A Trying Afternoon

[MartySews2]

Unfortunately, I was out in the heat taking Max for his annual check-up & shots. I had given him some tranquilizers at 12:30pm for our 2:30pm appt. Well, the vet's office called at 1:30pm to let me know that she was in emergency surgery and could not see us until 3pm. So, we got there a few minutes early and ended up waiting for an exam room to open up for about 45 minutes. By then, the tranquilizer had worn off & he was going into full panic mode. I had to wrestle with him over & over when other dogs came in until the cat exam room opened up. I was worn out. Well, we gave him another tranquilizer that I had to force down his throat. Then we fought over getting the muzzle on him ... score Max 4 / muzzle 1. Finally, the doctor came in and it was almost 4:15pm. She is so gentle with him but he was having none of it. We had to pry his legs out from under him to get the blood work done & to trim his nails. He backed up against the wall when it came time for the fecal check. Ugh ... at least, I was able to coax him to me so they could get the test done. Overall, it was traumatic for him & for me. After the exam, they offered him a treat but he spit it out at them & refused to take it. We got home at almost 5pm & I gave him another tranquilizer to help him relax & calm down. I've done this with every dog that I have ever owned but Max is the only one except for my Whiskers (rip) who goes into full panic mode at the vet's office.
Marty

[sewingmom]

Sure wish you had reinforcements when you have chores of that sort. I am sure Max appreciates all you do for him.

[MartySews2]

Oh Max is my baby. I've had him since he was 3wks old and he rarely leaves my side when I'm home. Now, he's 7yrs old. At 54-1/2 pounds, he's a handful when he gets upset. If I leave the house for a doctor's appt, sewing lessons, church, guild, etc he gets very anxious, cries & will wait anxiously by the front door. Sarah basically ignores this behavior & if Joe's home, he'll have Max stay with him. It's really bad when I'm hospitalized. He panics when he hears sirens. He doesn't socialize much with other dogs so yesterday when I was dogsitting for my neighbor, he was anxious. Today, he tried to take on 3 larger dogs in the waiting room at the vet's office. He barks continuously when someone comes over. He will put himself between me & whoever visits. I usually have to lock him in the bedroom when we have company. I don't know what causes this but it is stressful. He was terribly abused before we got him as Sarah found him in the woods one night in Eva, TN when she was at camp. She was walking along the road to her cabin. He barely weighed 2lbs at that time. He's very healthy so vet visits are usually for his annual check-up & shots.
Marty

[carman]

sure wish your visits weren't so stressful my dogs run into the vets office and run even faster when i take them to their doggy hotel lol, its like they know they are seeing friends they have not seen in a long time lol

carman

[kjh9835]

Sorry you have so much trouble Marty. I used to have trouble if I tried to take both of my Boxers anywhere by myself but since we had a trainer come last year, I can at least handle them better. I actually took the crate down today and Joe is putting it in the garage as we rarely even crate them anymore but we do put the trash up when we leave. They can get the locking lid to pop open by standing on the can after they knock it over. I also have "toddler locks" on the refrigerator as they both help themselves to whatever they want if it is not locked.

Have you ever heard of or tried ComfortZone? I have a diffuser I can send you but it needs the refills. dd22 bought it for her previous b/f's dog when they came to stay with us and was so anxious that she broke out screens and even garage windows to get out whenever he left and barked or whined the rest of the time. Absolutely drove us nuts and made our dogs mis-behave.

If I remember it has something to do with phermones (sp) or natural type remedies. I have used Bach Flower Essences on cats when I used to do rescue for them. The "Rescue Remedy" is the best for handling all types of un-wanted behaviors whether due to new situations, other ppl/pets, storms, fighting, spraying, etc. I don't know if it works for dogs or not and since I am using the Wii to access the internet, I really don't have time to research for you (sorry). Connection is slow, I can't see what I'm typing unless I zoom in and then I can't see anything but the screen. Its better than nothing but I sure wish I had my computer.

Maybe if you get time, you can see if you think it will help with Max's anxiety whenever you are gone. Since you have a small house, you may only need one diffuser. I put it in the pet supply cabinet with all other stuff we will prob. never need but I don't want to throw away (pet bottles, e-collars, flea combs and so on).
Kathy