[Dailydrool] anxious hound...

[Karrie Kuecker]

Joey & Emma want me to report that they're still drooling for all those in
need. They both drool quite a bit, so I'm sure they are adding to the flow
of drool quite nicely.

Joey Hound has been having HORRIBLE anxiety issues! He's started shaking
whenever I leave, and he's also starting to royally piss me off by
constantly peeing in the bedroom! No, he doesn't have a UTI or anything,
because I was hope sick all last weekend, and he held it for a good 10 hrs
at a stretch one day (wasn't planned, I was really sick & he passed out on
the chair with me, while Emma slept on the couch, and I passed out for a
good 3-ish hrs. Didn't realize how long it was, until I saw the clock!) So,
that isn't the issue, but will pee on the carpet in there, whenever I'm
gone. And, I mean when I was gone for literally 15 mins to run to BK for
breakfast one morning! I've started to take both hounds to the park before I
leave for work in the morning, which has helped the pooping in there, but he
won't stop peeing! I'm already going to have to completely replace the
carpeting in there, but it'll all be a moot point if he doesn't cut it out!
I'd hate to send him home to my parents permanently, even though they'd LOVE
to have him! As I know that will add to the stress & anxiety (this NEVER
happened for the first 8-ish months that we were here, it started after he
vacationed with my parents last summer, but it's gone to new levels since I
fetched him a few weeks ago. He was away for about 6 or 7 weeks total. But,
it's the house that we lived in w/my parents for 3 years, and he knew all of
their dogs, so it's not like it was a foreign environment!)

Joey's always had anxiety issues, but they haven't been bad since a few
months after I first adopted him, and his 4th gotcha day is coming up in
June. I just don't know what to do with this crazy hound! And, the shaking
when I leave is the worst... it breaks my heart to see him sit there &
shake! I leave the tv on for them all day (usually animal planet or travel
channel, I assume that they enjoy those "food paradise" shows, haha) and I
leave the curtains open since he's ripped the blinds out of the ceiling &
destroyed them. I always leave the bedroom door closed, but he's big enough
to jump up & hit the handle & push it open. (He's been seen doing this to
either the bathroom or bedroom door during a storm). I really don't want him
to be this anxious & stressed all the time, and I fear it's his "vacations"
with his granpawrents that is causing it... I don't know why, because like I
said, we lived in that house for nearly 3 years, so he knows the house &
yard, all the people & all the other pets. I wasn't there, but again, he was
familiar w/everything, he was hardly ever left alone w/just the other dogs.
I'm thinking that it's due to not having me around (he's my heart dog, and
quite bonded to me. My mom would hold the phone under his ear flap when I
called home, and he'd go to the window looking for me), but he's really not
alone more than 4-5 hrs at a stretch here, and I know he can hold it for
that long easily. He has been known to wear t-shirts, hoodies &
sweaters/jackets occasionally, so I don't think that one of those "comfort
coats" would help (which I've been told can be simulated by putting a close
fitting child's t-shirt on them, is that actually the case?) I've also heard
of the pheramone diffusers, but haven't heard any stories about whether
those are actually effective or not. Has anyone tried one? Does anyone have
a slightly crazy anxious hound, that has found something to help soothe the
savage beast as it were?

I just worry about his stress. I know that stress can make conditions worse,
and I don't want him getting sick because of the anxiety. I'd hate to have
to resort to medication or a crate (I was told that he was locked in a crate
for nearly a year before his "owners" called rescue to come out & get him,
so he's not terribly keen on them...) but if I can't get him settled down
any other way, I may need to resort to one of those methods. He's been
decently good at not completely tearing the place up, but I REALLY need him
to stop peeing in the bedroom. I'm currently in a rental, so I can't just
rip out the carpeting & put in hard flooring (not to mention this place is
not too keen on replacing carpeting for some odd reason), but it's getting
so bad smelling that I literally get ill from just opening the door! And,
yes, I clean it a minimum of 1-2 times a day, and trust me when I say I've
tried literally everything that WalMart, Kroger & PetSmart sell on it (and
then some!) and not had a single permanent solution... I just want the poor
hound to stop peeing in there, and I think that the key is to lower his
anxiety level. Anyone have success at calming an anxious hound? What was the
most effective way you found that worked? I feel really bad that he's so
anxious, and I fear that by trying to help him by sending him on these
vacations, we've inadvertantly set back his adaptability and reinstalled
some of his old anxieties...

-- 
-Karrie, momma to Joey & Emma, with Slater (ATB), Aunty to Checkers, Domino
& Crispin (wb)

Joey's dogster page: http://www.dogster.com/dogs/637473
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