one to start it in your area as there are other people having the same issues and there are people that love spending time with dogs. In other words you may not be able to just pick up a phone and problem solved but if you invest some time in it I am sure you will be able to find people that will enjoy the idea be it a retired person denied ownership for the reasons I stated last time or another dog owner looking for a pal to hang out with their dog ( while they are there) or another dog owner looking for the same thing. Beats giving a dog you love away.

The MT I know does belong to a retired person and is the light of her eyes as he is such a character! He is one of the most social dogs at the dog park and knows all the dogs and greets any new ones,He is the one to offer calming signals when tension between two dogs does develop, in other words with his high energy he has his nose into everything. I love watching him. When his owner goes away one of the other people that lives near her brings him to the park.

When I first moved here many many years ago and lived a few years in a place that did not allow dogs I would have been thrilled to have someone loan me a dog to take to the beach and on walks as I missed having a dog so much . I found a place tha accepted dogs as soon as I could afford to then soon after that was abke to buy my own place as dogs are an important part of my life and I feel empty without one.. two or now three!

I think all you will have to do is invest some time and you will be able to create a dogs share so your anxious pooch does not have to suffer,Good luck!

Ps I would belive the breeder as I got Dazzle at 8 months same reason about the retained testicle and at first he was anxious as he had spent those first 8 months with his pack which was a large group of Silken Windhounds so he was never away from them. Yes I have two other dogs but they are old and not fun like his old pack. He has since gotten use to the old dogs and does fine as long as one of them is with him. If I take them out for too long and leave him behind he whines and whines.Thus your dog was probably not anxious before as there were always other dogs if not people around.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Originally Posted by Bench Warmer

believe me when I tell you.. I've been so angry... To the point where I wanted to rip some ones face off.. but I didnt.. he's been treated like a king through out this whole ordeal... we love him way to much to ever hurt him... I woke up to a nasty poopy crate this morning.. we put a ton of pillow, sheets and blankets in his crate.. so its not like when he does that its an easy clean..its a pain.. everything has to go thru the laundry.. I hate to take the crate to the carwash to power wash it.. its a process.. yea I was pissed.. but i didn't even yell at him.. He isn't doing this to be a jerk.. he's traumatized big time.. I want to be the one who gets him thru this... believe me

What I meant was that just b/c you felt like a zombie on meds, he would not feel the same way. I don't know what you were taking but it sounds like it wasn't either the right one or the right dose. A good anxiolytic just takes the edge off and allows you to function normally. I did not mean to imply that you were being mean to the dog!

[seven up]

Originally Posted by Bench Warmer

believe me when I tell you.. I've been so angry... To the point where I wanted to rip some ones face off.. but I didnt.. he's been treated like a king through out this whole ordeal... we love him way to much to ever hurt him... I woke up to a nasty poopy crate this morning.. we put a ton of pillow, sheets and blankets in his crate.. so its not like when he does that its an easy clean..its a pain.. everything has to go thru the laundry.. I hate to take the crate to the carwash to power wash it.. its a process.. yea I was pissed.. but i didn't even yell at him.. He isn't doing this to be a jerk.. he's traumatized big time.. I want to be the one who gets him thru this... believe me

You've tried alot of things. I hope you find a pleasing solution. There have been dogs in my life where it just did not work. And I suppose, in retrospect, it was surely because I worked and was not there all day.

For myself and my dogs, well, I've never done the crate thing. Much less drop them off someplace to be left in a crate all day.

Turn on animal planet and leave with the crate and put it in the trunk of your car. Let him have the run of the house.

If that doesn't work, then I got nothin for ya.