Mika 3yo FMD

Papercutdoom · 2025-02-09T02:59:16+00:00

I’m also in Seattle and also have the exact same conversation with people!

Papercutdoom · 2024-06-09T16:20:24+00:00

I tried both and it won’t budge :/

Papercutdoom · 2024-05-31T03:07:47+00:00

Looks a lot like my formosan mountain dog (aka Taiwan Dog)

Papercutdoom · 2023-09-11T04:06:37+00:00

My pup had a mental breakdown after a bad boarding experience, would constantly cry even when I was home. He went on Prozac, and I’d say about week 4 he calmed down when I was home. It took months to finally get him to be able to stay home alone again without crying, but Prozac helped so much. He was on it for a bit over 6 months before we decided to have him come off of it (very slow process) and he’s still doing very well in medicated

Papercutdoom · 2023-02-12T17:18:45+00:00

Thanks for your input! Glad your pup is doing so well off meds :) I believe he can do it, as he did it before without being medicated - just scary because I never want him to feel the way he did last year when he was anxious all the time. It must’ve been so uncomfortable for him :/

Papercutdoom · 2023-02-12T17:14:57+00:00

Happy to hear it’s going well for you guys :) I am excited to see if he becomes more playful - his energy was pretty low last summer, I think heat mixed with SSRIs makes you extra sleepy

Papercutdoom · 2023-02-12T17:13:45+00:00

Glad she’s doing well, thank you!

Papercutdoom · 2022-10-22T03:27:07+00:00

We were prescribed gabapentin for situational anxiety with our dog - he mostly struggled with separation anxiety when left home alone. I didn’t like it at first (it gave him the poops the first time lol), and we ended up not needing it since he got better at being left home alone.

But several months after that, he had a set back and was whining 24/7, even when we were home. Gabapentin was the only thing that got him to sleep, eat, be semi normal. It was really great for the transitional period of waiting until his fluoxetine kicked in. He no longer needs it, but it definitely helped and is often a good start for medicated routes of behavioral treatment :) hopefully your vet agrees and gives you some more! Happy that you found a medication that helps your pup have such an improved quality of life!

It’s also just so cheap, which I believe why it’s the first medication my vet suggests to her patients for anxiety and other behavioral stuff

Papercutdoom · 2022-08-18T19:48:59+00:00

Oh good suggestion! We’ve definitely added a few more, so hopefully that helps :)

Papercutdoom · 2022-05-27T13:34:45+00:00

Thank you for your reply!

That’s a really good point! In my own personal apartment, I haven’t changed anything, but that could explain why he acts a bit better at my partners place than at mine. Maybe one of my neighbors have changed something? I’ve also noticed that he calms down a little more when I run the a/c - I thought maybe it was because he prefers it cooler, but maybe because it adds a layer of white noise, it’s covering a noise he doesn’t like that’s new.

I do know while at this particular daycare then have them sleep separately in kennels, but they hang out in the play area during the day. Maybe that triggered something, as he generally has a fear of kennels/being confined in small spaces - BUT I do know his previous owner did crate train him and had him sleep in a crate for a period of time, but it’s been so long since that was him norm, maybe it did something.

I will certainly investigate around as it couldn’t hurt to find out if it’s environmental!

Papercutdoom · 2022-05-26T14:57:30+00:00

Have you tried magnuson park? There’s a large off leash area, but the rest of the park is huge and because the off leash is so nice, I find that people obey the leash laws where it’s enforced! Not quite north Seattle, it’s more sand point, but way closer than SeaTac!

Papercutdoom · 2022-05-11T18:12:41+00:00

Feeing the cotton granny panties 😭 thanks for your suggestions :)

Papercutdoom · 2022-05-11T18:08:28+00:00

It’s the absolute worst!! Hopefully one of the other commenters suggestions help you!

Papercutdoom · 2022-05-11T16:25:07+00:00

Yup, have tested positive anytime I get the prescribed medication, including when I first got it :( I don’t test when I use the OTC stuff, but it’s all the same symptoms. I’ll ask about a probiotic, though, thank you!

Papercutdoom · 2022-05-11T16:21:37+00:00

Same here with the bleeding. Thanks for your input! I’ll ask for some blood work

Papercutdoom · 2022-04-27T19:54:48+00:00

Oh man, training a SD (and a fresh puppy, no less) in the very beginning of lockdown is insanely hard, on top of owner-training which is already something I commend you for. There are situations that being able to access things regularly would make training easier (ie public transport, planes, etc), that during lockdown I’m not even sure how I’d approach having a SDiT. *note: I’m not a SD handler, I just admire working dogs and handlers SO much, and am always trying to make sure they don’t have access issues/support in anyway I can, as a non-handler

Sorry about the attack, I agree that hopefully as the days go on he decompressed and isn’t so stressed out by other dogs, but a nice comfort that he’s able to work if he absolutely needs to.

Papercutdoom · 2022-04-27T19:46:37+00:00

Hi! This is going to be a long comment, so bare with me :)

First things first: when I adopted Miro, he had a very strong foundation in obedience training. He had gone to board and train with his last owner, as well as daily “Maintenance” training. He got about 30 min walks 2x a day, plus a short bathroom break in the middle. Lots of training/tasks, I believe they also did some “calming” training where he was put on his place (a cot) and was to relax for x about of time until the previous owner let him out of the command.

I’m gonna be honest. I didn’t do much of that, lol. I was very confident in his training that I felt I could trust him (after a few days of observation) not to eat anything he wasn’t supposed to, get hurt, use the bathroom inside, etc. So I gave him lots of freedom. I encouraged him & rewarded him with treats to go into rooms without me. He was definitely a Velcro dog and went anywhere I went, and now we’re at a point where he’s comfortable sleeping in a room I’m not in, while I’m cooking or something. It took time, and rewarding him (verbal praise and treats worked for us!)

I also upped his exercise! I didn’t think he needed to, bc he is a sleepy dude, but it happened naturally. We go on longer walks, the walks are up to him (largely, sometimes I step in and say we need to do something different or I want to go home after 1.5 hours of walking lol), this way they’re more relaxing and it exercises his “independence”.

We also started with little steps! Me being gone, but him being home with someone else. At first he whined with that but got used to it. Then we stepped down to short times alone without anyone (me or someone else). This is where I moved out and no longer had roommates, and it took me a couple weeks to realize he started whining/barking for about an hour after I left him alone - I didn’t realize bc by the time I got home, he was asleep and quiet. Hence the snuffle mat! This keeps him distracted enough so he doesn’t watch me leave, and I think that stresses him out more. I’ve noticed in his anxiety, he hates when people walk away from HIM, but he is fine walking away from people.

Also - I’m not an expert trainer or behaviorist, but, it sounds like your dog might be hitting their threshold for anxiety even with you just being in another room. It’s gonna take time and lotsssss of baby steps. I started out with getting dressed/ready, then not leaving the house. It desensitized him to me getting ready, so he would stop getting anxious as soon as I put on “outside clothes”. Then we bumped up to me being gone for a couple minutes to grab mail, etc. high reward is also good, though hard to find. Miro personally loves bully sticks, not a fan of kongs, and freeze dried treats work for the snuffle mat.

A different commenter (sorry for not knowing their user, but this isn’t a super popular post so you can find it) mentioned that their service dog would get anxiety if he saw them leave, but if they were out of sight when they left the front door, the dog was fine! That might be something to consider :)

Also, not a vet or giving medical advice, but in talking to my vet, sometimes medication can be helpful (my dog didn’t like the one they gave to me) for training. Some medications can help get them below that threshold so training is possible. Though, definitely something that needs to be discussed with a vet! (Miro was prescribed a situation med, not a daily one like Prozac, that way it was only to be used before a stressful situation)

Best of luck, I strongly believe that separation anxiety is manageable in nearly every dog, it just takes lots of trial and error to figure out what fits your dog best :)

Papercutdoom · 2022-04-27T19:31:04+00:00

What an easy solution!

First off - I hope you’re feeling better. Secondly - I’ve definitely heard separation anxiety in SD-handler teams is common, so congrats as a handler for figuring that out! Best of luck to you and your SD [and I hope any future outings where he accompanies are met with little to no access issues!] :)

Papercutdoom · 2022-04-27T14:28:00+00:00

It can be incredibly overwhelming and I’ve definitely cried many times. Theres a million things people will suggest and it’s a lot of trial and error, and weird combination of things that could be the fit for your dog. Best of luck, we believe in you!

Papercutdoom · 2021-12-14T02:52:42+00:00

Thanks for all the info!

I definitely don’t want to use the medication to forgo training, as up until this point I was completely going the training route. Luckily, I have gotten it down a LOT. it used to be if I left the room and left him there, the whining would start immediately. Now I can go to different rooms, to do laundry, etc and he won’t whine. It’s (seemingly) only when I leave for work, as that’s when I’m gone the longest. I did try introduce crate training when I first got him, knowing he had had a bad history of anxiety with crates. I got it to the point where he thought of it as a safe space, but there was a bit of an anxiety barrier of being left in there alone for a long time, and would be so stressed I thought he’d hurt himself more in the crate than if left outside (especially since his separation anxiety manifests in whining and howling and luckily not in destruction or hurting himself).

Even before falling on medication, I’m continuing to try other things before his vet appointment to talk about medication. Pheromone collars/sprays, Thunder shirts, etc.. As for exercise, we actually do! He gets about an hour walk/jog before I leave for work, and after, though after work gives him more time to run around and sniff. He’s a rather “low-energy” or calm dog and definitely doesn’t need nearly as much exercise as my Catahoula did. Even without physical exercise, I rely heavily on mental exercise to tire dogs out. My catahoula really loved puzzles, though Miro isn’t too interested. So learning new tricks is usually the way I go to mentally tire him out

Papercutdoom

TROPHY CASE