Hi
Our springer spaniel (5yo) has become increasingly anxious when we visit others houses or when we have visitors to our home.
He will be excited when guests arrive and say hello, but then be unable to settle, sit and stare at us and bark, walk circles around the room etc until about 3 hours in when he eventually crashes.
His bark is so loud and although we try to ignore it it makes it really unpleasant (you can’t even hear each other talk!) so we have often ended up (wrongly I know!) passifying him with treats and chews to keep him occupied, but as soon as they’re gone the barking starts again. If we approach him or go to stroke or calm him to reassure, he backs away nervously and howls.
If we stay somewhere for more than one night he is much better on the second night. When we don’t have guests or when we leave him at home he will happily sleep curled up in his bed. This only happens when visitors come or we go to other people houses.
The behaviour is getting progressively worse and it’s really upsetting us and making us not want to have people over or take him places.
Advice on how to break this is appreciated