Dog behaviour after being attacked

[LunaNova]

I feel awful for saying this but our 5yo dog's behaviour has been driving me nuts this week. We're all in the throes of a horrid chest infection (Me, DH and DD - age 2) so I think my tolerance is wearing thin as I'm sooo tired.

I just don't know what to do. In July our dog was attacked on a dog walk by an XL bully, thankfully she wasn't physically injured as the dog grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and shook her a few times before letting go when my DH grabbed it's harness.

Since then she's been fine on walks and with other dogs but at home (mainly at night) she's skittish and quick to bark at everything - she's always slept in the kitchen with our other dog and been fine but all of a sudden anything sets her off.

Like I said we've all got a chest infection and just as we're falling asleep, DD will cough and it sets the dog off into a bark and pace frantically around the kitchen, which then wakes us up (not DD thankfully, She can sleep through anything).

In the day she seems fine, but certain things (not sure of the trigger) spook her and she now wees in the kitchen, which never happened before. It happens more when I'm in the house than if I'm out at work, so I can assume she feels on alert for our sakes when we're in. I'm wondering if this is part of the issue at nighttime too.

She's such a lovely dog and she's kind and gentle but I feel increasingly frustrated when I'm trying to sleep and she wakes me up. We've tried leaving the radio on which used to be a dead cert to stop any random nighttime barks (though it used to be our other dog who used to bark at wildlife) but even that's not working.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can help her to feel more relaxed at home and get her behaviour back on track. Other than this she is impeccably behaved but she's always had an anxious streak, which has obviously been exacerbated by this dog attack. Will time help or do I need to seek external assistance?

Have you tried a pet remedy plug in? I think they make a difference

had her behaviour changed since the attack or more recently? Only ask as July was a few months ago now.

is she weeing in reaction to something scaring her? Or you are finding she’s weed?

she sounds very stressed from your post but strange it’s in the house

Sounds like she is suffering from PTSD. Agree with plug in. If its too quiet for her at night would gentle music help? It might be a good idea to speak to a behaviourist and / or your vet for advice.
Did you follow up with the police or dog warden about the other dog?

She sounds stressed and anxious.

Can she sleep in your room temporarily?

My dog is generally nervous and he's much worse after dark. Yay for winter! I find adaptil plug-ins and collar, and white noise machines everywhere, help to some extent. We had a power cut recently and the house was so silent it freaked me out!! He also takes medication which definitely helps.

Sounds silly but maybe your dd's cough sounds like a bark to her? Just remember she is behaving like this because she's really scared; she can't help barking anymore than your dd can help coughing. Cold comfort when you're knackered though I appreciate! Maybe get some earplugs? Soundbloc ones are good.

Maybe it would be helpful to have a couple of sessions with a behaviourist to see if you can help her feel a bit more settled. Poor thing :(. Hope she feels better soon x

Feeling a bit more human this morning after some sleep and less annoyed. She's such a loving dog and I hate seeing her anxious. Some great suggestions here, I have a plugin in the cupboard somewhere so will get a new liquid for it and a collar and see if that helps. We leave classic fm on overnight already, prior to the attack this was enough to stop any rogue barks.

Sadly she can't sleep in our room at the minute as toddler DD still sometimes gets up at night and comes in our room so it would disturb the dog, we've also not ruled out having another baby so I'd hate to start something and not be able to continue.

The behaviour definitely started After the attack but it's been worse the past week (possibly because of the coughing from upstairs) and I'm just aware we're coming into the dreaded firework season, which she doesn't like either.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll give them a go! We have a local behaviourist I can reach out to if needed.

Look up thresholds for dogs and bucket theory. It sounds like she has been anxious since her attack and now her pack being unwell has tipped her over the edge. Our dogs are very in tune with us and she’ll be able to sense something is wrong.

it also becomes a bit of a cycle where your upset because she’s stressed and then that makes her more stressed.

So deep breath, you will get through this. An adaptil plug will help, and when you’re all feeling better start working with her on her confidence again.

Maybe a drop of CBD oil before bed?

Just an update to say we're still struggling with our poor dog's anxiety. Honestly I'm so angry at the owner of the dog that attacked her because this was completely avoidable for our poor pooch and she's so anxious. We reported the attack at the time and I haven't seen the owner or dogs since but I don't even know if they were local anyway.

Back to her anxiety, we tried the plug-in but that hasn't seemed to help much so far. We had some minor success with "calmeze" tablets in that she seemed calmer in the day and it largely stopped her weeing in the kitchen but the anxious barking at night continued so we went to the vets, who recommended zylkene. We've only just started within the last week but not seeing any marked difference yet (although I've heard it can take a while so I'm not concerned).

I don't know where our next steps are from here if this doesn't help as she's just so on edge all the time in the house (when we're in). She paces constantly and just looks so stressed.

It may be the case that you need the help of a behaviourist and some proper prescription medication, but I'd give the Zylkene a chance first.

So sorry you're struggling x

I think you need to be taking her back to the vet, to be honest. They will be the best to ask for what the next steps are with potential medication for her, rather than just a supplement.

I think that's our next step, we've had great experience with a local behaviourist for our other dog in the past, we've only hesitated so far because of the cost involved.

It's just so frustrating that she's like this through no fault of her own and she seems to be struggling so much.

Right now she's curled up on her dog bed at my feet and she hasn't been this chilled in a while (although periodically her head pops up and she looks around nervously). I'm hoping the zylkene might do the trick long term (she had it before as a pup for anxiety and was able to be weaned off it after a short while, but her anxiety wasn't as bad compared to now).

She's such a lovely dog, I think I feel guilty as well that I'm not able to do more to help her, like when the attack happened I couldn't pick her up to avoid it because I had my toddler DD with me so I had her in my arms to keep her away from the dog and then I wonder if she'd be calmer if she could sleep in our room at night but I think toddler DD would disturb her and probably make her anxious (she comes into us sometimes).

We're due her annual boosters in early Jan and at that point she'll have been having the zylkene for a month so if there's no improvement by then I'll definitely see if there's anything else they can suggest.

I would want to rule out any physical issues first. So fully blood check, urine test and a very detailed physical check by the vet.

While you are at the vet get their recommendation for a behaviourist in case a physical cause is not found.

This too.

Good idea, the vet did quite a thorough body check last time but didn't do any blood/urine tests so I'll ask for those. Really appreciate all your thoughts!

Fortunately she is absolutely fine out of the house. I was really worried after the attack that she might become nervous of other dogs but she's just indifferent to them (which is how she was before the attack). I think this threw me because the result I expected didn't come to fruition.

The pacing is typical of the anxiety she presented as a pup so that's not particularly abnormal and was previously solved by zylkene. The barking at night I couldn't say whether she would have done this before as when she suffered as a pup she was crated at night and I think she barks while she paces at night. The weeing is completely out of character. But started directly after the attack and I think is a result of anxiety due to when she does it (for example, I can hear her pacing in the kitchen while I'm in the hallway putting mine and toddlers shoes on to go out for a walk with her, then there will be a puddle when I go in the kitchen, even if I talk to her or show her what we're doing. If someone comes to the front door, a puddle. That kind of thing). I did wonder about crating her again at night but I think this might wind our other dog up who is an old girl now and I'm not sure she would tolerate the crate back in her space but may be worth a shot.

She does seem pretty calm tonight so I guess the moment of truth will be bedtime.

We do have the details of a fantastic behaviourist who the vet recommended for our other dog and we had great results, so I will reach out to her and see what she thinks.

I'm definitely feeling more positive just talking it through and knowing we still have various options to explore. I'd hate for her to be miserable for the rest of her life, she's only 5!

our elderly dog is given Trazodone for when she is anxious-such as lots of people coming into the house or is going away somewhere new ( she has mild doggy dementia) and it really helps calm her.thank fully we don’t need it all the time but I know there are a few medications to try that might help your dog along with a behaviourist