| Anyone have a dog that became anxious overnight. She’s 6 and it happens at night. Will hide in bathroom and pant. It’s very strange. She’s been checked out by vet and nothing physically wrong. She’s a bit young for sundowner issues. Any thoughts? |
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Have you spoken to a vet/a trainer/a veterinary behaviorist?
If you’re local, animal behavior wellness center has all on staff. They’re phenomenal at problem solving. |
Sorry, I see you had your regular vet look. If physical issues are ruled out, I’d absolutely go to Dr. pike (abwc). |
| Have there been any changes in the house? Any new things in the house or around that are making noise? Storms? Rain? I'd put a blanket and some white noise in the bathroom and see if that helps settle her. |
| When our dog suddenly became anxious about her crate we hired a behaviorist who helped us figure it out. Companion Animal Behavior (we used Yody). |
Are there hired shills on here? No one can actually give any advice other than ‘call a behaviorist’? This sounds so ridiculous |
| Is your dog brachycephalic? Mine pant at night but inward told it’s a breed thing and to get a humidifier for nighttime. |
| How is the dog in another location? We stayed in an Airbnb once that drove our dog crazy. There was an electronic devise the dog could hear, we couldn't |
Well, I'm the PP and I'm not a "hired shill." And the advice to "call a behaviorist" is not "ridiculous," it is pretty standard advice for behavior issues with dogs. OP asked about what to do when a dog who was not anxious suddenly becomes anxious. That is what happened with our dog, she was fine with her crate and then suddenly so anxious she was vomiting every time she was supposed to go into it. Checked with the vet first, and it wasn't a medical thing, it was behavioral. So we got the behaviorist and she helped us work it out (which involved moving her crate, and getting her a dog bed). I think consulting the one we consulted is a good option, so I posted to that effect. Not sure why you are so angry about the advice people are giving as a result of their own lived experience with their pets. It's weird and bizarrely aggressive and negative. People like you create negativity on the internet that discourages people from posting things that might actually help someone. It is ugly. You should think about your weird and problematic need to do it. |
Side note, something like this happened at my job -- fluorescent lights were giving off a horrible high-pitched sound that our students (most about 22 to 23 years old) were driven so insane by they filed an official complaint. Those of us who teach were all too old to hear it, and thought they were nuts. |
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| I would get a second opinion from a different vet and ask to try pain killers for a defined period. Pain in dogs is hard to detect. |
It's "pretty standard advice" in the way it's "pretty common" for anxious, ignorant parents to call their pediatrician and want meds every time they have a cold. Dogs are pretty easy to troubleshoot, and "call a behaviorist" isn't a first-line approach (unless you're rich, lazy, and/or too stupid to figure things out for yourself). Veterinary behaviorists are a fairly new concept, and this forum talks about them entirely too much. Then again, most of the people who got covid dogs shouldn't have. |
Figure out what changed recently. Get down on her level and look. Did you move a vase? Did you change the curtains? Is there a new sound or smell in the house? Where is she anxious? Is it generalized anxiety, or is she too scared to go in a particular room? Did she get hurt? Put a little thought into what's different and you'll probably find where the anxiety starts. Good on you for consulting a vet to rule out medical issues. Now it's your turn to troubleshoot. |
OP already took the dog to the vet, and has not been able to figure it out -- so this is not even "first-line." Oh, and medication probably isn't the "first-line approach" for people who act bizarrely belligerent when cloaked by anonymity on the internet, but you should look into anyway, given your delusion that your opinion about what this forum "talks about ... entirely too much" is valid and matters. |