Dog behavioral problem - can anyone help?

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by libramunoz

Texas, I think that you are going truly overboard in attempting to berate this woman for asking for help for her dog.
I've been around dogs all of my life, I currently have two now, and I have taken the time to train them to a certain degree. Both of my dogs were found in the road and one came to us and one I picked up.
At the time that I got these two nuts, I surly wish that I would have had some advice for someone, especially for my puppy (he's 2 and my oldest is 14).
I say all this to say this point, when you have an older dog, which Hot Damn has, you have to have suggestions to work with the animal. My 14 year old dog can be the meanest bastard when he wants to be. I have pulled him, hit him, and yes, given him a but whipping when he needs to have one, even at 14. Sometimes, yes, discipline is what the animal needs right at that time until you have a chance to get the dog and you in a safe position.
I think Hot Damn seemed to just be asking for suggestions of how to help her older dog, and you just jumped up and down her butt because of some of the suggestions that she was willing to look into. Instead of bereating this woman/man/person, try giving a suggestion first and then if they take it good, if they don't, move on, but bereating the woman isn't going to get your point across.

A lot of people here, including myself, have tried to offer her tips and advice, and besides the drugging one, she has shot down every single one.

The bottom line is we are not professionals. The way she describes her dog's problem, it sounds like a pretty serious anxiety issue that could possibly hurt her dog, or another person should someone else be near the dog when it's freaking out.

There have been posts on GC before that go something like "Hello - I have a (---insert some kind of symptoms here---), is this cancer or something serious?" And while we do have amazing RNs and even doctors that frequent these boards, they can't (and probably shouldn't) diagnose a problem over the internet. They almost always tell the posters to get a professional's opinion IRL.

I am a regular volunteer at a local animal shelter and it yes, it does really hurt me that so many times people turn to drugs or surrender their animals because the dogs have issues that they just don't want to deal with. I also see dogs regularly get put down because their anxiety was not properly rehabilitated and it ended up redirecting it's anxiety in a really bad way.

People need to understand that if they are going to own any kind of animal - especially one that was previously abused - it takes a lot of TLC to get the animal out of that mindset. It's also a responsibility and commitment that is over 10+ years long.