Bentley's anxiety...what do you think?

[suse]

As many of you know, we rescued Bentley from a pretty neglectful situation this summer. He had developed the habit of quickly circling in small circles in the yard when outside. We thought it would diminish with time, but it hasn't. He circles quickly, pants and barks. In the 6 months that we've had him, he has never been calm in the yard. He does this constantly. It is troubling to watch.

When he is on a leash, he is fine. When he is in the house, he is fine....in fact, there'e nothing he likes to do more than lay around! Ok, new situations make him uncomfortable, naturally. And if there is commotion in the house, he is nerverous. Usually it's just us and he's happy to chill. But outside, he just can't relax. I've started to take him out on a leash and practice obedience and have him sit and stay. I've gotten him up to being able to stay for about 2 mins, then he just can't take it and gets up and circles. He won't even THINK about lying down out there!

My question....just curious what you think....do I just keep working with him on getting him to relax outside, do I let him be a crazy nutcase, or would you consider anxiety meds for the guy? I'm willing to work with him, but just wondering if I should consider medical treatment. I don't want him to suffer. Hey, Ronnie....what do you think? And of course...those of you with experience!

 

[victoria1140]

some valerian drops might not hurt but personally I would work on making outside fun for him with some training mixed in. He needs to learn to associate being outside with fun.

It may take a little while for him to get there,but keep perservering

 

[suse]

I guess I should have mentioned, I do try to make going out fun for him. He loves to play fetch, so we do that. We also do obedience. I try to keep his mind active, so he's not stressed, but any activity, after 5 mins at the most, he's circling. Maybe we should do a few minutes at at time and increase the time as his attention span increases? My goal is just for him to be able to hang out with us this summer and relax. Fun, yes, but just "be" also!

 

[Garden_girl]

Circling is a compulsive activity, often brought on by stress. Before he came to you, was he primarily an outside dog? If so, that was probably what he did when he was outside.

Can you intersperse the fun stuff with down time? That is ....start out by engaging him in an activity that he likes while on lead, then sit with him for a period of a minute or so (all the while treating/praising him with itty bitty treats). You can test the amount of time he will lay quietly before he starts feeling stressed. Then, BEFORE he gets up, you get up and engage him in another fun activity, followed by a minute of down time (or however long your pre-determined time was) treating/praising him again all the while he's down. The goal would be to slowly increase the amount of down time in-between activities, while increasing his time in the yard without letting him get to that stressful point. Since he likes and feels comfortable when he is working and playing with you, that is another reward for his quiet down time. Win-win!

And really, laying down out in the yard is another activity for Bentley, he just doesn't know it yet. I hope you can help Bentley feel comfortable outdoors, there is nothing better than lazing about outside with your dogs on a warm summer afternoon.

 

[suse]

Thanks to you both. Yes, Bentley lived out in a pen for five years, then we were asked to take him.

If the dang snow ever goes away, I will do exactly as you suggest. I really want that laying down in the yard thing to be one of his fave activities

 

[Pipelineozzy]

I'd also groom him outside if you can...that can be very theratpeutic (if indeed he enjoys grooming). Another thing is massage...having him lay quietly and be massaged while he is outside may help him to become less wary.

 

[victoria1140]

another thing to try is when he gets anxious can you do body massage on him or tellington touch. If not try grooming him as it helps him destress.

We used body massage with Jessie as she was an emotional wreck when we got her and you could see the difference afterwards.

Perhaps its difficult for him to relax so even after playing and fun try to give him a cooldown period like we do after exercise

 

[newfical]

I feed mine in their crates to teach them to like the crates. I wonder if feeding him outside would help? (although I must admit that I live in Texas and don't still have on the ground).

I adopted Jezabel at age 9. She had lots of issues that she slowly overcame and became a much more confident dog. It took time ad lots of assurance that she was an ok dude.