Dog behavioral problem - can anyone help?

[icelandelf]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

HA. I can't PAY my cat to get into the car. We have to go the sedative route (do not flame me) to get her to her vet appointments without her attempting to filet us with her claws (she's still got claws). Her trips to the vet are the most anxiety-inducing events of her kitty life. I feel like the best thing for me to do is give her something that's going to give her a little relief on the way there and back.

That made me smile! Miss Fatima used to go with me to cat shows, so she got really used to travelling in the car, on the plane, hotels, etc. We used to tease that she had more frequent flier miles then I did.
She also used to love going to the vet. We couldn't figure that one out. Loved the waiting room, wasn't afraid of the dogs in the waiting room (tried to make friends with a Pit Bull puppy behind the check in desk once). Of course her vet used to love her too. I miss that cat...

[libramunoz]

Cheerful--if you knew my 14 year old dog, Iggy (short for Ignatius Starbucks) you would know that dog--OMG!!! Today, my Mom bought the pedipaw for his nails--OMG, that mutt--Jeez you'da thought I was trying to cut off his head! He got into his bastard mode and acted a complete fool! That's just the way that he is.
I've figured since owning dogs since I was a kid, eventually, you get to KNOW your animal. You know their likes and dislikes. You know what they want to do and what they don't. This same mutt has to sleep with someone everynight like a baby, while my 2 year old won't sleep with anyone, but when the bed is empty, he hops on. You just get to know their likes and who they are as a person, and you LEARN to accept them for what they are, or better yet, who they are.
Thank You Tippie and kstar, you guys are correct and have offered some very valuable advice to Hot Damn.
Texas and Xi-Ree, if you would have READ what Hot Damn was saying, you would have seen that all the woman wanted was some help! She didn't ask anyone to dx Ms. Marley, she only wanted help from others who have dogs and knew of any suggestions as to what to do what their dogs. No, not everyone has HAD the same situation with their dogs, but if they have had a similar one with their dogs, then what's the problem in giving a damn suggestion?
You don't know EXACTLY who is on the board, what their qualifications/education is, or what in God's green earth they do for a living. Someone on the board may have a clue as to HOW to HELP! She didn't ask them to GIVE the script, she only ASKED for suggestions! So BEFORE you decide to OFFER up some tip, READ what the person has ASKED for. That tends to help keep mouthinfoot disease from occurring.

[libramunoz]

BTW-I take both of my dogs on car rides to town, etc. They love to go! My 2 year old knows his spot and when it's sunny, he knows to stand on it in the car and for me to open the sunroof for him. My 14 year old has his seat! When he's bored, he puts his head on my leg, as he does my Mother--again--I KNOW my pets!
And Cesar Milan cannot teach me a DAMN thing about my dogs! Whatever their problems are, I'll handle them, not HIM! Their MY PETS not his!

[cheerfulgreek]

I didn't read the whole thread, so I didn't know the OP was getting a new puppy. I thought she already had one. OP, like some of the comments posted earlier (and I'm sure you mean well) but yes, if you're having trouble spending time with the dog you currently own, I would hold off on getting a new puppy. My advice (if you can) is to consider putting your dog in a doggie day care, or hiring a dog walker to take him/her out during the day (if you're away from home most of the day). It's really important to understand that dogs are intensely social animals, and they become bored, lonely, and sometimes destructive without companionship. Just an FYI.

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

Thanks, Tippiechick and KStar.

I am not getting a new puppy. One of my pledge sisters got one a week ago and she emailed me to ask if I knew when the appropriate time to spay is. I'm sure she'll double-check what I told her with the vet next time she goes in.

I take my dog with me in the car because (1) all that time in traffic I get to share with Marley, and (2) SHE LOVES IT. I put the window down about three inches and she presses her little nose against the crack, smelling all the smells or whatever it is dogs do. She also loves BEING WITH ME, so if I have to drive 15 minutes each way to the grocery store and I run in for 5 minutes to buy ice cream, I just got 30 bonus minutes with my dog. 30 minutes where she's not sitting in my room, lonely and miserable.

My parents do a far better job taking care of my dog than a dog walker or doggie day care (which is EXPENSIVE) ever could. Marley has their two dogs to play with, constant access to food, water, and toys, and she's allowed to get on their couches. She is happy as a little clam over there and I count my lucky stars that I don't have to leave her alone all day.

BTW, I was thinking about drugs for long car trips, not daily use. We're talking three or four times a year here.

[SWTXBelle]

Have you tried something like Rescue Remedy? Not a drug - more like chamomile tea for doggies.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu

Thanks, Tippiechick and KStar.

I am not getting a new puppy. One of my pledge sisters got one a week ago and she emailed me to ask if I knew when the appropriate time to spay is. I'm sure she'll double-check what I told her with the vet next time she goes in.

I take my dog with me in the car because (1) all that time in traffic I get to share with Marley, and (2) SHE LOVES IT. I put the window down about three inches and she presses her little nose against the crack, smelling all the smells or whatever it is dogs do. She also loves BEING WITH ME, so if I have to drive 15 minutes each way to the grocery store and I run in for 5 minutes to buy ice cream, I just got 30 bonus minutes with my dog. 30 minutes where she's not sitting in my room, lonely and miserable.

My parents do a far better job taking care of my dog than a dog walker or doggie day care (which is EXPENSIVE) ever could. Marley has their two dogs to play with, constant access to food, water, and toys, and she's allowed to get on their couches. She is happy as a little clam over there and I count my lucky stars that I don't have to leave her alone all day.

BTW, I was thinking about drugs for long car trips, not daily use. We're talking three or four times a year here.

I thought you were the one getting a puppy. Sorry. Well, if you have your parents to take care of her while you're away, then, yeah, that makes sense.

I read some of the earlier posts (not all but some) about the drug use. Just remember that talking to people about giving psychiatric drugs to your pet tends to provoke a strong response of one kind or another, which I saw a few times on this thread. Everyone has their own opinion on the issue, but the reality is there are no magic pills for behavior problems. Resolving a behavior problem requires 1st and foremost, behavior modification, for the dog and for the owner. There are certain psychiatric drugs that can help some (not all) dogs with some (not all) behavior problems, but just remember no drug can work a miracle cure on its own. Some of the drugs that are good are Alprazolam, busprione and diazepam, just to name a few. I mentioned these because these are anti anxiety medications. You still need to speak with YOUR veterinarian about what drugs to give to him, because they should be prescribed by YOUR vet. Sorry I misread your post.

I hope everything works out for you, and your doggie.

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

It's okay. I see where it looked like I was getting a puppy.

We had a Sheltie years ago that we had to medicate for long car rides. We gave him Dramamine (the vet told us what dose and everything.) The Sheltie got horribly carsick on long rides, so it was the best thing to do - according to the vet.

I have a friend who had to give her dog anti-anxiety meds during thunderstorms; the dog was so terrorized by the sound of the thunder it was inconsolable and bordered on hurting itself in its effort to escape from the noise.

So medicating a dog to make them not miserable doesn't seem like a criminal act to me.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu

We had a Sheltie years ago that we had to medicate for long car rides. We gave him Dramamine (the vet told us what dose and everything.) The Sheltie got horribly carsick on long rides, so it was the best thing to do - according to the vet.

I have a friend who had to give her dog anti-anxiety meds during thunderstorms; the dog was so terrorized by the sound of the thunder it was inconsolable and bordered on hurting itself in its effort to escape from the noise.

So medicating a dog to make them not miserable doesn't seem like a criminal act to me.

Absolutely. Dramamine and no food for about 6 to 8 hours before a trip in the car works really well for a lot of dogs.

Though there are holistic approaches to keeping any pet healthy, there is absolutely nothing wrong with medication (drugs), provided that it is prescribed by your veterinarian.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by kstar

BTW, I HATE Cesar Millan with a passion, especially considering most of his methods of "training" are simply oversaturating a dog with its fears until it mentally shuts down, also known as flooding.

I don't hate Cesar Millan, but I've found myself getting easily overwhelmed by his advice. I've tried to follow it, but for some reason it does not work for me.

I came to the conclusion that I'll find whatever happy medium there is for me and my dog.


To the OP, I'd start with the drugs with the intent a weaning him off by training him at the same time. Also, I don't know if this was said or mentioned, but have you considered that maybe the dog is responding to your actions when getting in the car. I mean, if you are going off to work maybe you are a bit rushed and the dog senses that?

[libramunoz]

I think folks are getting confused about what was going on with the OP and what help she wanted.
1. The dog has some issue with diseal trucks and acts a nut around them.
2. She wanted to know if there was something that she could do to help the dog from being nutty when she heard/saw the diseal truck.
3. The OP also wanted to know what to do to help the dog from basically getting bored on long car trips.
4. Hot Damn simply said that when she goes to work, she takes her doggy over to her parents to dog sit for the day.
People gave her good advice as to what to do about the diseal trucks sound and from there the boxing match seemed to get started. People began to assume this and that and it all started off as a simple discussion of what to do to help the dog with her actions.
People began to assume that she wasn't a good doggy parent and that she didn't care for the animal because of some of the suggestions that given. I think that this is a bad precedence to assume that Hot Damn didn't care for the animal and just basically wanted to drug her.
All she wanted was some suggestions to help the animal from hurting herself when she heard the sound of a Mac truck coming. Some folks just need to chillax before trying to hand someone the axe and calling the ASPCA.

[sigmadiva]

^^^^ Thanks for the re-cap. I guess I got caught up in the drugs vs. training argument.

[libramunoz]

It wasn't just you, I think it was a lot of people who got caught up in that.

[agzg]

We give our little guy doggie downers for long car trips (usually over 2 hours).

We thought about giving our little guy doggie downers this morning when he woke us up for a belly rub at 4am.

He's sleeping now - wonder why?

Anywho - this chamomile tea thing - someone recommended it to us to deal with some of his obsessive licking habits (since there's salt on the sidewalks, he's been licking his paws like CRAZY) - we have an appointment with the V-E-T next week but does it actually work to calm them? I'd love to maybe take care of it to some degree before his appointment, then ask the vet what they can do (I'd really hate to give him meds every day, if we can do the tea thing it would be ideal).

And where would I get it?

[SWTXBelle]

Here's a discussion of Rescue Remedy - http://www.oes.org/page1/Bach-Rescue-Remedy.html

and you can get it http://www.herbalremedies.com/resrem...FQZqswodiF-Bag