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| Baby Arlo |
Arlo was very much a spur of the moment decision, but it was something that T and I had been discussing for years. We knew we were going to get a Great Dane, we just weren't sure when. Then I saw Arlo and I knew that I had to pull the trigger then.
For the first month, I was still working and we spent half of that trying to help him get over a parasite he had caught at his breeder but hadn't shown any signs yet. After we conquered that, the next 3 months were spent trying to get him up to a healthy weight because he was constantly growing and looked as if we were starving him as a result. We're now at a point where he's completely healthy, but it was a hard few first months with our "firstborn".
One of the things we were not expecting was anxiety.
Since getting the diagnosis, we have learnt that Great Danes are a breed that can get anxiety. Despite their big size, the whole Scooby Doo steroetype can be extremely true, especially in Arlo's case.
To T and I, we always knew that Arlo was skittish. We joked about it with family saying that he just doesn't like change, especially after it took us a week to coax him back into the kitchen after we got a new fridge. He hates any kind of box and will climb up on the couch like a woman in an old movie who has seen a mouse until the box is gone. His separation anxiety, that we didn't know was that bad, got to the point where he was barking so much a neighbour called the council and reported it and he nearly got a nuisance dog order.
What really set things over for us was when he had to come out to my parent's house because his barking was so bad and T had to work late. He just couldn't relax and one day while we were cleaning out the shed in preparation for my parents move, he didn't lay down one. He stayed standing the entire time. I told T and he thought it was just a case of things being out of routine and I was willing to accept that, until my Mum said something.
My parents had noticed how Arlo was. He wasn't aggressive, but it was obvious that he was not handling the few days on the farm well. It was then I decided that we had to do something, so I booked us in with our vet.
When I explained everything to him, he said that it was definitely worrying but not unfixable. He was showing a lot of the signs of anxiety and it was a good thing we had brought him in early because it meant that we could start working with him to help him through it.
It started off with us putting him on doggy prozac as well as recognising what his triggers were and then helping him through them. Loud noises were no issue, so it came down to new things in his environment and dogs barking.
With the new things, we would coax him in and then reward him with affection when he would get closer and closer. Food doesn't work. His fight or flight instincts kick in and he's not interested in eating. So there are so many loveies given. This has worked out so well for us because the last new thing that came into the house only resulted in him avoiding it for three days instead of seven, so progress is happening.
When it comes to barking, its all about distraction. Most of his barking happens in the backyard, so when we hear it, we call him to us and reward him when he comes. It distracts him from what he was doing and his barking stops. This unfortunately only works when we're home and, as much as we don't want to use it, we do use a vibration collar on the days that T and I work in order to keep his barking under control.
Our decision to do this did not come easy. Despite all the toys and our other dog Daphne, nothing that we had out there in the backyard was distracting enough or safe enough to help with his barking. We tried the radio on in the kitchen, that just made him more upset. More toys in the back yard just ended in a stuffy massacre. In the end, a lot of research went into the decision of a vibration collar on a low setting, just enough to get his attention away from what was causing him to bark.
Now, it doesn't shock him and it still allows him to have those protective "this is my house" barks when someone comes to the door while we're at work, but it cuts down on the other ones where he would kind of get stuck on a loop when a bird was on the fence or something like that. We also didn't just put it on him and hope it didn't hurt him. T tested it on himself before putting it on Arlo for the first time, to ensure that the setting wasn't going to hurt him.
The good news is that with me being home more days than I am out working now, it means that we are not using his collar as much as we were the last 3 months of the work year last year and can focus on our distraction method a lot more. It's been suggested that we see a behaviouralist vet to give us a little help, so now it's just a matter of us finding the right one.
So how is he now? We still have a long way to go, but Arlo is slowly getting there. He is no longer on his doggy prozac and we now manage his anxiety in other ways. He's never really had an issue with dogs but he's slowly getting used to being around people other than family. It's just a matter of exposure and praise. He doesn't like walking past the train station, so we drive to the dog park instead so he doesn't freak out and they get a longer play with their friends.
We still joke about Arlo not liking change but it's our way of trying to get people to truly understand what we're going through with him.
Many people don't understand that dogs get anxiety, just as much as people do. It's hard for them to understand that it's something that happens and comes in all shapes and sizes, just like the dogs.
Now, while what we're going with Arlo may not work for you, knowing that you're not going through it alone is always good and is what helped me through a lot of this! There are a lot of groups out there for support and ideas on how to handle doggy anxiety. Its through these groups that I'm hoping to get new ideas so that by the end of the year we are no longer using the vibration collar while we're at work.
Until next time,
(aka - Sophie)
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