Hi fellow dog lovers! I posted this in the puppy forum, but didn't get any comments so wondering if this might be a better place? Mods, please feel free to move.
I'm new to the GR Forum (thanks for the warm welcome into the community I've already received in the New Member thread!), but would love your thoughts and comments on my sweet Teddy's anxiety.
Teddy is a generally nervous dog, wary of noises and new experiences or objects. He's nearly 11 months old and was born in rescue and lived in a wonderful foster home the first part of his life. He was socialized with other dogs, and at adoption events, but probably didn't have much one on one time. We adopted him when he was about 8 months old and for the first couple weeks he had very difficult separation anxiety. He would try to destroy the kennel, drool excessively, and was unable to self-sooth. We quickly learned that new experiences were scary for him.
We worked on crate training, de-sensitizing him to departure clues, practiced coming and going extensively (to show him we would return)and gave him a delicious Kong upon every departure. With routine and consistency he completely improved after just a few weeks. Now he goes right in the kennel, eats his Kong, and calms nicely (we watch him on remote cameras), which you know is HUGE (if you have ever experienced SA).
However, when we return, he seems anxious to me. We keep greetings low key, he goes right outside to potty, and then we get in a nice long walk (weather permitting) or play fetch inside and practice training to burn some mental energy. However, Teddy pants constantly (prior to exercise) and also yawns. If I move around the house, he follows and will lie down in one place and stop panting, but the minute I'm up, he's up and panting again. On weekends, or when we are home for a stretch of time, I do not notice this anxious behavior. It's almost as though the anxiety has now begun in the evening when we've returned, even though he seems fine now when we leave.
Since we adopted him, I've been working on generally building his confidence. We are in a basic class together, and I hope to get him into an intro to Rally course after that. And I'm trying to expose him to new places and things (I took him to a local pet boutique and he was so scared his legs shook and wanted to stand by the door). We'll have to take it slow...
Could all of this be related to his second fear period? Is it because he has pent up energy in the evenings after being crated all day? He's not a high energy pup, but he's an adolescent. Anyone else have similar experiences? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Oh, and here's my sweet guy:
I'm new to the GR Forum (thanks for the warm welcome into the community I've already received in the New Member thread!), but would love your thoughts and comments on my sweet Teddy's anxiety.
Teddy is a generally nervous dog, wary of noises and new experiences or objects. He's nearly 11 months old and was born in rescue and lived in a wonderful foster home the first part of his life. He was socialized with other dogs, and at adoption events, but probably didn't have much one on one time. We adopted him when he was about 8 months old and for the first couple weeks he had very difficult separation anxiety. He would try to destroy the kennel, drool excessively, and was unable to self-sooth. We quickly learned that new experiences were scary for him.
We worked on crate training, de-sensitizing him to departure clues, practiced coming and going extensively (to show him we would return)and gave him a delicious Kong upon every departure. With routine and consistency he completely improved after just a few weeks. Now he goes right in the kennel, eats his Kong, and calms nicely (we watch him on remote cameras), which you know is HUGE (if you have ever experienced SA).
However, when we return, he seems anxious to me. We keep greetings low key, he goes right outside to potty, and then we get in a nice long walk (weather permitting) or play fetch inside and practice training to burn some mental energy. However, Teddy pants constantly (prior to exercise) and also yawns. If I move around the house, he follows and will lie down in one place and stop panting, but the minute I'm up, he's up and panting again. On weekends, or when we are home for a stretch of time, I do not notice this anxious behavior. It's almost as though the anxiety has now begun in the evening when we've returned, even though he seems fine now when we leave.
Since we adopted him, I've been working on generally building his confidence. We are in a basic class together, and I hope to get him into an intro to Rally course after that. And I'm trying to expose him to new places and things (I took him to a local pet boutique and he was so scared his legs shook and wanted to stand by the door). We'll have to take it slow...
Could all of this be related to his second fear period? Is it because he has pent up energy in the evenings after being crated all day? He's not a high energy pup, but he's an adolescent. Anyone else have similar experiences? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Oh, and here's my sweet guy: