Angus - the Therapy Dog.

[anatess]

Angus is starting to mature a bit now. He is 14 months and is not as hyper as he was. I mean, he's still hyper but it's a bit more "controlled" now. He can actually be un-hyper when the situation calls for it.

I have Gizmo, a 5-yr-old bichon, who has terrible separation anxiety problems. I crate him when I'm gone because he would make himself sick of stress - running around trying to find a way out to find me, whining until he is so hoarse he can barely croak, marking everywhere, etc. When we got Bullie, it eased up a bit but Bullie would just sleep in her open-crate when I'm gone, so Gizmo would sleep in her crate with her. This bothers me because Bullie is 60lbs, Gizmo is 15lbs and it could easily happen that Bullie would crush Gizmo in that crate by accident. And it didn't last long anyway... if I leave him for over an hour, he goes back to his stressed-out ways. So back in his crate he went.

Angus, my 50lb bulldog, is too hyper that Gizmo basically just stayed away from him the whole entire time - whether I'm in or out.

But now that Angus has calmed down some, I notice that Gizmo has been playing more with him. Angus would lay on his back (my super omega dog) while Gizmo play bites with him. So, yesterday, I needed to pick up the kids and run some errands, and Gizmo was busy playing with Angus in the patio. The weather was super perfect - 65 degrees with a slight breeze - so I left Angus and Gizmo playing in the patio and went to pick up kids. 2 hours later, I come home and Gizmo and Angus were still playing! No signs of anything negative happening.

So, today, I see Gizmo and Angus playing again this morning, so I left them in the bedroom. I come home 4 hours later and both dogs were asleep next to each other in the middle of the room. No pee marking anywhere, no signs of agitation, no torn up anythings except for Angus' soccer ball that they like to chase around. Bullie... still asleep in her crate.

Can it be? Can it really be? That I have finally solved Gizmo's anxiety problems???

 

[kazzy220]

Certainly sounds like it!!!!!!

 

[2BullyMama]

How awesome is that..... paws crossed it has solved the anxiety or at least lessen the episodes

 

[Davidh]

Cool, sounds like it, that's great that Gizmo is settling down.

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Can it be? Can it really be? That I have finally solved Gizmo's anxiety problems???

YOU SOLVED? Don't you mean Angus solved?

Anxiety is the hardest thing to rehabilitate after fear. I'm so happy for Gizmo. He can't enjoy living in that anxious skin! I'm glad Angus is giving him some relief. Do you notice that Angus plays only when Gizmo is calm enough TO play? I'm thinking the reward is that he's not anxious and gets to play and it's self-fulfilling. As long as he doesn't get anxious, Angus will hang with him kind of thing? That's magic!

 

[Rural mystic]

Man I sure hopes this happens with our dogs. Gabe our 2 year old maltese also suffers from separation anxiety and goes unhinged when we are going to leave or when one of us comes home or when other family members come and go. Gabe does not like Ace our Bulldog one bit. Ace wants to play and has wanted to play with Gabe since we brought Ace home but Ace plays rough and Gabe is afraid of him breaks and runs which starts the chain reaction of Ace chasing and etc. It's quite a bit better and more manageable but Gabe still doesn't like him. I hope as Ace mellows some more that if they can't be friends that at least the maltese will tolerate Ace. Ace can be just laying down and taking it easy but the maltese if he hears something and gets excited he gets all hyper and yaps and then Ace will see what its about and will often end up chasing the maltese. It's been a load

 

[Alice Kable]

That is wonderful!

 

[anatess]

Man I sure hopes this happens with our dogs. Gabe our 2 year old maltese also suffers from separation anxiety and goes unhinged when we are going to leave or when one of us comes home or when other family members come and go. Gabe does not like Ace our Bulldog one bit. Ace wants to play and has wanted to play with Gabe since we brought Ace home but Ace plays rough and Gabe is afraid of him breaks and runs which starts the chain reaction of Ace chasing and etc. It's quite a bit better and more manageable but Gabe still doesn't like him. I hope as Ace mellows some more that if they can't be friends that at least the maltese will tolerate Ace. Ace can be just laying down and taking it easy but the maltese if he hears something and gets excited he gets all hyper and yaps and then Ace will see what its about and will often end up chasing the maltese. It's been a load

This is how it's been between Angus and Gizmo! That's why Gizmo just runs under the bed when Angus is getting hyped. Bullie usually runs interference because she likes head butting Angus... At least for about 5 minutes and then she runs out of energy. Then Angus just goes and runs around by himself, chasing a ball or ripping up some toy.

I left them alone again for 4 hours today with the door open so they can go outside if they want. Another 65 degree day today... I got home and as usual, Bullie is asleep in her crate. Angus was chasing a ball in the backyard and Gizmo was just sitting to the side on the grass watching him. No signs of damage anywhere. And another weird thing about this is usually, when I come home and I open Gizmo's crate, he would make such a racket, making that ear-splitting yipyip, trying to climb up my lap, shaking with excitement. Today, I open the door and Gizmo runs to me like a normal dog wagging his tail and yipping but not trying to climb up my leg and not shaking. It's like a completely different dog. But Gizmo did not leave my side the rest of the day and he made quite a racket when I accidentally closed the door when I went inside my closet. But that is such a minor thing compared to his extreme panic attacks before.

Ohhh, I really hope this lasts!