My dog is acting very anxious - would like help soonish

In My Humble Opinion
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I have two dogs, Buddy and Sweetie. Buddy is pretty old (about 14, I think) and acts it. Moves slowly, walks with difficulty, but otherwise not ill or anything. He’s always been very stable and grounded. I tell people that if her were a man, he’d wear a bow tie and carry a briefcase.

My other dog, Sweetie, is much more emotionally volatile and high strung, and she is the problem this evening. I don’t know what’s going on with her or what to do. It started about 6:30 this evening, for no reason I could identify. She came to me while I was sitting on the sofa and just started whining and pawing at me. She’s not a small dog–she’s about 50 lbs-- but to me she has the personality of a Yorkie or a chihuahua. Lab mix, found dog, about 9 years old. Sometimes when she does this whiny number, it’s because the food bowls are empty. Anyway they weren’t.

I tried to sit here at the computer and work on my NaNo book, but she was constantly pawing at me, whining, nudging my arm-- seeming very anxious. There are no thunderstorms in the area (she is a thunder puppy). This went on til about 8:30 when I took her out for a walk, thinking to burn off some of the energy.

When we got back around nine, if anything, it was worse. Pawing at me, jumping up on me, whining, shoving her head under my arm, and adding panting to that. It’s now 10 pm and it’s still going on. I had to put her out of the room just to write this. She’s sitting on the other side of the door (it has windows) and staring, panting, and wagging her tail.

I don’t know what to make of this. I’m not angry and I don’t mind-- I just want to know what it is and help her to feel better. I seem to remember this has happened maybe twice in the past, but it was in the daytime and I did take her for a long walk.

If I had the slightest notion that there was something life-threatening going on, I’d take her to the animal ER (although an overnight there can be $1.000-- probably more than Trump Towers). But going there is extremely traumatic for everyone. Last time I went I witnessed a puppy die. :frowning:

If she’s like this in the morning, I can certainly take her to our regular neighborhood vet.

I’m wondering if she picks up something going on with Buddy or if his “old man” wandering is bothering her? The lights flickered for a second about an hour ago–is there something in my wiring? I know dogs are very perceptive. There’s sometimes a skunk under the house, but usually something like that will send her sniffing all over the floor. A train went by a few blocks away a while ago, and it sounds and feels a little like thunder, and I thought that might be it… but it passed ages ago.

Any thoughts? Others’ experiences with this kind of behavior and a remedy?

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Update (long past edit window):
I still have her shut out of the room, but I can see that she is lying down and seems less anxious.

Was she picking up MY anxiety? Goodness knows I’ve been a wreck the last couple of days.

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She’s possibly picking up your anxiety. Are you among the disappointed & angry from the election?

Since she’s a lab mix she likely prefers to be with you rather than separated. Other than taking that walk, what have you done for her? Have you tried holding her, comforting her, stroking her lovingly, and soothingly reassuring her that everything will be okay, because mommy is here and mommy has her?

I had a Chessie, similar to a Lab. This is what I would try. Touch can be a powerful healer.

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I’m not suggesting anything, just relating a story. Remain calm:

A dozen years ago, we were renting a house with a furnace (and ductwork) that needed replacing. One late afternoon, the Border Collie started acting insane–this dog was stoic as the day is long, only became excited at dinner-time and knew what time dinner was served and it was nowhere near that time. Otherwise, it was Abe Lincoln serious. She started running into the one bedroom and back out to bark at us. Back and forth. Circle the sofa to get our attention, back into the BR. Not being as smart as the BC, it took us awhile to catch on. Into the BR we went, where BC was staring at a certain spot 3/4 the way up the wall. Nothing funny looking that we could see. There might have been a trace of burning smell. We call the Fire Dept., they look around–with this nifty hand-held gizmo that detects hot spots–and declare the furnace touched off a piece of the insulation which floated up the duct and lodged behind the wall–right where BC was staring. Good Dog!

The FD condemned the furnace, the rental management company stalled on replacing the furnace until the following spring–right after the end of the coldest winter Florida had had in 25 years–and after not freezing to death (bless them space heaters), they booted us out to sell the house. Nice people, real nice. :mad::mad:

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Election?? What election? Was there an election? :eek: <hangs head> Guilty.

Yes, I did sit with her on her dog bed and stroke her and pet her. She was fine for a few minutes after that. She’s probably is picking up on my mental state. She is absolutely THE sweetest dog in the world. Very sensitive. I think I’ll go sit with her some more.

Thank you for your reply. It gave me great comfort.

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Thanks for that. It certainly crossed my mind! Good dog, indeed!

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There was an election, yes. If you search for it, you might find it. :smiley:

You’re welcome and I hope it works / helps. Please let me know how it turns out.

Oh and keep the news headlines (and the Election threads here) out of her sight. That should help too. :slight_smile:

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Hehe.

Update. I brought her up in bed with me. She used to sleep in my bed until she was displaced by pushy cats about a year ago. Also the bed is pretty high and she wouldn’t or couldn’t jump up any more.*

At first she was still panting, licking my arms furiously, pawing at me, trembling, and also looking all around the ceiling and walls. (Ghosts?? :eek:) After about 10 minutes of that, she has turned around, facing away from me, settled down and looks more relaxed.

*It occurs to me she might be experiencing, if not pain, at least some discomfort in her back and back legs. I took her to the park earlier today and after walking, she had a bit of trouble jumping up in the back seat. Also, after I banished her to the living room in order to compose the first post, when I went out to her, she seemed a little stiff-legged getting up. Maybe I will take her to the regular very tomorrow morning and get her back checked out.

Epilogue: She seems quite relaxed at the moment. I’ve got to get some sleep!

One of the pushy cats is almost sure to join us at some point.

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Cool. Pleasant dreams, ThelmaLou (and dogs and cat too).

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If it keeps up, take her to the vet. It could be pain, as you noted. She also could have picked up on your anxiety. Weird as it sounds, pets get anxiety too. I’d tell you all about my mom’s Malinois, but the short version is, what you’re describing sounds very familiar.

Try and keep to your regular routine and don’t fuss too much. If you get worried, because she’s worried, then she’s more worried, because you’re worried. You’ll both feed off each other. Keep calm, and let her snuggle if she needs to. Our tendency is to fuss, but sometimes it just builds into a loop.

I hope she’s feeling better tomorrow.

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Has she had trouble w/ her sight before? As a kitty mommy until this year I understand your wanting to understand and calm her; when they’re stressed we’re stressed!

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Don’t let your dogs watch the 6 oclock news. They understand more than you think.

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Her eyesight is ok as far as I know. She was looking all around the room as if there might be something in the attic.

We don’t get regular tv anymore. Hell, the news was upsetting me! We have a Roku and mostly watch reruns of Inspector Lewis or something on Hulu. If the truth be known, Sweetie and I have very similar personalities-- sensitive, anxiety-prone. I think I will take her to the vet tomorrow for x-rays.

Y’all are the best! Thank you so much for the helpful and supportive replies. I have been anxious. I’ll report back if I find out anything.

P.S. She’s definitely asleep…breathing deeply and regularly. Hope I can get there.

*Nawth Chucka, did you lose a kitty? Did I know about that and I’ve forgotten? If so, I’m so sorry. That is very difficult. Hugs to you. I know Buddy’s days are numbered, but the vet says he’s not there yet.

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Hold her while you go to sleep. Listen to her breathing. That should relax you more.

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Awww… good idea.

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Okay, that last post was 40 minutes ago. We were both asleep. Suddenly something woke her up and she started pawing me and crawling all over me. I was relaxed. Maybe she is agitated because Buddy gets up and walks around and around. Now she’s in the floor next to the bed, somewhat settled down…but for how long? There are also three dog beds on the floor and both dogs switch around among them during the night. I am desperately sleepy…so it’s not like she’s condemned to sleeping on the floor.

More anon…

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If you get desperate, and if you have Benadryl in the house, you can give Benadryl to an agitated dog to calm it down.

Be sure to read the article. There are certain dogs who shouldn’t get it (dogs with glaucoma, high blood pressure, etc). Based on what you said above (that your dog is 50lbs), she would need 50mgs, or two standard tablets.

Cite from PetMed

Definitely take her to the vet tomorrow. She may have a pinched nerve or something that is making her uncomfortable.

Good luck. I hope you can both get some rest.

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Yes, take her to the vet. I hope she is okay, and I hope you were able to sleep.

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My dog does the same thing with gun shots, thunder, and anything “beeping” like a smoke detector with a low battery or in alarm.

And anything which resembles those noises - things I can’t hear with the TV or a fan on, but the dog can clearly hear these things!

I was using a staple gun to tack up some cloth and the dog went nuts. That is along the sounds of thunder/gun shots. And at time change, I checked all the smoke detectors (beep, beep, beep) The dog got quite upset with that.

One solution is to hold the dog and place your hand on its underbelly. Another is to get a “Thundershirt” which places pressure there as well. Search google.com for: dog thundershirt

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Thanks, y’all. I finally had to shut everyone out of the bedroom so I could sleep for a few hours. I opened the door around 4 am, and she came in, got in her dog bed and slept until about 9 am when I woke her up and took her to the vet.

I remembered that something similar to this had happened about four years ago on a weekend and I took her to a specialty emergency vet. There were no real conclusions, except that it didn’t appear to be anything serious. I called them and they still had all the test results, so they faxed them over to my regular vet.

Haven’t heard anything yet.

Me_Billy, the subsonic disturbance thing definitely occurred to me. Sunny_Daze, I’ll ask the doc if Sweetie is okay to take benadryl. I have a thunder shirt for Buddy. May have to get one for Sweetie.

If it keeps up… Ghostbusters! (It’s a really old house–1920s. The guy who built it did actually murder someone-- I found the newsletter clipping. He didn’t do it in the house though.)

More later…