Tag Archives: anxiety

Treein' Squirrels

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Daisy loves being able to bay up a tree. I don’t know anything she likes more, except maybe dinner time.

In other news, the girls are settling into life here pretty well. Bella has a lot of anxiety outside the house. Which is weird because it is mostly nature sounds rather than cars and stuff in the city. I hope she gets better. She’s lost some weight because she is skipping meals frequently again.  Daisy think she’s owns the place. She likes being outside in the evening sniffing around. Fleas and ticks have hit us here for the first time ever. So, I went and ordered Preventic collars and started Comfortis.  Guess its a hazard of living in the woods with lots of wildlife.

Another day in the coonhound house…

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A little bit about my sweet Bella. She is most likely a puppy mill dog. She seems to have little to no socialization. She is scared of pretty much everything like her own tail hitting something and making a noise.  After having her a few months, she did improve. I got her a doggie friend and she improved even more. I started her on prozac and she continued to improve.  Now she is almost unrecognizable compared to the skinny, scared dog I brought home.

This however, does not mean she is free from anxiety. On the contrary, it is still an everyday presence in our house. Daisy ignores it completely. I try to not baby her when she is freaking in general although she does come to me for reassurance that things are cool.

So, last night I was sitting enjoying Law and Order. I didn’t hear any noise and I didn’t hear Bella leave her crate. I glanced up and what did I see? Yep, Bella scrunched in with Daisy. Daisy had already put herself to bed. I am so glad she is an easy going dog.  I got Bella out and she was shaking all over so I sat on the floor with my hand on her until she settled down. I stood up and was going to encourage her to get into her own crate. She wasn’t having it. After about 2 steps she dashed back into Daisy’s crate.  Like any good mom, I made sure to take a picture before getting her out and into her own crate. As you can see, Daisy was unaffected by it all.

But we both fit!

 

Two steps forward and one step back!

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My sweet Bella.  My sweet Bella with anxiety.  Bella has been on Prozac for 3 full weeks.  Inside my place it is like I have a new dog. My parents were here this weekend and grannie was amazed at her favorite grandchild’s (yes, she has a favorite)  new attitude.  Bella has been what I call a crate dog.  She willingly has put herself in her crate (door open) for 22 hours a day. She has felt safe there, or safer than anywhere else she could find.  Well, now she is out and about and enjoying the living room.

Grandpa came over and she didn’t really run away. She didn’t hide in her crate either.  She did like to have the coffee table between them but then she’d relax and go sniff him to try to figure out what he’s about.  She took some cheese from him too. Cheese is pretty powerful in this house.  LOL

I will admit its kinda weird to now have two dogs laying about watching what I’m doing.  Plus, it’s easier to trip and stumble with two dogs underfoot, but it’s totally worth it to see Bella so relaxed in her own home.

Of course, with good comes bad!  An air conditioner turned on right as we walked by on our walk and Bella freaked and ran into me. As I was off balance she pulled out of her collar.  The last time she got scared and pulled her collar It took almost 2 hours to find her.  This time she darted about 15 feet, tail tucked then stopped to look around.  I got down and started calling her but she was frozen.  Then someone else’s air turned on in front of her so she came back and just puddled near me.  She was fine once I got the collar on and started walking again.  I was happy she just didn’t run away like last time.  Oh, and for those reading she does have a martingale collar.  She’s just extra slippery!

Now I leave you with some hunting pictures, courtesy of grandpa, from this weekend.  Daisy is really teaching Bella the  ins and outs of squirrel hunting.  Daisy just looks so happy and she gets so tired she can’t hold her tongue in anymore!

They.are.right.there!

...trying to figure it out

Happy girl!

We're on it mom!

TGIF!

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Yesterday the girls had their first half day of doggie daycare.  I was told they had a great time.  Apparently Miss Daisy decided the little dogs had a better party going on and jumped the fence over to where they were.  Apparently she didn’t bother any of them and none of them were bothered by her so they let her hang out a while.  They both came home nice and tired!

Is it wrong to put your children in daycare so you can get work done?  It was great being able to come home and get a whole bunch of chores done while they weren’t here.  Typically they need to go out, be entertained, and by the time they have settled I can breathe a couple minutes.  Then its dog park time and I’m too tired for chores after that.

Sweet Bella is on doggie Prozac.   It was too hard to try and work with her anxiety because her threshold was so low.  Any little noise just about did her in.  Well, its been 2 weeks and I think I’m starting to see some changes.  You see, she even has trouble being comfortable in the house. It’s sad that sometimes in her crate she doesn’t even act like she feels safe.  Well, the last few days she has been spending much more time outside her crate.  After her meals she comes and lays at my feet.  Maybe she has a little dog in her somewhere!  It is exciting to see the changes, even if they are small.

We are trying out a new nighttime sleeping spot for Daisy. I have to be careful because when she has her bouts of nausea she tends to eat anything in an effort to induce vomiting.   Even carpet.  BUT, I’d like her to have a little more room sometimes.  Last night was her first night in the alcove and all was well.  So, we’ll see how things turn out.

Tomorrow morning I am taking them to a human pool. I hope they will play and have a good time.  Daisy thus far hasn’t shown much interest in water but I’m hoping repeated exposure will change her opinion.  I’ll try and get some pictures for y’all!