Anxiety journey

of anxiety. Going from mild to severe.i’ve only… I had one sheltie who did not have anxiety. People would tell me oh that’s normal shelties just are anxious. No they are not.

I couldn’t find resources or anyone who knew what to do to help my dogs. They would be so scared of everything everyone. They were terrified to ride in the car to go anywhere, they had very odd habits like some were afraid to beoutside. They tend to stay in crates, or corners, or hide out in my bedroom. They never wanted to be in parts of the whole house.

I got Jill on her second birthday she came from a dog hoarding situation. She was living with close to 20 dogs in a small home. She did not receive much attention and they described her as aloof and standoffish. They said she would not bond with anybody and was not close to any of the other dogs in the home. I got her home. She was afraid of everything, every sound every person except me. Somehow I gained her affection, I’m not sure how. She followed me everywhere. Preferred to stay on my bed or near my bed in my room. She followed me to the bathroom even if I showered or brushed my teeth. She would not go out for a potty break unless I was the one to take her out. And didn’t interact with anyone but me. The only thing besides me that she seemed interested in was her food and the other shelty that we brought from the same home. Jill was actually Casey’s biological ant. They slept together and were very close. Jill was also afraid and anxious around other dogs except Casey of course. She disliked other dogs except Casey and growled at them. Even if they were bigger or smaller than her. At the time I thought maybe she had little dog syndrome because she was on the small Side. Unfortunately Casey and her were there a little clique and did not embrace other dogs. Jill died at age 9 from lung cancer. Unbeknownst to me when she was at that bad home she had developed a Lakia which is a tick borne illness similar to limes disease and she had undiagnosed thyroid problems. Her increased weight contributed to arthritis which she developed at a very young age possibly even before she came to live with me because she never did anything physical so I know she was never injured.

Casey came to live with me a couple of weeks before Jill. She was about 2 1/2 and like I said they came from the same home. I believe I had Casey for about two weeks when I went back and got Jill. It was a long story I didn’t plan to get Jill Jill was claimed by a friend of mine who was unable to keep her so Jill came to live with me. Anyway back to Casey, I thought Casey did not have anxiety because she loved people but she barked a lot! Which is common for shelties but she barked at every sound every person and every shadow every leaf. Yes I know that can be common but her barking was annoyance and anger and frustration. She hated noise she hated anything out of the normal. It was a form of anxiety much lower ban Jill‘ lower than some of the dogs I have had but she had anxiety and the older she got the worse it got. At first she liked other dogs especially dogs that were smaller

than her but as she got older I feel that she got intolerant with other dogs. Nothing violent but just she was reclusive standoffish and harder to bond with. She unfortunately passed away of kidney failure at age 12 and 2019.

I had a few other shelties that I kept for brief amounts of time anywhere from three months to two years. A lot of them barkeduncontrollably or would not interact with humans under any circumstance even to eat.

Disengage, and just cower in fear all the time.

I did my best to find them retirement homes with people home all the time no children some of them went to single homes where they were the only dog and then some of them went to homes where they were with other dogs depending on what their needs were. I felt like I couldn’t help them and I gave them adequate amounts of time to try to decompress but my home was just not cut out for some of their needs.

I got Amanda in 2017 and she was amazing Social happy loved People loved everything there was not anything about life that she did not like she like to be inside but she like to be outside she would sleep in the bed or sleep in the crate Amanda was the perfect dog and gave me hope that I could find a sheltie without anxiety.

UnFortunately I didn’t have Amanda very long she was eight years old when I got her in at 10 1/2 she developed kidney failure as well. It broke my heart and I was so sad to lose the most happy well-adjusted sheltie I’ve ever met.

I got Carly and she was again fearful anxious cripplingly so, hid in crate disengaged standoffish ran off because she was afraid all the characteristics of the fearful shelties from my past.

I wanted to be different I was desperate to figure out how to fix this. So I began looking for help I join Facebook groups I read things I bought products anxiety this anxiety that. I bought a basketball to put in the water when I gave her a bath. I gave her anxiety over-the-counter supplements. Everything that said anxiety I tried. I even gave her the stuffed dog toy that you put in the microwave, that was supposed to encourage were to help them calm down. I did all the things. Nothing seem to work. I contacted someone who said she was studying to be a dog trainer and she told me I was not a good home for a Carly. Even though carlie had been with me nine months she said I was not the right home and that Carly just needed a huge area to run and play and would be better off going back to the breeder

after consulting with friends and a supportive shelty environment on Facebook I decided that was not the answer. People helped me see that her problems were not my fault. So then I went to my vet and took the plunge and put her on Prozac.

He warned me that the results would not be immediate that it would take about six weeks before I saw a difference. She ran off again and stayed gone for three days scared me to death but after that things seem to change not only that he told me to continue giving her supplements for anxiety and I started taking her to obedience class. After that I started putting her on a home cooked diet and completely moved her off kibble and I saw major improvements. Now she’s not Amanda. She’s not super social but she is able to live a good quality of life and we have started to bond.

At first I was stuck in the past. Her running off her being scared and did not want to see that things could be different. Dogs live in the moment not the past and I had to see if I saw Hope that would help herAt first I was stuck in the past. Her running off her being scared and did not want to see that things could be different. Dogs live in the moment not the past and I had to see if I saw Hope that would help herto help her see hope and calm in her future.

Anxiety journey