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Phobia
May 20, 2014 16:31:33 GMT -5
Post by greysrbeauties on May 20, 2014 16:31:33 GMT -5
Now that spring has sprung, the birds are chirping, the lawn mowers buzzing Our Charles has reverted back to statuing, is frightened to the point of shaking when a lawn mower starts and refuses to go outside in the day time. He is on medication for his thyroid but does anyone else have a grey with a phobia??
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Phobia
May 20, 2014 18:54:59 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on May 20, 2014 18:54:59 GMT -5
oh no, this is so sad. I don't have any with phobias right now but I have in the past. there's many natural items you can find in a heath food store for pets. the esencial oil of lavender can be good for calming. you can rub a little on his ear or even a little on his collar so he can enjoy/inhale the scent. Rescue Remedy is a product that's been around for a while to help with anxiety and you could use this in conjuction with the lavender. I've used rescue rememdy with great results and I often use a lavender scented sachet in my pillow to help induce a good nights sleep I'm sure other members will offer their tips shortly...
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Post by mustlovedogs on May 20, 2014 19:24:26 GMT -5
Hi there. I can certainly sympathize with what's going on with poor Charles. It took Teia 2 weeks to find the courage to abandon the statue pose at the doorway for walks, and then would statue and shiver (teeth chattering and all) whenever a new object was encountered (person, recycling bin, snow blower etc). We used a couple of natural products that seemed to help, as recommended by our trainer and vet. 1)Thunder-shirt - you may only be able to use this in the morning and evening so Charles isn't too hot. 2) Adaptil products. We used the collars and wall plug-ins for convenience, although they're more expensive than the drops. It's essentially a synthetic form of a doggy pheromone that releases will signal the brain to calm down. 3) Thera-chews (specifically Mellow-chews), purchased at our vet. Fed twice/day it's a treat with vitamins and other natural therapeutics that will help Charles to relax. I hope you find this helpful, and good luck. Poor Charles, I sure hope he's able to conquer his fear so that he can enjoy the nice weather!
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Phobia
Jun 6, 2014 7:53:27 GMT -5
Post by lotsoffreetime on Jun 6, 2014 7:53:27 GMT -5
we also use a natural remedy called Biocalm for Tiana that our vet recommended, as Rescue Rememdy doesn't work for her. The Biocalm works for her very well, but doesn't work for Merlin or MIrage, whereas the REscue does...different dogs, different body chemistries, I guess, just like humans, I guess.
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aeiou
Grey Puppy
Posts: 82
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Phobia
Jun 6, 2014 10:55:28 GMT -5
Post by aeiou on Jun 6, 2014 10:55:28 GMT -5
Has his thyroid been checked lately? Was he like this last summer?
I'm wondering if his meds need adjusting.. sometimes when their meds are off, you can see behavioral changes.
Like others have said, I'd try incorporating some calming natural remedies: lavender essential oils, Rescue Remedy.. maybe even a Thundershirt.
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gaga
Newbie
Posts: 1
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Phobia
Aug 17, 2014 20:44:32 GMT -5
Post by gaga on Aug 17, 2014 20:44:32 GMT -5
aeiou-- what do you do with the lavender? Our Lady Gaga will get fearful about loud sounds especially. She'll shake, her nose will drip, she'll lock up really stiff. We've had to force her, and I don't like doing that, but sometimes, she gets stuck somewhere unsafe, or refuse to go somewhere we absolutely need her to go, like today when she refused to go outside because an hour before, there had been kids yelling. We force her the once, and then she's over it, most of the time.
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whovian
Junior Grey Lover
River (a.k.a Iruska Cool Chic) has claimed me as her "friendbeast"
Posts: 171
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Post by whovian on Aug 18, 2014 11:42:26 GMT -5
River has started statuing again on walks after months of walking nicely. Here's my theory - and I dont think it probably applies to all greyhounds - I think statuing is River's way of controlling the walk.
It took me forever to figure this out. I have had labs, and so I thought I must be doing a good job of leading because River wouldn't pull on the leash. I started letting her sniff a lot on walks, because I have found a definite correlation between how much sniffing she gets to do and her level of anxiety generally, inside and outside of the house. But after I eased up on how much she was allowed to sniff, the statuing started and got worse and worse to the point where it had no perceivable trigger and would happen every 10 feet or so. Very irritating! But I noticed that she wouldn't do it if someone else or another dog was walking with us.
And then I clued in - it was because she was following the other person, and when we were alone, she was leading me. And unlike my labs, her method of leading was to try really hard to get me home back to the safe, comfortable couch!
I started rereading all my books on how to be a pack leader, especially the little book by Patricia McConnell. And I started making sure that River always followed me through the door, etc. And that we incorporated a section of the walk where she wasn't allowed to get ahead of me. If she statued, (just the stopped kind, not the full-fledged panic kind) I tried to view it as her way of challenging my lead. I pulled her through it and tried to think big, confident thoughts.
It's been less than 2 weeks since my revelation, and our walks have become wonderful again. She still jas real triggers, but now that I am the leader again, she's started looking to me to help her through them. The number of real triggers has shrunk again to a manageable few - kids in swimming pools mostly. This morning we walked past the pool and she tried to tuck her tail. I lead her across the street and then made her stand there. We waited until she relaxed a little, and then took a few steps forward. Relaxation was the desired behavior, moving away from the pool was her reward. If she tried to drag me again, then I'd stop and we'd wait till she relaxed. It took 15 minutes to pass the pool, but when we finally did, she was calmly walking at my knee. It takes a lot of patience, but I just keep chanting to myself that I need to be the leader.
As for the sniffing, she still gets to do that, but on my terms now. I use that as a reward for nice behaviour. She's leaning that if she chooses to walk at my knee, then sometimes I will say βyes, β lead her to a tree or bush and say sniff. She gets to sniff for 30 seconds or so, and then I say "1... 2... OK, leave it." She's learning that when I say leave it, I will start to pull her away. Now, after 2 weeks, she's mostly stopped sniffing when I get to 2.
So, again, I can't say this works for all shy hounds, but reinforcing my position as leader has helped mine relax a lot. There's lots of great resources out there on how to be a leader. I don't use any of the aggressive stuff because it's really not necessary, but I use the simple things like I go through doors first, I go down stairs first, I eat first (prepare her food, then make her lie in her bed and I eat a snack with her dinner in the room before she gets it), and I control when and where she sniffs and for how long. It's like I have a different dog. She is more playful, and happier, and more relaxed inside and outside of the house.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Sent from my SGH-I747M using proboards
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whovian
Junior Grey Lover
River (a.k.a Iruska Cool Chic) has claimed me as her "friendbeast"
Posts: 171
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Phobia
Aug 18, 2014 12:05:17 GMT -5
Post by whovian on Aug 18, 2014 12:05:17 GMT -5
For dealing with phobias in dogs, I found these books amazingly helpful, though it's only a handful in an array of good books on the subject. The Cautious Canine - How to Help dogs conquer their fears How to be the leader of the pack - and have your dog love you for it! For the Love of A Dog - Understanding Emotion in your best friend All are by Patricia McConnell. The first two are barely books - both are less than 30 pages - but they offer a great introduction (and a quick refresher course) on dealing with phobias in dogs. The last one is around 500 pages. All are available on Amazon.ca for kindle or in print and are fairly inexpensive. You can find them on Amazon Here.
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Phobia
Aug 20, 2014 20:43:35 GMT -5
Post by fastlane on Aug 20, 2014 20:43:35 GMT -5
How's your houndie`s phobia coming along? Is anything working for you?
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