Backsliding and more skittish!! - Page 2

J&J · #11 17-09-10, 05:15 PM

Lovegsd is right, it does take time to build confidence in a dog, I know I've been working with Jones for a year now, and it took a good 6 months to see notable improvements..

You said about your apartment, would I be right in thinking that the hallways are quite hallow, no carpets, and bland brick/concreate walls? So can eccho!

Don't forget a dogs hearing is a lot more acute than ours, you may not hear a sound, but he will, and it's likely that the noise will bounce of the walls in many different directions.. So this confuse him to where the actual source of the noise is coming from... If his skittish, then this is going to be aggrevated by his confusing...

Glad they doing some tests, to see if medication might help, and to find a correct matching type, as it may well be to start to settle him enough to work on confidence side he will need it to begin with..

But you really do have to give it time, and consistancy for anything to really be effective..

Xenos · #12 17-09-10, 05:54 PM

Anxiously waiting to hear these results. I should hear back in a few minutes.

An update I can give now is that my husband just called to tell me he bit the vet's assistant! He says she went behind him and he turned and bit her. Also, the assistant told him that he is over-the-top skittish, so much so that his temp rose to nearly 104. They will sedate him in order to get the tests done. I could hear him panting heavily as my husband was on the phone

Jude · #13 18-09-10, 09:04 AM

As I understand it (please correct me if I am wrong)your dog is not a pure GSD but is in fact a GSD/wolf hybrid. My feeling is that a lot of his problems could stem from his wolf inheritance and are inherent in his make-up. I doubt whether "training" alone will have much effect and he may well need medication for the rest of his life to enable him to lead anything like a normal life - and what exactly is a normal life for a "dog" that is partly a wild animal?

blackdogs · #14 18-09-10, 10:01 AM

Jude you are correct , his behaviour is very much relater to wolf behaviuor, when these crosses happen they always have a risk,

Xenos · #15 18-09-10, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jude

As I understand it (please correct me if I am wrong)your dog is not a pure GSD but is in fact a GSD/wolf hybrid. My feeling is that a lot of his problems could stem from his wolf inheritance and are inherent in his make-up. I doubt whether "training" alone will have much effect and he may well need medication for the rest of his life to enable him to lead anything like a normal life - and what exactly is a normal life for a "dog" that is partly a wild animal?

You make a good point. The vet is aware of this mix and still suggested the medication to ease his freak outs. Early to say at this point, but he had his first pill yesterday and we were cautious (or should I say - scared lol) to see his reaction. We were told that anything could happen - extreme barking and some incidents were reported of "random biting."

However, after a couple of hours of eating the tablet, he ran over smiling to go out. His walk was... heavenly! Not nervous at all and he acted like the world was an awesome place to be in. Who knows how he will react to the Prozac by the standard 8 weeks but for now he seems very happy. He woke up very happy too and instead of trying to avoid going out, he ventured out with me in the best of moods. It is a very positive sign, but as I say - I need to wait and see more.

Oh and the best part of my morning? Him smiling at the rubbish worker as the worker was lifting a heavy bin. For a second he froze, then wagged his tail as if he never had the phobia.

Praying that this lasts. We all want to help our pups and having the opportunity to share the ups and downs with you all really helped a lot. You're all so wonderful!

kita · #16 18-09-10, 01:06 PM

Just a thought - have you had any eye checks done on him?

In a recent study it was found that 53% of GSD's have myopia.

Juvenile-Onset Shyness & Juvenile-Onset Myopia TheOtherEndoftheLeash

Taken from above link:

"Earlier I mentioned a possible correlation between reactivity and vision problems, which got many of us thinking about the relationship between eyesight and reactive and/or fearful behavior in dogs. I had remembered that a researcher at UW-Madison did a study on eyesight in dogs, in which GSDs had an especially high rate of myopia, or nearsightedness."

It might be worth getting your vet to check it out. After all if he cannot see things at a distance and they suddenly appear in front of him it is bound to spook him a bit.

Sue

Xenos · #17 18-09-10, 01:25 PM

That was one of the first things we did yesterday. His eyes are normal. They also checked for a pancreatic disorder because his legs are so thin. A common issue among GSDs who were bred by shady breeders. Learned a lot, thankfully.

In the end, he is very healthy, knock wood. The vet insists that the skittish behaviour is in his DNA. She prescribed Reconcile (Prozac for dogs) and continued training. Not sure why, but both our trainer and the vet highly suggested we not do any training for the first 14 days. I guess it all has to do with the meds.

All he wants to do now is play with his ball - something he casually liked before. Hoping this all will work.