Hi all -- I'm concerned about one of my dogs and need some opinions from you
all here as dog lovers. This post is long, but please bear with me because
I want to be as clear as possible about my situation. In November 2004, I
adopted a 2-year-old female Walker Coonhound from a rescue organization in
my area. The dog, now named Daisy, was found running loose someplace in
rural West Virginia by a kind-hearted soul who took her to the local animal
shelter. When she came to us (we were then living in the DC metro area),
she was emaciated, had recently been nursing a litter of puppies, and was
recovering from spay surgery. For the first few days, she was really quiet,
which I guess is expected after the surgery, which she had about a week
before I got her. She was friendly with me (a woman) but acted scared and
nervous around most men who came to the house in those early days, so we
speculated that she might have been abused by a man at some point in her
life. The odd thing was that she didn't appear to have any "house
manners" -- didn't know how to navigate the stairs, didn't know what dog
toys were for, didn't know what "outside" meant, etc.

Shelters never know much about strays, of course, but I contacted them
anyway to find out as much as I could about the conditions under which she
might have lived before being found as a stray. The shelter woman told me
that given the rural area where she was found, Daisy was likely one of a
group of dogs who were raised outside in a hunting kennel (which would
explain her lack of knowledge about stairs). The woman said she doubted
Daisy was a companion pet -- she was probably trained to hunt and somehow
got away from the kennel or maybe was lost in the woods and didn't find her
way home. She said they tried finding her owner for a couple of weeks after
she was brought in, but had no luck so they started looking for another home
as they don't have the room to keep dogs for very long. (Luckily for Daisy,
they found me or she would have been a goner.) After a week or so, she
started settling in and got friendlier with us, even with my brother, a big,
tall guy who lives with me. She's still a little scared in larger groups --
I've had a couple of family functions during which she's basically stayed in
my room because there were just too many people around. She and my other
dog, a sweet 8-year-old male pointer, get along fine and there are no
problems there. In general, Daisy is a loving, affectionate animal with a
quirky personality and lots of energy.

Anyway, things went along fine until this past summer when she began
exhibiting some strange behaviors, the three most worrisome of which I'll
describe separately below:

Issue 1: First, and most concerning, she acts like she's always starving.
As I said earlier, she was emaciated when I got her, but in the past year
she's put on about 20 pounds and now is really healthy-looking. The vet
says she's actually a couple of pounds over her ideal weight, but the dog
acts as if she's never been fed in her life. I feed my dogs twice a day --
in the morning they get a combination of high-quality kibble (generally
Eukanuba or Iams) and canned meaty chunk food, and in the evening a another
scoop of kibble. But this animal will eat an entire bowl of food and a
half-hour later act like she's starving again. And I don't mean just
sniffing around the bowl -- she displays a desperate, anxious food-seeking
behavior that I've never seen from another dog. She and my other dog get
fed in separate rooms, so it's not an issue of wanting what he has (although
they usually sniff each other's bowls after they eat), and she can't
possibly be starving again after just eating. No worms, so it's not that.
Could this be a remnant of her experiences as a stray when she apparently
didn't eat regularly? If so, what might cause this behavior to crop up
months after she'd found a new home? Is there anything I can do to relieve
her apparent distress? (I should say that in addition to her regular food,
she also gets tasty treats of both the human and canine variety.)

Issue 2: Separate and apart from the hunger anxiety, over time she's become
an anxious dog in general. For the first few months we had her, she was
really quiet -- rarely barked, never growled (and still doesn't) even when
playing, and seemed to be adjusting really well to her new surroundings.
However, over the past six months or so, she has been exhibiting an
increasing anxiety that manifests itself through pacing, whining and general
restlessness. For example, she wants to go outside constantly, but when she
goes out, she stays out for a few minutes and then whines to come back
inside. At first I thought this might be happening because she wanted us to
be outside with her, but she does it even when we *are* outside with her.
Another example -- when we engage her in play, she'll play for a few minutes
and then either (apparently) get bored and go lay down, or go back to her
pacing. As time goes by, I'm more and more wondering if she's a candidate
for doggie Xanax! Unfortunately, although she and my pointer get along
well, they don't play together consistently because he likes to growl and
bark when he plays and that seems to scare her. He's the dominant dog and
it seems that his vocalizing reinforces that for her (not to mention that at
8 years old he's starting to slow down a bit).

Issue 3: This is not a behavior, more of a health concern, but my suspicion
is that it might be related to her anxious behavior. About the same time as
some of the other stuff I've described started happening, Daisy developed a
skin rash that, despite constant treatment, is has never truly gone away.
She gets dry, scaly patches on her underarms, belly and the insides of her
ears and thighs that she scratches until they turn red. The vet prescribed
some type of antibiotic cream (can't remember the name right now) that
clears it up really quickly, like within a few days after it appears, but a
few weeks later the rash comes back. The vet said it might be a food
allergy, but it occurs to me that if this rash were caused by a food allergy
it would *never* go away, even with antibiotic treatment -- the itchy
patches would remain because she eats every day. She's never had fleas, so
it's not a flea allergy, so I'm wondering if this might be related to the
generalized anxiety described above - like a stress reaction to her living
situation (or whatever it is that's causing the anxiety).

OK, those are the three most concerning issues. I apologize for the length
of this post, but to really understand you need the background. Let me also
add a couple of comments about the living environment, to round out the
information. We live in a nice-sized single family house with a big fenced
yard that backs up to the interstate on one side and to our street on the
other, so there is quite a bit of noise from vehicle traffic. She has lots
of room to run around, another dog for company, two dog-crazy humans that
love her, other dogs next door to bark at across the fence, and a mailman to
aggravate six days a week. What's missing from the picture to make her
(seem) so anxious? Did I adopt a country-dwelling hunting dog that just isn't
happy living in the city? What can I do to improve her seeming unhappiness?
Any serious suggestions, comments, questions, etc., are welcome. I love
this dog and don't want to give her away, but if she's going to have a
miserable life with me, what other option is there?

Thanks so much for reading.

ND




********
Basic human psychology is one of my subroutines.

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 22:03:57 GMT, "Natty Dread" ,
clicked their heels and said:

Hi all -- I'm concerned about one of my dogs and need some opinions from you
all here as dog lovers.

it sounds that she doesn't have anything to DO. Not random play, but
something to focus on - training, focused, interactive play, social
outings, etc. If she's a stay at home and entertain-yourself dog, she
needs a bit more of a life. She sounds generally anxious and
stressed, and expanding her horizons can do wonders for her.


--
Janet B
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album

In article ,
Natty Dread wrote:
Is there anything I can do to relieve
her apparent distress? (I should say that in addition to her regular food,
she also gets tasty treats of both the human and canine variety.)

I'd have a veterinary evaluation - bloodwork, etc. Is she
drinking and peeing normally? Some endocrine problems have
associated skin changes, but they tend to start on the
thighs. Still it's worth checking out.

Second, I'd turn into a Food Fascist. She needs to be fed
on a regular schedule. Same time every time, like
clockwork. I feed twice/day but if she's having food
anxiety she may be happier being fed 3 times/day. Either
way, she should feel certain that the next meal is coming,
when it's going to come, and where it's going to come.

Third, she probably wants a job. If you don't hunt and
you're not one for hikes or other big excursions, think
about getting her into some sort of classes - obedience,
agility, tracking, whatever. You'll both have fun and it
will liven up her life a bit, and give her something to
think about.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Attacking Bushonomics is too easy, like shooting a lame duck
-- Sebastian Mallaby

"Natty Dread" wrote in message:

Hi all -- I'm concerned about one of my dogs and need some opinions from
you
all here as dog lovers.

I agree with others that this dog probably needs more stimulation. If
you're in DC, there are plenty of dog parks around
(http://www.metropets.org/YellowPages/parks.php), and it might help her to
work off some of her nervous energy. She could probably use more
socialization, and something to keep her brain occupied as well.

On the food front, it would probably help if took her longer to eat, and if
she had to work for it. How about using a food dispensing toy or a frozen
Kong to feed her from? It will take her longer to eat, and working for it
would keep her occupied.

To clean up her skin issues, have you contacted any doggie allergists or
dermatologists? My friend takes her dog to someone in Gaithersburg, MD and
I could get the info from her if you'd like.

Suja

A Poor Shepherd Boy wrote:
HOWEDY natty dread,

Natty Dread wrote:
Hi all -

You mean HOWEDY Miserable Gang Of Lying Dog Abusing Punk
Thug Cowards And Active Acute Chronic Long Term Incurable
MENTAL CASES like yourself, don't you, natty dread {); ~ )

No. He meant "Hi all -".


- I'm concerned about one of my dogs

ONLY LIARS DOG ABUSERS COWARDS and ACTIVE ACUTE CHRONIC
LONG TERM INCURABLE MENTAL CASES post here abHOWETS.

Then WHY DO ***YOU*** POST HERE?!?!? Do you HONESTLY think everyone
else are "mental cases?!?!?" YOU are the **ONLY** mental case in here.
Do you see ANYONE ELSE who acts like a 4 year old inserting their last
name into words like you do? Do you see ANYONE ELSE misspelling words
to try to be clever??? Do you see ANYONE ELSE call every other poster
a dog and child abuser with no proof whatsoever?!? And - finally - do
you see ANYONE ELSE act like an imbecile like you? Oh - wait - *A*
imbecile so you can understand.


and need some opinions from you all here as dog lovers.

Oh? You mean these lying dog abusing punk thug coward active
acute chronic long term incurable MENTAL CASES, natty?:

Jesus. Once again you are displaying psychotic problems and you don't
even know it...

Here we go again with the thousand line old posts that I will delete...

"Janet B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 22:03:57 GMT, "Natty Dread" ,
clicked their heels and said:

Hi all -- I'm concerned about one of my dogs and need some opinions from
you
all here as dog lovers.

it sounds that she doesn't have anything to DO. Not random play, but
something to focus on - training, focused, interactive play, social
outings, etc. If she's a stay at home and entertain-yourself dog, she
needs a bit more of a life. She sounds generally anxious and
stressed, and expanding her horizons can do wonders for her.


--
Janet B

Well, we tried training not long after she came to us, but unfortunately she
doesn't seem to have much attention span. It took me literally a month to
teach her "sit" and "down," and even now after months she only does it
intermittently despite constant reinforcement. She's just so SPASTIC, and I
don't know what to do to moderate, or ameliorate, that trait.

She is a stay-at-home dog, but I wouldn't exactly call her the
entertain-yourself type because we interact with her constantly. I think
she sometimes gets aggravated because we're always in her face! In reading
your response, though, I think *I* need to get trained -- I don't even know
what you mean by "focused, interactive play". Can you give me examples?

Thanks for the feedback.

ND

wrote in message
oups.com...

Jesus. Once again you are displaying psychotic problems and you don't
even know it...


I've never actually read all the way through one of his posts until this
one, and this time it was only because he responded to me personally. What
I found to be funny -- and really sad, too -- is that he's supposedly
attempting to "help" people with their dog behavior issues and get them to
try his training methods, but he does it by insulting them. Why would
anyone think I'd respond positively to a post from someone who calls me a
lying, dog-abusing loser? It's completely antithetical to his stated
purpose. sigh Whatever.

ND

"Melinda Shore" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Natty Dread wrote:
Is there anything I can do to relieve
her apparent distress? (I should say that in addition to her regular
food,
she also gets tasty treats of both the human and canine variety.)

I'd have a veterinary evaluation - bloodwork, etc. Is she
drinking and peeing normally? Some endocrine problems have
associated skin changes, but they tend to start on the
thighs. Still it's worth checking out.

We've done that; according to the vet, she's healthy. She drinks and pees
fine, no incontinence, etc.


Second, I'd turn into a Food Fascist. She needs to be fed
on a regular schedule. Same time every time, like
clockwork. I feed twice/day but if she's having food
anxiety she may be happier being fed 3 times/day. Either
way, she should feel certain that the next meal is coming,
when it's going to come, and where it's going to come.

She does get fed on a regular schedule, as I said in the morning and
evening. The problem with feeding 3x a day is that I'm at work during the
mid-day and live too far from work to drive home to feed her. I see your
point, though, about knowing when her next meal is going to come.


Third, she probably wants a job. If you don't hunt and
you're not one for hikes or other big excursions, think
about getting her into some sort of classes - obedience,
agility, tracking, whatever. You'll both have fun and it
will liven up her life a bit, and give her something to
think about.

I'll have to find something, I guess. As I responded to Janet, Daisy has a
really short attention span and even doing obedience training with her has
been a chore. We do have dog parks where I live and she likes that, but
it's too cold right now to stay out for too long. When the weather gets
warmer, we'll be doing a lot more of that type of activity.

Thanks for your response!

ND

In article ,
Natty Dread wrote:
I'll have to find something, I guess. As I responded to Janet, Daisy has a
really short attention span and even doing obedience training with her has
been a chore.

I've had dogs like that. I've got one right now, in fact,
although her basic problem is that she's not that clever and
she's preternaturally unsure of herself. The thing is that
her attention can be improved through a little effort on
your part. Keep your training sessions short and fun, and
frequent (a few minutes several times/day).
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Attacking Bushonomics is too easy, like shooting a lame duck
-- Sebastian Mallaby

"Natty Dread" wrote in message:

We do have dog parks where I live and she likes that, but
it's too cold right now to stay out for too long.

Most dogs I know are waaay more active when it is cooler than in the summer.
Just bundle up and get out there. Besides, we appear to be in the middle of
a really warm spell (60-65 degrees here), so cold shouldn't be a factor.

Suja