# Panic Attacks coming in randomly



## Leopup (Jul 17, 2013)

Hello everyone! 

Disclaimer - it's a long post! 

I have a 2 year old Golden male who is very sweet and gentle. He is not scared of anything in the house except the vacuum cleaner and stays very well behaved when we leave him alone in the house - no destruction, never chewed a shoe or a sock. Just a plain good boy! 

This past Sunday, we had to replace our bad smoke detector and had to test it - when it beeped , he freaked out so much that he was shaking and I had to sit down with him and hug him tight while my husband cleaned up all the wires etc. Little did I know that it affects them so much! 

After that, he was super clingy all day and would not leave our side - took him for a walk to get him out of that environment and he was amazing - fetched, ran, rolled. 

Monday morning - he was all good , had his breakfast, begged for our breakfast (typical golden) and then was resting by our feet. He got up as if he had seen a ghost and repeated all that he did on Sunday. So we took him upstairs and he is doing better in my office room upstairs. 
His friend came over and they played all day long - both on main floor and upstairs - no issues. We both went for a walk, had his dinner, went to bed - all good. 

Tuesday morning - he came downstairs, went outside for his potty break, had his breakfast, was sitting by my chair while I had my breakfast and he acted just as if he had seen a ghost or heard something again. He leaned towards me, won't stop trembling or shaking, did not want to be left alone at all. I tried playing with him and training him with treats to get his mind off his fear. He was his happy self while that lasted but then again he was back to his anxious self. So I decided to work from home again and he was calm in my office upstairs. 


What I am trying to understand is : 
- Could this be due to the smoke detector incident that happened on Sunday? 
- Can it last for days after as well ? 
- His vet thinks its just stress and anxiety and nothing else. 
- Can dogs have PTSD like this and affect them? 
- What can we do to help him? There are no chirps anywhere in the house right now. 


Have you experienced anything similar? Any help is appreciated! 

Thank you for hearing me out!


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Does your smoke detector take batteries or is it hard wired? Since you said your husband cleaned up all the wires, I am guessing it's hard wired?

It could be making a sound that only he can hear. You may want to check the connections.


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## jomiel (Feb 15, 2019)

Yeah these incidents all seem to happen after breakfast, so that seems to point to a regular occurrence.

For our townhouse, the smoke detectors were all wired to a main control to the breaker panel so if one beeps all the other ones will beep (safety measure as the townhouse is 3 levels). Sometimes if there is an error or if a detector is activated, I need to reset ALL of the smoke detectors.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> ...
> It could be making a sound that only he can hear. You may want to check the connections.


Ok, I'm super impressed with this line of thinking. Nice job!

I can't imagine what else to do other than check out this idea, then try to go about as if things are fine, don't baby overly much when he has a panic attack, just give some quiet love and move on. You might try the thunder shirt, increasing his aerobic exercise to split it into two sessions - maybe work on some new training/tricks/skills or games to keep his brain busy - try going to the butcher and get some beef shanks for him to chew, have them cut into two inch cross sections - freeze some kongs, make sure he isn't left to his own devices too much for a while. 

IF you have no luck, I would absolutely look into some medication to help him over this rough patch. It can greatly improve quality of life for people and dogs. Best of luck, I know you must hate watching him suffer.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

The whole 'he can hear what you cannot' is a good thought. 

I'd start desensitizing him. Make it happen (not that exact sound) and give lots of praise and don't baby him at all.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

I have had 3 dogs who were terrified of smoke detectors. The first one started when we had a bad storm that made the power flick on and off which was making the detector go off over and over. After that she was so scared of any beep tone. I had to buy a new countertop microwave and returned two of them before I found one with a deeper tone. It was a little odd to tell them I was returning it because the dog didn't like it. She only got over it in old age when she was deaf. The others just get freaked out and we rush them out of the house when they go off. It's probably painful to their ears. We put any dog's out or take them somewhere when we replace batteries. So far Rukie's okay but I'm not sure he's heard it more than once. maybe you could try counter conditioning with a low soft tone.


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## Leopup (Jul 17, 2013)

My bad - its battery operated. It has not beeped at all - I have stood under it to watch its LEDs but nothing. 

I also have been thinking he may be hearing something that we cannot! I might ask my husband to test/reset it again while I take Leo out of the house for a walk. 

Thank you !!!!


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## Leopup (Jul 17, 2013)

Yep - first I thought it must be his food but then I gave him home cooked chicken, rice and some veggies and he still had an attack. So I am going to blame this on us for working on this while this poor baby stood there in fear! UGH


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## Leopup (Jul 17, 2013)

Prism Goldens said:


> The whole 'he can hear what you cannot' is a good thought.
> 
> I'd start desensitizing him. Make it happen (not that exact sound) and give lots of praise and don't baby him at all.




Yeah, I think I may have to do that - hence I brought the treats out and worked on his training in that same area for positive association! 

Thank you though !


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## Leopup (Jul 17, 2013)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> Does your smoke detector take batteries or is it hard wired? Since you said your husband cleaned up all the wires, I am guessing it's hard wired?
> 
> It could be making a sound that only he can hear. You may want to check the connections.


My bad - its battery operated. It has not beeped at all - I have stood under it to watch its LEDs but nothing.

I also have been thinking he may be hearing something that we cannot! I might ask my husband to test/reset it again while I take Leo out of the house for a walk.

Thank you !!!!


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## Leopup (Jul 17, 2013)

nolefan said:


> Ok, I'm super impressed with this line of thinking. Nice job!
> 
> I can't imagine what else to do other than check out this idea, then try to go about as if things are fine, don't baby overly much when he has a panic attack, just give some quiet love and move on. You might try the thunder shirt, increasing his aerobic exercise to split it into two sessions - maybe work on some new training/tricks/skills or games to keep his brain busy - try going to the butcher and get some beef shanks for him to chew, have them cut into two inch cross sections - freeze some kongs, make sure he isn't left to his own devices too much for a while.
> 
> IF you have no luck, I would absolutely look into some medication to help him over this rough patch. It can greatly improve quality of life for people and dogs. Best of luck, I know you must hate watching him suffer.


Hmm... if he does that tomorrow then I am not going to baby him much. He loves bully sticks so I'll try to give that to him. 

The thing is he loves to shred paper and I intentionally dropped a sheet but he ignored that as well - he is that scared and I hate to see him like this in his own house!


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## Leopup (Jul 17, 2013)

cwag said:


> I have had 3 dogs who were terrified of smoke detectors. The first one started when we had a bad storm that made the power flick on and off which was making the detector go off over and over. After that she was so scared of any beep tone. I had to buy a new countertop microwave and returned two of them before I found one with a deeper tone. It was a little odd to tell them I was returning it because the dog didn't like it. She only got over it in old age when she was deaf. The others just get freaked out and we rush them out of the house when they go off. It's probably painful to their ears. We put any dog's out or take them somewhere when we replace batteries. So far Rukie's okay but I'm not sure he's heard it more than once. maybe you could try counter conditioning with a low soft tone.


Aww!! I could do that - luckily he was all ok when the microwave beeped!! Thank goodness! 
But if I let him out in the backyard, he trembles more than he does inside the house - his entire body shakes and he scratched the glass door to be let inside - all of this happened a day after the beeping incident!


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## TuckersMamma (Aug 8, 2019)

Is it possible for you to change your routine for a few mornings? Unless I’m missing some element, what if you bypassed breakfast in the kitchen or wherever you are grouping together and during that time frame. So essentially counter conditioning your routine and his. In exchange for a random walk or other activity. Then later resume a quick breakfast and keep moving like all is grand ? Just a thought.


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## Leopup (Jul 17, 2013)

TuckersMamma said:


> Is it possible for you to change your routine for a few mornings? Unless I’m missing some element, what if you bypassed breakfast in the kitchen or wherever you are grouping together and during that time frame. So essentially counter conditioning your routine and his. In exchange for a random walk or other activity. Then later resume a quick breakfast and keep moving like all is grand ? Just a thought.


Yeah, we plan to do that tomorrow. We keep alternating - breakfast and then his walk or his walk then breakfast. But tomorrow, we'll take him for his walk and then give him his breakfast may be somewhere else in the house instead of our usual place - and maybe not hang out by our breakfast nook in the morning and just have our food someplace else as well - going to try everything to make it work for this sweet boy! 

Thank you for bringing that up


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## TuckersMamma (Aug 8, 2019)

Leopup said:


> TuckersMamma said:
> 
> 
> > Is it possible for you to change your routine for a few mornings? Unless I’m missing some element, what if you bypassed breakfast in the kitchen or wherever you are grouping together and during that time frame. So essentially counter conditioning your routine and his. In exchange for a random walk or other activity. Then later resume a quick breakfast and keep moving like all is grand ? Just a thought.
> ...


Can’t wait to hear how he does this morning. Perhaps a few days of eating somewhere different or a game around breakfast and a Mix up or different routine will help him get over the hump then business as usual. Thinking of your sweet boy!


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## Leopup (Jul 17, 2013)

TuckersMamma said:


> Can’t wait to hear how he does this morning. Perhaps a few days of eating somewhere different or a game around breakfast and a Mix up or different routine will help him get over the hump then business as usual. Thinking of your sweet boy!


Thank you for the suggestion - it seems to have helped a bit. One day I took him for a long walk around the same time and then gave him his breakfast in the same area only to associate the place with good stuff. The next day we played - fetch, tug, he loves to chase. 

He still does not like it down on the main floor but at least he is not shaking or trembling with fear - I'll keep doing this and hopefully he'll feel much better. 


THANK YOU THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!!


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## Leopup (Jul 17, 2013)

*Thank you to this group for always being there for us!!*



Leopup said:


> Hello everyone!
> 
> Disclaimer - it's a long post!
> 
> ...




UPDATE:

Leo is doing much better now. I changed his routine a bit every day based on a few of your suggestions. I played with him on the main floor - things he loves to do - fetch, tug, hide and seek. We also hide his treats around and he sniffs and finds them - we clapped and got over excited every time he found them only to show how this floor is a good and fun place as well. 

He is still not loving to be here but at least he is doing much better. He is not getting those random panic attacks and he no longer is shaking or trembling with his tail tucked in. 

My husband also took the old smoke detector to his workplace and he plans to store it in his cabinet. 

We just want to express our thanks to each and everyone of you for taking out the time to read my long posts and to offer your tips to help Leo! We love you and I am so happy to see my boy finally being his usual crazy self - running around with a burst of energy!!!! 

THANK YOU !!!! 

Baby Leo picture to make you smile!!


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## TuckersMamma (Aug 8, 2019)

Awe that’s great to hear !!! I was thinking about y’all over breakfast ! Good !


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## TuckersMamma (Aug 8, 2019)

Awe that’s great to hear !!! I was thinking about y’all over breakfast ! Good !


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## happygoldendog (Oct 10, 2019)

Our two dogs get very freaked out when the smoke detector goes off or chirps, but they get over it. Maybe he can hear something. I am sure it is upsetting to you and your golden. Hang in there and great to hear he is doing much better.


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