Panting after walks

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She-u

Forums Regular
Hello Trini, lately my puppy Benjamin started to become very aggressive towards human and dogs. He barks and sometimes growls, if gets too close, he would try to nip them (other dogs). We took him to see a behaviorist (she's also a vet), she told us Benjamin has anxiety, he fears things around him may hurt him, so every time we take him out we are actually increasing his stress level, so suggested us to stop walking him for a week, but can take him to the podium (within the building we live in), so that his stress level can decrease....she will provide us with a training program and suggested Benjamin to take medication alongside the training program, the medication will be a 9 months course.

I honestly don't want to go down the medicine route, so I told her I will start the program without the medicine, I know I may have to work harder on it, but I don't mind.

Is it true that if we stop walking him for a few days, his stress level will decrease? If we then take him out again will it frighten him more because he's not been out for a few days.

How about medication? Have you or anyone in this forum given their puppy medication to cure their fear/anxiety?

Thanks
 
Hi She-u,

I am not sure how keeping Benjamin off walks for a week is going to help him de-stress on walks. I do think you should always select times of day to walk when there are the fewest people and dogs where you walk...and I think it is important to take high quality treats (meat/cheese)on the walks and have Benjamin sit when you see someone or another dog approaching BEFORE he starts to bark/growl...and feed him a stream of these treats along with praise if he stays focused on you and the treats as they pass by. This means you have to stay very alert (without being stressed as Benjamin will read that stress) so that you catch upcoming issues before he focuses on them and goes into reaction mode. Once a dog has gone into reaction mode it is much harder to calm them.

Also if you can move a distance from the distraction (people/dogs) before they pass by...that will help too...maybe by crossing the street to the other side until they are past. Distance from any object that causes severe anxiety is really important as you work to limit the anxiety...and gradually move closer.

Medication may at some point be a plus if simply working with Benjamin on these issues isn't going well. I did use meds for a short time several years ago on a foster who was so terrified of everything that she simply couldn't function at all....she didn't show any aggression just total fear. It did calm her just enough to start the rehab process...but I only used the meds for 7 weeks.

I can't remember if you have good dog obedience classes in your area? If you could find a class with an instructor who is familiar with fear aggression issues and trains with positive methods only that might go a long way to support you in a setting that is controlled. Negative training with a fear aggressive dog almost always results in the aggression becoming worse...so visit any class before you sign up to make sure it is suitable.

I know you are working hard to help Benjamin and I know it can be discouraging at times.

Trini
 
Starting a program by removing all stressors is pretty normal. The idea is to ensure the stress hormone levels are back to a base level before starting the program.

I think Benjamin is an adolescent? If he is then losing confidence is not uncommon at that age. If you check the forum a lot of people post about similar problems at the same age. But it is very important to work through it so you don't end up with lifelong problems. So you are definitely doing the right thing.

You'll be okay trying to start he program without the meds if you think he isn't too anxious. You can always try the meds later down the track if you aren't having much progress.

I don't want to interfere with the program the behaviourist has given you. I do think Trini is right though, at some point, maybe when you have progressed a bit, it would be good to try formal obedience classes. That way he can learn to focus on you with other dogs around in a safe environment. Obviously check with the behaviourist where in the program you might start this.
 
Thanks Trini and Caro. Thank you for the advice. I must say I really love this forum.

It is hard to find a good dog obedience class in Hong Kong, either they are just obedience classes or positive training class but can't seem to find one that has both yet. Will keep looking.

Yes, Benjamin is an adolescent, he 10 months next week.

I honestly don't think he's that anxious, he loves going into the vet clinic when we walk past every time and also the pet shop where he gets groomed. More questions, last week we took Benjamin to the groomers, he was nervous at the beginning and wanted to nip a the groomer, don't know why he still does this given he goes there once a month, it's been the same girl every time. We had to put a muzzle on him for safely to the groomer. We left and when I got back to pick him up, he didn't have his muzzle on and was very close with the groomer, just like how he would be with his mummy (me) . I spent a few minutes in the shop wandering around and pay for his bill, he was still very good and behave until I walked over, he got so excited and jumping up and down, and the groomer was trying to help me to calm him thinking, but Benjamin seemed like he's forgotten who the groomer was and wanted to nip at her, this time he did it and made a little scratch onto her hand. She said it happens a lot to her, but I still felt so bad and guilty and had to buy her some chocolate. So, can they really all of sudden change attitude? Like one minute he was so closed to her and the next minute he's forgotten who she was?

Also if we are in a quiet area, any person or dog appears from a distance, Benjamin would bark at them every time, however if we are in a busy areas, he wouldn't do this to human but he would bark at dogs when they come close. Is this because in the quiet area Benjamin thinks they are invading his space?

Thanks again.
 
He sounds like a dog that lacks confidence.

The reason he doesn't bark in a busy place is there is just so much going to look at and there's just too much to bark at. If you go to a place where there's say 20 people there probably aren't 20 dogs. Maybe only 4 or 5 to bark at, but 20 people - way too many so he doesn't bother with the people and just barks at the dogs. If you went to a place with 20 dogs he probably wouldn't bark at any of them. I know when Tully was fearful we'd go somewhere like Million Paws Walk, with maybe 2,000 dogs and she doesn't bother, just happily trots around sniffing butts and taking in the sites. But a couple of dogs walking past and she goes ballistic.

The other thing with a fearful or anxious dog is to not over-stimulate. What happened at the groomer isn't surprising. He was anxious at first and then settled down. When you walked around the store his anxiety levels probably hadn't dropped completely so it didn't take much to get him over excited and anxious again. I'd suggest when you are in a highly stimulating environment to limit the exposure. Don't stay at the shop after you pick him up, take him outside (or home) where it's quieter and let him settle down. If you go into a shop or anywhere with him that's highly stimulating only do a short trip and leave before he gets too excited.

I imagine the exercises the behaviourist gave you will help increase his threshold. So in the meantime calm and quiet activities or only short bursts of stimulating environments. Did you mention to the vet about going to the groomers monthly? You might want to skip it while you work through the exercises.
 
Thanks Caro, I shall definitely try your suggestions.
no, i haven't mentioned to the vet about Benjamin's monthly grooming yet, but i will when i see her this coming Wednesday, it's when she will provide us with a training program.

Thanks
 
The behaviorist has given us some training programs, basically they are trainings to keep Benjamin focus. We've not to take him out for 4 weeks, this is to decrease his stress level before he goes out again. She's also suggested us to use Adaptil, we are using it now. Not sure if that is doing anything yet....can't tell.

We have not taken her recommendation about putting Benjamin on medicines, we said we will try everything without the meds first.

Let's see how everything goes.....
 
I'm not sure about the Adaptil either - although I do have it. But the cat version - Feliway - is amazing and I've seen it work wonders when my cats are feuding. One reason I don't use the Adaptil much is because all the spare plugs have Feliway!
 
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