Rescue dog so anxious - how to help ease this?

[Septemberintherain]

We rescued our lovely dog, 8 weeks ago today so obviously he hasn’t been with us for long.
He is almost 2 and was purchased as a 7 week old puppy and then put into a crate for 12+ hours a day, no walks and the owner didn’t have a garden so the poor might was unaware there was even an outside world.
I believe the owner surrendered him to the rescue centre when he was about a year old.
They worked so hard introducing him to the outside world. He was petrified of his harness and lead, didn’t know how to go for a walk, hated cars, was absolutely petrified of the vets etc.
They rehomed him earlier this year, the family had him for about 3 months but sadly returned him. I don’t know the full details but it’s something to do with him ingesting something (he eats anything he can get hold of), needing to go to the vets to have it removed and then reverting to his previous ways which they just couldn’t handle.
So he went back to the rescue, they worked with him more and then we adopted him early September.
He isn’t too bad considering what he’s been through but there are a few issues we need to help him with.
I have spoken to the trainer the rescue used but some of her suggestions haven’t worked. I can’t afford to pay for a behavioural expert atm so will need to sort this out ourselves.
One of the issues is his anxiety and stress.
When he is at home during the day with just me or one other member of the family (dd has been on half term this week and he’s been fine), he is calm and quiet. However, as soon as the evening/weekend comes and the whole family are home, he becomes very agitated and hyper. He will bark continuously, tear up his bedding, our cushions and throws etc, basically anything he can get his teeth into (I put away as much as I can but obviously can not live in a complete minimalist house!).
He gets much worse during the weekend when we are all home.
We are a quiet family, not loud and don’t have many visitors.
He is not at all aggressive, never shown any aggression and has a lovely personality but the poor mite is just so very anxious and so many things seem to trigger his stress levels.
We also have issues with cars. He has this over excitement/anxious behaviour regarding cars and so we’ve not yet been able to travel far with him. I have tried opening all the car doors and not putting the engine on and just letting him explore the car but he jumps in over excited, jumps from seat to seat, yelling and trying to bite into them!
He also bites doors and door frames as we are going out (weirdly, never as we are coming back in). He has stopped doing this in our home but when I’ve tried to take him to my mum and dads who live nearby, he gets so agitated and bites into their doors (front and back, not internal doors). I’ve obviously stopped taking him there for the time being.
When he’s very anxious, like this morning, he barks constantly, which is not great as we are semi detached.
I really am not sure how to help calm him. Like I say, we are a quiet family, I try to keep his walks and his routine consistent and haven’t changed things around but he is so very up and down with this agitated behaviour.
I know it’s because the poor love has been shut away from the world as a pup and he needs slowly introducing to everything. He probably thinks all cars and new people are coming to take him away, again!
I have started him on some herbal anti anxiety tablets (valerian and scullcap) but not sure if they will help? I can’t take him to the vet because of the currently car issue!
Other than a consistent and quiet routine, I’m not sure what else to do.
Any suggestions?

Some advice on here will just make all the issues worse. That is the problem for not getting professional qualified advice.

Please OP do get advice from a professional. It may seem like a lot of money but it will prevent heartbreak and stress to your dog sooner. In a worst case scenario your dog may even bite or do harm to them or others if pushed past their limit.@@

Please ignore using a toy when the dog is highly aroused and already over threshold - this will just end in disaster and also maybe biting. You do not want to increase arousal you main aim the whole time is to reduce it.

Also if he is barking I would be giving treats (not to reward the barking but to change the reaction to what he is barking at) however I imagine he will probably be too over aroused to be able to work with treats in this situation.

This is why you do need to get someone in - in rl to assess the situation.

Ignore all suggestions on this thread as they are all well meaning but they are not appropriate to your situation as that cannot be assessed over a thread.

Adoptive parents are advised to keep their adopted childrens world very small to start with while they adapt. I’d do that.
Focus on finding what makes him happy and calm.

Id also see if you can have a phone consult with a vet and consider medication.

Also if he is barking I would be giving treats (not to reward the barking but to change the reaction to what he is barking at) however I imagine he will probably be too over aroused to be able to work with treats in this situation.

Not great advice- the dog does not know its not being rewarded for barking. Once he stops barking you reward quiet. Its a fundamental part of every aspect of dog training that you get the timing for reward right. In this case you have to reward for what you want which is the dog stopping barking. Treat for barking and it goes on. I do agree a few good sessions with a good behaviorist might get you further faster.

214 Thank you. I have looked at the YuCalm, it does have good reviews, I will contact our vet tomorrow and see if they have or can recommend a behaviourist.
Artyghostgirl I have never said that I am surprised that our little dog has anxiety issues, of course I know this, I came on here for advice and tips from other rescue owners. NOT to be berated for having made a choice to rescue rather than line the pockets of a breeder. Buy hey! Thanks for making me feel like shit! I have had dogs all of my life and lost our 10 year old rescue this year. Each dog is different and individual and will display different behaviour issues. Our last rescue didn’t have any of these issues hence why I am asking for advice.
SupriseWombat and woohoowoohoo thanks, I will check them out today.
Thank you for all of your advice Ivedonethisthreetimesalready sadly my dh lost his job, unexpectedly last week so we just don’t have the funds for a behavioural expert atm. I will contact the rescue and our vets this week to see if they can offer any advice.
Thanks Rainbowqueeen I will definitely contact them this week.

Thanks Onceuponawhileago, I am only rewarding when he is quiet.

Sorry to hear abt your husbands job loss- hopefully brighter days ahead. You sound like you are doing your best. Try to keep the stressors low as much as you can. I use' find it' in an excited voice with my boy to distract with small treats scattered on ground. Takes edge off excitement.

Thank you Onceuponawhileago

.........and this is why you need to get professional advice and not from "dog owners" or "trainers"

Behavioural work is not training.

Behavioural work looking at changing a dogs emotion to a situation.

Behavioural work is not training a different physical behaviourbut it is changing an emotional response.

Loads and loads of theory and reasons as to giving a treat when a dog barks and qualified behaviourists whill know why and how to explain this.

They will also show your correct desensitation and counter conditioning methods - not the ones given on this thread eg walk to the car and give your dog a treat that is not desensitation.

If were that easy there would be no dogs with "issues" anywhere

I'm sorry I'm going to sound harsh here but this dog needs a good qualified behaviourist. It's a need at this point and if your not able to provide this for him then you can't afford to keep him.

I pay £40 per hour for my behaviourist and I think that's typical. I have at times had to go without myself in order to provide for her needs. Often fortnightly visits were enough.

Please look and find a behaviourist asap.

In the meantime he needs to decompress. He needs a quiet space to do so. Time in the garden and house only. If the car is causing distress move it so he can't see it.
Don't take him for walks. Don't do any high excitement activities with him. You want everything as calm and gentle as possible. No direct eye contact. Children should be instructed to ignore the dog as much as possible unless he comes to them for affection. Lots of licki mats and kongs. Licking stimulates endorphins which promote calm. Make all movements as predictable as possible. No children running or moving quickly for example. If he's reacting to noises then have background white noise on to muffle it.

He needs to feel safe.

I totally understand that I need to work with a behavioural therapist and really want to (Ivedonethisthreetimesalready moonypadfootprongs )but as I’ve just mentioned, dh unexpectedly lost his job last week. There just isn’t money available right now to hire someone. Hopefully in a few months time things will be brighter, financially. In the meantime I have contacted the rescue and will speak with the vet tomorrow.

moonypadfootprongs I will stop his walks. We have lots of toys. He has 4 kings and I fill and freeze them to keep him occupied longer. The kids are teens and hardly at home (especially 17 year old). 14 year old dd is very quiet and he likes to sit quietly with her. I am loathe to give him a lickimat as the previous adopters gave him one and he ate and swallowed a part of it and needed an op to remove it, which is what reverted him back to his previous anxious state and they returned him as they couldn’t handle the behaviour. But we do have a couple of high activity hidden feeders which keeps him occupied. I also have bought him a deer antler and hard cheese stick which he likes.

Kongs

'They will also show your correct desensitation and counter conditioning methods - not the ones given on this thread eg walk to the car and give your dog a treat that is not desensitation' @Ivedonethisthreetimesalready I'm intrigued. What is not densisitisation about the example I quoted with building up to car?
www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/changing-your-dogs-behavior-with-desensitization-and-counter-conditioning/

Just also for the OP - dont hang your hopes on getting a good behaviourist first time round when you do try in future. I had two - first was so bad it was laughable, second very good but really got stuck on tricky stuff but great on basics - I have a GSD so difficlt enough to fix as they are very independent but we are getting there.

@Septemberintherain you shouldn't ever leave them unsupervised with any toy. But there are lots of robust lickimats out there that he is less likely to chew. But the key is to remove once finished so they don't get a chance to chew them

LickiMat Tuff Buddy, Dog Feeding Mat for Boredom and Anxiety Relief, Ideal for Food, Treats, Yoghurt or Peanut Butter, Dog Lick Mats, Fun Alternative to a Slow Feeder Dog Bowl, Turquoise amzn.eu/d/8xJtlhY

Onceuponawhileago that’s a real concern for me. I regularly look on The Doghouse and some FB support groups and see many who have had to try several therapists before finding the right one. Sadly (and especially atm), I don’t have the money to throw at it. I have contacted a few locally. One charges £650 for 3 visits, and several others were anything from £100 - £200 per hour. Their advice is for at least 3 session. There are no guarantees their advice will help and from what I’ve read from those who have used several therapists, all the advice was contradictory.

Thanks moonypadfootprongs, I imagine the previous owners must have left him on his own with the mat. I’ll have a look at those you recommend.

Advice for getting a qualified behaviourist.

They should be educated to degree level usually an MSC so Level 5.

If they do not have this qualification they are not a behaviourist.

I would use a member of the APBC or a vet behaviourist.

They will insist on speaking to your vet or communicating with your vet - usually they will want a vet referral.

Anything else is just a trainer - what ever they say!

i found rescue remedy plug ins to be surprisingly
helpful

poor little boy - it is just going to take him a while to realise that he is home and he is safe ❤️

Oh how long have you got So often you see well meaning dog owners trying to counter condition and desensitise their dogs and due to timing, environment and the dogs emotional state just get it so wrong and often end up flooding the dog.

The principal to counter conditioning is see scary thing and pair it with a good thing - yep I agree with that.

However in real life

The timing is crucial, reading the dog is crucial.

So in this instant if you have a dog scared of a car and you walk it forward and give it a treat , the dog is worried and more scared but you offer it more treats - you have a dog that is compromised and the fear grows.

if the dog is underthreshold and sees the car from miles away and given food and nothing happens then yes counter conditioning will happen. It is soooo important that the food stops when the car disappears and that the dog sees the car first and then the food appears.

it is not a matter of just walking up to the car giving treats.

People also do not acknowledge the olfactory system and just smelling the car may actually be over threshold for a dog so by the time the dog sees the car you are too late and are flooding the dog. So you may need to start with just a car mat and feed whilst the dog can smell that from a distance and then build up to feeding on the mat before you even introduce the physical car.

Also with the dog that the OP is describing they are pretty much in a permanent state of over arousal or hypervigilance, you are totally wasting your time and flooding the dog if you do behavioural work with a dog in this state. For all the time you put into the dog will actually just be increasing the anxiety and making it harder and longer to cure.

I can go on.........

Great post. I agree. Its very hard for most people to read their dogs cues - they only see it when its flooded and miss all the tiny signs - I'm guilty of this too especially when I want a fix quickly.
Also agree timing is crucial and making sure the stressor is the predicator of the reward and the stressor gone finishes the reward so the reward is very specific and distinct. I think we are on the same page.

So what I'm doing with my dog who is scared of other dogs. We see a dog far away, mine stops and stares and ears go up. We watch and I feed him treats. We don't walk towards it, I let him make the decision about this. If dog comes towards us we move away.

I find it hard to get my head around this stuff but I think this is right. Ears flat and tense body we are waaayyy too close . It's taken me a year to understand this and I still have to try hard !

In real life of course dogs can be closer before we spot them and in that case we just move away quickly while giving treats - not ideal but real life .

@Ivedonethisthreetimesalready gives excellent advice

In essence what I think I have learnt is about letting the dog have choice and make good decisions. So if he stands still and is clearly interested but wary, I reward that decision to stand and look by giving treats , which in turn help him disengage so then he's made the decision to look at me for a treat and so disengage and then he gets lots of praise and treats! I try (but sometimes fail) to avoid putting him in situations he is uncomfortable and giving treats, as he's not made that choice. Sometimes, eg the vets, he does have to do what I say and has treats but he's learning for the most part he does have choice over what is safe for him

Might be worth joining the canine enrichment Facebook page @Septemberintherain. There's lots of ideas on there for things to keep them occupied and help lower stress on there. Lots of ideas for things to put on licki mats and kongs etc too.

Your dog sounds much further down the line though. This dog is too stressed to be making choices like that right now. They need to decompress

Yes I agree, mine stayed at home for 4-5 months and just did games with me