Help, my neurotic dog is now tearing up the house!

[Therealslimshady1]

My lurcher is 4, when we got her she was 5 months old (she was rejected by first owners due to being too meek and scared of other dogs). She has grown so much in confidence, is now very confident and playful with other dogs and a happy girl.

She is scared of Thunder and fireworks though, and her fear is getting worse. She now is also frightened of rain and even.the dark..., she is just increasingly neurotic (frightened of daddy longlegs too, for example)

We have a large kitchen diner, where she has 2 beddies, one in a corner and one by the radiator. She started scratching the door to be let into the lounge now. We now leave that door open too....

But now her new thing is that this is still no good, and last night she ripped up the carpet in an attempt to open the door to DS bedroom

We cannot let her into DS room, as we tried this once and she keeps waking him up.

What can we do?! It is going to be a looooong winter like this, and our house is being ripped to shreds...(not just carpet, doors damaged too)

Am really at a loss. It is getting worse!

When you say she's scratching the door to be let into the lounge, do you mean you're in there at the time? Or is this after you've gone to bed?

I don't know what the weather was like last night where you are, but we had hard rain most of the night. If she's frightened of the rain that may well have had something to do with it.

No, we were in bed (upstairs), she just scratches any door that is closed

Can you let her sleep in her bed in your room? She might feel happier with you there to keep her safe?

Thanks. No, we can't as she would wake us up all the time licking us! We had her in our room on holiday once, and we did not get to sleep much.

I also feel it would be "feeding her anxiety", but not sure there

can you crate her?

Our dog sleeps in a crate in our room and we don't hear a peep from him. Think he just likes the reassurance of us being there

Our rescue GSDx is quite barky and hyper.
When we first got him he spent most of the night barking at the slightest noise outside so the 2nd night we put his bed in our room.
Not a peep out of him for 8 hours. That was 2 years ago, he still sleeps soundly all night even through thunderstorms and firworks going off. He's never made any attempt to get on the bed.

Have you tired teaching her to be left? (Like leave, close door straight back ... slowly increasing the time she is left.) Especially at night time (while its dark.)
Other helpful things could be an item of clothing with your sent on it in her bed to help with settling.
As to her noise issues there are some lovely videos on YouTube just search fireworks for dogs / thunder storms for dogs... And play them to her. Obviously you start really quiet as background noise and over time increase the volume. It will help if you combine the noise with treats or dinner time to help with positive association. (With a smart TV you can eventually play them really loud & flashing lights, your dog will look forward to bonfire night!!!!)

Like Branleuse I was going to suggest crate training her. You might find that she will then be able to be in your room at night and be quiet all night, especially if you cover most of the crate over to make a sort of cave for her.

It could be that being in a room with an ordinary bed is making her feel too exposed and vulnerable and lonely.

Pigs, I may consider a crate. Never used one, not sure she'd want to go in one?! But it maybe the best option.

Ylvamoon, thanks, I was given firework/thunder CD by vet. Played it at full blast, dog did not give a monkey's. It is not the sound of fireworks/thunder, I guess, but the vibrations or something?

You'll need to train her to get her used to it. Lure her in with treats and try feeding her in it. Put a nice soft blanket on the bottom, put her bed in it and make it as comfy and cozy as possible. She needs to be able to stand upright in it of course, turn around and move comfortably but it mustn't be so big that she's rattling around in it.

Take it slowly for her as it'll take a while for her to get used to it but it can be a lovely space for a dog, especially one that's a bit wary of the outside world.

My dog loved her crate and I liked it because I knew she was in a safe place when I went out and couldn't chew anything and harm herself, not that she was much of a chewer. She gave it up once she got a bit older and I was happy to let her have free run of the house.

I see that you don't want her in your room but for a while it might be a good idea to make her feel safe, it won't feed her anxiety. My dog usually sleeps on my bed so I'm probably not the best person to talk about dogs in bedrooms.

The idea of the sound cd is to introduce it at low level and gradually increase the volume while building positive associations.

She'll likewise need training to go in a crate; make it a nice, safe place to be.

Has anything changed in the household to bring on these changes? It could be something simple: is she cold? Is there a window open and something outside (interesting smell/noise) is disturbing her?

Is she only destructive when on her own? As a pack animal she may need to not be separated?

Shambolica, yes we started the CD at low level the first day, but nothing.

A silly thing that unsettles her is daddylonglegs, quite a few find their way into the house at the moment ...

She was always fine sleeping on her own in the kitchen. She seems to have picked up a bit of separation anxiety, as I heard her crying when I went upstair to have a shower.

I now think it is because we left her for a week with a friend, when on holiday....ah the guilt!

Put her in a crate in your room, my dog doesn't like being shut in another room at night but she's fine if she's in with us. Plus the quiet grumbles and snores are the cutest thing!

If she's crying from separation anxiety in the day when you're showering etc, totally ignore her until she stops. She will get the message!

Lurchers are generally good with other dogs, any chance you could adopt some company for her?

For fireworks and weather, get her a thunder vest.

I agree with crating but take it easy, let her go in of her own according to start with. Put an item of your clothing or a slipper etc in there.

Get some sleepy bedtime biscuits (you can actually get these, no idea why they do them for humans!) and a special toy preferably with a noise, when she goes in the crate at night, give her the special biscuit and the toy so she has a bedtime routine.

Nancy, that is true, but cannot really get another one now (when I am retired I will have a pack of hounds )

Will check out the thunder shirt.

She was fine last night, totally relaxed. I pushed her bed into a corner, making it a bit less "open/unprotected" and left a light on...

These hounds are so sensitive (but that is also why we love her)

Getting another dog will likely have no affect on a dog with separation anxiety and you could end up with two anxious dogs instead of just one.