Need ideas to manage my dog over Christmas please!

[WhereTheDevilAreMySlippers]

Dd is bringing her boyfriend home for Christmas. Ddog is awful with visitors (we have very few visitors anyway as we don’t really like people in our home, so that’s something I’ve not been able to work on at all!).

Ddog isn’t aggressive, but will bark constantly and be up in his face all the time, and will not let up or relax for days. I need to go and talk to the vet about it, but thought I’d hopefully get some ideas of what to ask for.

Are there any heavy duty sedatives that might help the issue? We’re already topped up with adaptil (doesn’t seem to make a difference, but it’s still plugged in just in case). Calming treats like nutripaw have no effect on her.

I don’t want my dd to have to stay somewhere else if at all possible!

I would never use sedatives. Ask your vet for advice on behaviour training. And for heaven’s sake, keep your dog away from being up in someone’s face - you don’t want any biting!

Keep your dog on a lead fine - sedation though?

I’d written a much longer post but deleted most of it as it felt irrelevant - I wish I hadn’t now!

So the behaviour issues aren’t new, I’ve seen two behaviourists/trainers over the years who both identified that the issue is her stress at being with our other two dogs (both very calm straightforward dogs). Both recommended rehoming, which so far I haven’t for various reasons, but mainly because her issues and her breed and colour (black lurcher type) make her an unlikely candidate for adoption.

I've been using various techniques for a few years now which have worked beautifully out and about, but not at all at home (probably because her baseline is at a higher stress level than is ideal).

Asking about sedatives is a bit of a last resort, I know that years of training hasn’t improved things much in the home, so three weeks of training is unlikely to have any affect at all.

I don’t let her get in anyone’s face, but this is what she wants to do. Of course I stop her.

I don't understand these sort of comments. Have you not trained the dog?

My friend's dog is like this only without the barking but she doesn't leave me alone and will climb all over me constantly.

Friend never trained her or set boundaries in the house.

The few times there have been visitors to the house this is what I’ve done, but she is overly stressed, barking constantly, cannot relax or settle at all.

Because I generally don’t have visitors at all this is something I haven’t been able to work on at all.

Yes she’s been trained but due to some behavioural issues training in the house has been ineffective, but despite that I keep going with it.

Visitors are a different matter as I don’t have any, so I’ve been unable to train her with this at all.

I’m an experienced dog owner and have owned tricky dogs in the past, this dog exceeds all of that. I’ve never had a dog like her before, and even the trainers said they’d never met such an intense lurcher.

If anyone has any practical ideas that could help over the next few weeks I’d be really grateful.

Sounds miserable for the dog and for you all. Can you pop her in kennels for a couple of nights? Reduce the stress fir everyone?

A bit weird if he isn't a dog person but can you not go for a short 10-20min walk with your daughter and her bf before letting him in the house? I also dont have many guests and one of my dogs is very barky if someone comes in the house but if I meet them at a distance before they come in and have a little stroll and we walk inside all together she comes inside calmly as she usually would and kind of forgets about the guest. You could also keep her leashed for a bit while he takes his coat off and settles down to keep the mood nice and relaxed.

Walks don’t calm her down sadly. Even a two hour walk and she’s still OTT. One trainer suggested that if dogs could have adhd then that’s what was going on - no idea if that’s a thing or not though, and we’ve just muddled through the last few years.

I’ve met someone outside before and gone for a walk before going into the house. She’s amazing on walks, but as soon as we’re in the house it’s like it’s a new person and she starts revving up and barking and cannot switch off.

I’ve been teaching her for nearly 3 years to relax on a blanket (whole process involving treats and catching desired behaviour - other dogs picked it up in days, we’re still nowhere with Ddog!)

I see. Could this be an opportunity to try and get her used to visitors perhaps then? Maybe the bf can help?

Some ideas here. I'm sure it is a common issue. My old boy could be a pest with people but I used baby gates a lot when he was a crazy pup and I had a toddler. If he was wild, I'd just put him in his bed to calm down.

www.rover.com/uk/blog/keep-dogs-calm-around-guests/

@Mumteedum thats really helpful, thank you.

I've got a nervy sprocker and we had such an ordeal with her on holiday one year that we came home after a vet visit and 3 days!

A friend is very pro medication, she has a nervy dog herself (rescue) and she said dog Prozac has been life changing for her dog. It has lowered her reactivity levels significantly so that they can go for a walk without fear, and I have seriously considered putting mine onto it as behaviour training has failed. Mine is currently doing relatively OK on a combination of Nutricalm and probiotics (apparently the 2 go hand in hand). But I'm not against trying medication if and when she needs it.

I would find an understanding vet and talk it through. It's not good for your dog to have such high stress levels (or you!).

There's definitely things the vet can give the dog to help a short term issue. Don't worry about some of the comments. Sounds like you've tried all the training and it isn't something that's usually an issue. Occasionally that's just how it goes. Lots of people just won't understand but I'm sure your vet will.
I had something similar and my vet was more than happy to prescribe something to help calm my dog for a few days over a difficult period to make her, and us, less stressed. It really wasn't a big deal.
Good luck.

Thank you!
I’m hopefully seeing the vet next week. They already know that she needs sedating to go for her vaccines so hopefully they’ll understand.

I think rehoming her would be disastrous for her, so despite her home environment not being ideal for her I still think it’s better than potential alternatives.

Our dog barked at my oldest friend. Said friend is a bit scared of dogs so my dogs behaviour became worse, and friend got even more frightened.

Our dog is quite bright, so I decided to show dog that friend was no danger. I got my friend to stand close to me, and I kissed her on the cheek and hugged her in front of the dog. Then my adult child and their partner did the same. Dog shut the fuck up.

Mind you, dog is the brightest of her type I've had in 50 years of living with various dogs. She, dog, picks up on behavioural clues really quickly.

Your vet could probably put the dog on something like Trazodone for a few days, but it will need to be in conjunction with active management, it’s not a silver bullet

have you tried a muzzle?

Mine picks up on cues insanely too!

Part of day to day management is limiting possible cues (one is me putting my glasses on).

She has a muzzle to go to the vets when she’s already sedated, but she’s very anxious around it - despite lots of positive training, smearing it with peanut butter etc.

She’s very clever, but any training like this is incredibly slow, slower than snail’s pace.