Wednesday, September 29, 2010

In Need of Help/Advice

First, hello! I am back from Florida. The reunion was kind of weird, but we had fun. There was a lot of alcohol involved lol. I missed Sadie terribly, but it was great coming home to her wiggly little butt!! She was very excited. And so was I. I cuddled with her all night.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I think Sadie has some kind of PTSD. I thought she had gotten better after this last incident, but I noticed Sadie was still acting weird in the mornings. Every morning when I wake up, she is the same as usual: excited to go outside. She runs to the front door, we go for a walk, and everything seems fine. Then when we get back into the house, I get her breakfast ready, and she just starts acting funny. She hides under the table and looks petrified again. And here's what's really bothering me...she won't come eat her breakfast! Sadie ALWAYS eats. But she won't even come over to the food. She just looks around the kitchen with her ears back and her eyes wide. It's like she sees or hears something and is afraid of it.

I have been bringing her food into my room, and she sometimes will eat in there. But this morning, it took a long time for her to calm down enough to eat. Besides the not eating, she is refusing to drink water in the morning, too. I got her to lick some ice cubes this morning, and I left water for her, but that still really worries me.

The only thing I can think of is that this other incident happened in the morning last week, and she was in the kitchen when she heard it. So maybe she is still having some kind of PTSD episode? My uncle mentioned that when my aunt went to go pick me up at the airport on Monday, Sadie was trying to get out of the house, pushing her nose up against the glass door constantly and crying. Something is scaring her. But what can it be??

It's starting to really upset me. And I really am afraid to leave her every day now. Does anyone have any suggestions? What would you do? Should I bring her to the vet? Help, please!

12 comments:

  1. Ugh, I am so sorry. I know how hard it can be when your pup is not acting normally (especially not eating!). Gibson got really scared once by a neighbor's dog and is still somewhat scared to walk by their house. When it happened, he wanted to run as far away from their house as possible (while I had to chase down the street after him..). He would just curl up in the upstairs bedroom (where he never goes) and would not come down. It was scarey, but what I found worked best was just to give him time to get over it and to act like everything was normal. Cuddling him and asking what's wrong, etc, just made it worse I think. So, I guess that is my advice to you.. Wait it out a few days. Act normal. Distract her! Food may not work, but maybe some other yummy treat may get her attention. Does she like to bark at squirrels or other dogs? Maybe get her riled up so she gains some of her confidence back. Hope those tips help. Keep us updated!

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  2. Hmmm yeah, I definitely cater to her fears by trying to comfort her. It just kills me to see her that way :( I will try to ignore it and see if that helps any. I get worried that she's not eating or drinking though. And it's only in the morning, too, which is weird. She has been perfectly fine at night. I don't get it. Thanks, Kelly! I will let you know how she's doing.

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  3. i agree with kelly, act like everything is normal. comfort her, but just keep yourself as normal as possible. if something scared her, it might take time for her to realize it won't happen again, but if you start acting differently it might confirm her fears. see if this can go away on it's own. it's hard to think that doing nothing might be the best method, but our pups really seem to rely on our emotions. if we are nervous, they will be. if we are scared, they get on high alert. if we are sad, they come to comfort. if we are happy, they are happy!! does she drink the rest of the day? can you maybe feed her in a different room. sammy kept getting kinda pushed out of the way and couldn't get to his food in our last apartment, so we moved his food to the dining room. at our new place, his little bowl is in the living room right now, by his toybox and dining room. he won't eat in the kitchen unless we are in there with him, and usually we are trying to cook or get lunches ready, and becomes too chaotic, so we just moved it.
    keep us updated and i hope sadie feels more comfortable soon!!

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  4. I second those opinions. You don't want to coddle her when she's in that state because you'll just reinforce the behavior. Praise her when she does eat/drink. Ignore her when she's acting scared. I know that's hard to do. I would try that for a a couple of weeks and see how it goes. As long as she's eating & drinking normally in the evening, that's a good sign it's nothing medical. Hope she comes around and keep us updated!

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  5. Poor Sadie :( I agree with everyone else though, it's the best you can do - just ignore it, act like everything is normal. I know it's tough to do, but you gotta toughen up for her own benefit. I wouldn't even entice her to eat breakfast, rather just put it down in it's normal place, call her over for food like normal and walk away. Leave it there for an hour, then come back and pick up the bowl - whether or not she ate it! She won't starve from missing a couple breakfasts. If you really feel guilty, up her dinner portion a bit if she didn't eat breakfast, but not too much, so she doesn't notice. She needs to get over it herself, needs to come to the food, realize it's not scary. Stay strong, you guys will get through it, don't baby her, it's for the best. Best of luck!

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  6. I do agree to try to keep things normal as possible. I also will state if she is still acting like this after a few days and not eating, I'd call the vet at least and see what they say.

    too funny about the reunion, I guess now that everyone is old enough to drink (as opposed to high school when it was illegal) people want to prove they can?

    betty

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  7. Thanks, everyone. I will definitely try this...I did it this morning, and ended up putting back her breakfast since she wouldn't eat it.

    I'm wondering if the weather could have something to do with how she is acting? We've had some bad storms here lately. Hmmmm.

    Other than that, I wonder if she is just mad I left her for a few days. She was eating fine for my aunt while I was gone! Does she think that my aunt has to feed her now? (She usually feeds her dinner because she is home earlier. Is this too confusing for Sadie?) I am paranoid that she is going to start loving them more cause they're home more! :(

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  8. It took Herman weeks to get over his fear of my air conditioner and he still acts weird when I try to feed him every morning in the kitchen. I have tried to not rush around in the morning and be a little more calm. He gets nervous when I am rushed. That has helped a bit.

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  9. One of our pomeranians suffered from severe anxiety attacks. Sometimes he would pace and tremble and dig on the couch or carpet. He also made this horrible gasping sound. Massages, slightly squeezing/hugging his torso, and long walks helped temporarily, but the duration of the attacks seemed to increase with time. He is ten years old and has always been very sensitive, nervous, and unsure of himself. I think he was from a puppy mill. The vet prescribed Xanax and it not only worked like a charm, but I believe it somehow "re-wired" his brain because he is not constantly seeking out human contact or a lap to sleep on. He is no longer a needy, neurotic little guy, but independent and content. It is not necessary to give Xanax daily ~ only as needed. Ozzie has only had 3 or 4 doses since July and one of those doses was as a preventative because he was getting an ultrasound. I hope Sadie feels better!

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  10. You may be interested in this website:

    www.throughadogsear.com

    It offers Cds to help calm anxious dogs. I haven't ordered any of the music yet, but I plan to.

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  11. I am new to your blog, so I wanted to know if Sadie was doing any better.

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  12. Hi there! Sadie is doing a little better. She is still acting scared in the mornings, but now is eating breakfast again. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I think it has more to do with the fact that I have to leave for work than anything else, because she is fine when I am home!

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