# Is My Dog Anxious???



## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Hi Everyone. Brady is just about to turn 3 yrs old and I'm noticing some behaviors that I think may be anxiety/panic related. We brought him home at 8 weeks, but unfortunately did not get him from the best of places (it was before I found this forum and was educated on good breeding practices). We got him from a broker who had all different kinds of puppies for sale in a congested, noisy (but clean) kennel environment, so I'm now pretty sure he is from a puppy mill. As a young pup, he was terrified of a crate (not surprising given where he spent his first 8 weeks), and he used to be quite violent in it, throwing himself around in it and trying to escape. We set up a camera to see what he was doing and thankfully he never hurt himself. We worked through this issue with the help of our puppy trainer and got him to the point where he would tolerate being in the crate. When he was old enough, we started leaving him home alone outside of the crate and he has been absolutely fine and relaxed (camera shows him sleeping on the couch). In the past 3 yrs we've done a lot of obedience training, a little agility, he's gotten his TT, CGC and TDI therapy dog certifications, and he is always PERFECT when I bring him to the nursing home. I am now starting to notice some behaviors that I think might be anxiety related. PLEASE NOTE most of these are not new behaviors, but ones that we've seen hints of in the past but didn't think much of it. He is generally a happy, playful dog who appears well-balanced, but there are certain situations where I am noticing he seems stressed. He likes to play with other dogs, but if given the choice, he seems to favor people over dogs. He is jealous when I pet another dog, and tries to run between us to "break it up." I address this by body-blocking him to prevent him from running between us, then putting him in a sit/stay while I pet the other dog and at the same time praise him lavishly for sitting like I asked (this is how we practice this exercise in obedience class). He is not outwardly possessive with his toys, but his body language tells me he is stressed if another dog plays with one of his favorite toys (he paces around them constantly trying to figure out how to get it from them). He does not growl. I address this by redirecting him to another of his favorite toys and praise him for relaxing with it. Okay, now here are the biggies and these ARE NEW behaviors: We experimented with doggie daycare which did not work out because it was too stimulating an environment for him. When I dropped him off, he would be totally off the wall (like he became a different dog, not my usually well-behaved dog), lunging, jumping, barking insanely and acting totally crazy. What scared me the most was the expression on his face. It was a look of sheer panic and terror, and I thought, my gosh, if he were a person I'd think he was having a panic attack (I learned afterwards that dogs have them too). After some sessions in the daycare, the owner told me that this level of overstimulation that I witness when I drop him off never goes away for the whole 10 hours he was there (most dogs settle down and relax, Brady did not). So we pulled him out of daycare and hired an awesome dog walker who is wonderful and he behaves perfectly with her and from what I've witnessed he is comfortable and has fun with her. Then just this past week, my husband was dropping him off at the groomer (someone he loves and she is terrific with him), and when they entered the store Brady again went nuts with that same look of panic/terror on his face. He jumped up on my husband (something he has not done since he was 4 months old) and latched on with his paws like he was hanging on for dear life, as if to say, "daddy don't leave me." My husband calmed him down by walking him around the store and letting him sniff and investigate, and within a minute he was back to normal and walked happily into the grooming area and was perfectly fine after that. So I'm wondering what's going on here. From what I've read, these are signs of anxiety and I want to do what I can to help him. He gets lots of exercise, has been well socialized with people and dogs since we brought him home, but he seems to have these triggers that set him off. Healthwise he checked out fine at his last visit, though I plan to discuss this further with our vet in case she has any insights. I also plan to discuss with our obedience trainer (we still go to class every week to keep in practice). Sorry for the long post, but I thought the history was important in this case. Any advice or recommended reading would be most appreciated!


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## Braccarius (Sep 8, 2008)

Sounds to me like this is more of a success story rather than a story in which you need assistance. What your husband did was perfect, he found an outlet to calm Brady down and then brought him back to what was causing his outburst. Except this time Brady was calm and collected. I can't imagine a better outcome. His slight posessiveness over you and toys is something I consider relatively normal. I wouldn't be affected by that at all unless he is showing more outward signs of aggression. I think all in all you have a pretty well balanced boy.

With the Day Care situation he sounds as though he's in sensory overload. My best guess is that he's picking up on multiple dogs and relating it back to when he was stuffed in a cage and forgotton about. I've noticed that day cares and kennels have the same particular odour, maybe he relates it back to when he was at the brokers and things were obviously bad for him.


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Braccarius said:


> With the Day Care situation he sounds as though he's in sensory overload. My best guess is that he's picking up on multiple dogs and relating it back to when he was stuffed in a cage and forgotton about. I've noticed that day cares and kennels have the same particular odour, maybe he relates it back to when he was at the brokers and things were obviously bad for him.


That is a very interesting connection and one I had not thought of, but it makes perfect sense. Thanks for your thoughts!


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

One other thing I'd like to add: Brady sometimes is unable to control his impulses when he gets super-excited, and this results in him occasionally jumping on people (even though we've done exhaustive training to teach him not to jump). I will say he NEVER jumps during therapy work and is always calm and perfectly behaved in this environment, like he knows when he HAS to behave, and knows when he can be silly without hurting anyone. I realize this is attention-seeking behavior, and our obedience trainer is convinced this will improve with him maturing and continued practice, but I still get concerned because although it's never been a problem with his therapy work, I don't want it to become one! And the frequency of his jumping really is occasional and he's great 98% of the time, but I don't want to see us go backwards. Our trainer has also observed that Brady is perfect in structured situations, but when he is off leash and left to his own devices, this is when he sometimes demonstrates this lack of self-control. Do dogs with anxiety issues have more propensity to have lack of control over their impulses, even when the stimulus is a positive one like being happy to see someone?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

To me it sounds like you have a nervous type dog... and that's just the way he is. And honestly, the way you guys are handling things and training him, it sounds like you are doing all of the right things.

What I'm thinking is he's a lot like my guy who came from a good breeder.  With Jacks, he's a social and friendly little beast except in situations where he feels overwhelmed or unsure of himself. And then he usually turns around and either jumps in my lap, or jumps up so he's closer to my face. <- This is a comfort/safety/reassurance seeking behavior. I wouldn't encourage it, but I wouldn't punish it either.


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## Braccarius (Sep 8, 2008)

You can get most dogs to jump if you stand nice and tall and act super excited. They want to be at your level and if you really work them up even the best trained dogs get suckered in. This is my favourite game at the dog park... find the obedience champion or therapy dog and see if I can act so excited he jumps into me... (_just kidding, but honestly sometimes I wnoder if people actually have that intention_).


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Braccarius said:


> You can get most dogs to jump if you stand nice and tall and act super excited. They want to be at your level and if you really work them up even the best trained dogs get suckered in. This is my favourite game at the dog park... find the obedience champion or therapy dog and see if I can act so excited he jumps into me... (_just kidding, but honestly sometimes I wnoder if people actually have that intention_).


And that's exactly when it happens. If someone is standing and waving their hands around while they talk (rather than paying attention to Brady who has been, up until this time, patiently waiting for them to pet him), and Brady happens to have what I call "a puppy spurt" at that same moment! He sits or stands politely for a fair amount of time waiting for someone to greet him, but if they stop and talk to me first, it's like he can only wait so long before he loses control and jumps to get their attention. I've been working on this by keeping him in a down/stay a little distance away from the person in question until they are ready to greet him. This seems to keep him much calmer and prevents the jump.


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## Selli-Belle (Jan 28, 2009)

I agree that he sounds like he is doing great, and so are you! You know, we don't let other dogs play with our pups' favorite toys, they get put up when other dogs are visiting, Duffy gets anxious, Selli doesn't, but I don't want to risk the toys getting damaged.

Many Goldens prefer humans to other dogs, it one of the endearing things about Goldens. Who knows what happened at the groomers, but your Husband did great and Brady's ability to quickly calm down shows how well you have done with him. No dogs are perfect, neither are humans, but I think seeing how well you are doing so far, he will continue to calm down as he matures, just as your trainer said.


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Thanks everyone!


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