At a loss

[drinkswineoutofamug]

As many of you know Florence came back to live with us New Year's Day. She showed some anxiety, followed me everywhere. The last few days have been horrendous. I'm looking up behaviouralist in my area to help. She's ripped up her bed, all of her toys, wakes me at all hours. I get up with her in case she needs a wee but she walks round the garden checking the perimeter then comes back in. She gets plenty of exercise and stimulation. No change of routine, she gets left for 30 mins in the morning until my daughter comes for the day.
I got a plug in to see if that would help . Nope. I'm a first time dog owner and she's had bad experiences in the past. And to add, she was at the vets last week for a health check and passed with flying colours. And advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, have you heard of a thundershirt? Can help anxious dogs www.thundershirt.co.uk Good luck, hope things settle down

Looking back at your posts, she thought she was in season when she came back at New Year - are you sure she's not having a phantom pregnancy? (I assume you are also sure that she's not having a real pregnancy, as vet has seen her?)

She's defo not pregnant. She got a clean bill of health last week at the vets except conjunctivitis which was treated and cleared up.
She's just an anxious, mixed up doggie that needs love , care , attention. And serious help. Which I'm trying my best to give her .

I don’t doubt that, but your OP suggests that this is a recent deterioration to even her usual level of anxiety? That, in line with tearing up beds and the timing from what you thought was a season, would make me at least consider a phantom?

I would second the idea of a thunder shirt if you haven't already tried this.

Now I get you Whitney, my apologies

Have you tried a duvet she can crawl under? I have a whippet terrier cross too, who luckily lives her crate bed. Her second favourite place is snuggled underneath a duvet or blanket.

She has numerous fleece blankets in different rooms. Throws on the floor. She seems to make a 'nest' under the dinning room table so tomorrow I'm going to work round that. Make that her safe space. She's not had any more destructive moments since the other day.
Could I be over stimulating her? She gets a 40 min run/snifff in the park in the morning. 30 mins walk afternoon and same in the evening. She plays about in the garden in between. I play with her and try training games with her. She would make Barbara woodhouse cry. I have to also keep reminding myself she's been back with us for only a month. Her little world has been upside down.
I really do appreciate your help and advice

Does she get time to just 'be'? To curl up and snooze? I have seen advice on here linking to a website to help train a dog to do this as they should be able to switch off and just lie there, not to need, or have, constant stimulation.

She might be better with just the one den/safe place to curl up as it will be clear to her then what she's supposed to do. I notice that my dog gets unsettled when he's not sure what's happening.

She does have a lot of down time. Lying on her throws sleeping or lying in the garden.
I was advised when she came back to us to carry on as normal, not to change our routine to suit her too much.
Her kong has just arrived , any tips on what to stuff it with?

We stuff ours with peanut butter, natural yoghurt, cream cheese, wet food, tuna 94 mashed up kibble or mashed banana.

Thank you.
I was thinking kibble and peanut butter mixed and possibly frozen?

Adaptil and zylkene can help anxious dogs and are worth a try. If they don’t work you vet might want to prescribe Prozac.

I've got one of those adaptil plug in , didn't work. I've read lavender oil 🤷🏻‍♀️
Watched some dog training videos last night. They all seemed to say that it's because she's intelligent, that's why she's so destructive and bouncy. I think it's because she's got separation anxiety. Did seem to get worse when we stopped her coming on the furniture. Taking her into the woods later and for the first time today she cleared her bowl of food 🙂
I

Oh drinks she's just gorgeous!
I love how you talk about her with such affection,it's so lovely to hear someone who really wants to get to the root of her problem & help her to have a safe,loving & secure home. So many of these 'rescue' dogs are cast aside because they don't just 'fit in' straight away.
I've had two rescue sight hounds (& a rescue JRT) & they all took a while to settle in.
Our current lurcher,who was found wandering the streets before the rescue took her in (so we don't know her background) took the longest & it took me a good 6 months to 'connect' with her.
She was (& still can be,given the chance!) a bit destructive. But I think that was mostly food related. I don't think she had had regular meals,so was constantly on the hunt for food. And while I know sight hounds are very food driven,this has calmed down considerably,once she realised this was her home & she was guaranteed two good meals every day.
I think the advice about just one bed is good. Our ddog has a bed in the kitchen & a duvet at the end of our bed(which is only accessible when we are in bed!) We don't give her access to any of the upstairs during the day. She does choose to have her daytime snoozes on the sofa though,but will retreat to her dog bed if she feels insecure.
We are 2 years in to rescuing her now,so feel confident to let her off lead & boy,does she like to run. I always think sight hounds need to be able to run off lead,to expel all that energy they have.
One month in from rescuing her is extremely early days. Most of ours have taken up to a year to properly settle in & feel that this is their forever home.
It will be interesting to hear what the behaviourist has to say.
But I just think she needs time,lots of love & patience. Which you are giving her in bucket loads!
Good luck.

Thank you for you kind words chicken. I spend a lot of time reading threads on the doghouse about people rehoming their dogs. Flo has been let down so many times , even once by me when she was taken off us, I tried so hard to find her. She's filled a gap in my life, my children have grown up and I now have company in the evenings. I'm making new friends on the dog parks and she's lifted my depression.
I wonder , after watching something last night if I treat her too much like a child and not a dog?
I've been watching that dogs behaving badly. Makes flo look like and angel.
As long as it takes this bundle of love and joy is getting my support , love and cuddles in return.

Give Flo time,she sounds like a troubled soul who needs security,consistency & love.
With that she WILL settle down & become your faithful companion & you'll look back on those early days & realise how it was all worth it.
Aside from that you do need to show them you are the boss & not baby them too much. But I do realise that it's a fine line,as you don't want to be too scary!
I think routine helps them settle too,as they like to know that a certain thing happens at a certain time e.g feeding,walking etc.

bit confused why dog was taken away from you then returned dont quite understand?
get a thunder shirt and some kalms tablets they are human tablets but perfectly useful for dogs without them we could not live with our one dog
make sure lots of hiding places
cat dreamies are perfect treats for dogs they love them praise speak quietly give a treat use walking time and treats to help bonding
looks an adorable type of dog

She's lovely. I think hounds can be very sensitive and if she's had such a hard time it's no wonder she's in a state. It'll be interesting to see what the behaviourist advises.

One thing I learned from Pet Rescue on TV - anyone remember that far back?! - was not to make a fuss of the dog when they're scared. They showed a dog cowering in a corner. Cuddling and fussing it at that point reinforces the anxiety, even though our instinct is to comfort them. Wait till they're being brave and behaving normally and make a fuss of them then.

I haven't had a dog in quite such a bad way as Florence but a couple have been ill-treated and this approach helped them, I'm sure.

She's had a good day today. No damage, a lot of sulking.
Spent all weekend running in the woods chasing those pesky squirrels. She couldn't catch a cold.
Could it be slowly clicking that yes, we leave the house, and we come back!
She got lots of praise for no damage.
Behaviourist later this week should be interesting.

Behaviourist phoned, son has the pox. So rescheduled for next week. I'm only off Wednesdays. These things happen I suppose. She gave me some tips over the phone, which basically mirrored what I'm doing and practically what you guys have advised. She said she can't advise properly until she's met us. So routine, praise, discipline, boundaries.