Anxiety and My BFF

Wow, it just dawned on me that Frank is my best friend. Frank, Frank the dog, is my BFF. Is that weird? My partner was always the dog guy. What has happened to me? I have become a dog geek.

Well, back to the best friend notion. Being a rescue dog, Frank is what we might consider a "bad" dog. He barks all the time (really loud), he follows me everywhere, he bites people (especially small children, though my 87 year old father in-law doesn't come visit anymore either because Frank has taken a serious disliking to him), and he is anxious all the time. How do I know he is anxious? He cries and cries and cries. I can never figure out exactly what it is he wants or doesn't want. This makes me feel like a bad dog mother and not a very good BFF.

I really don't understand why Ollie, bad to the bone, Ollie has become so indispensable in my world. He is so beloved he gets to sleep on my bed and take up most of the room. That's true love. Okay, I am aware I sound like a nut case, so go ahead make fun, but this essay is about Ollie and Ollie's separation anxiety.

These are the symptoms of anxiety in does: barking, biting, destroying furniture, chewing on body parts, licking obsessively, crying, whining, throwing up, pooping in the house, and runny poop.

My dog trainer tells me that I have spoiled Ollie by making him my best friend. Now he is afraid to be out of my sight. He gets so worked up when I leave the room that he has to follow me. I thought that was a cute little quirk of his personality, but it turns out to be anxiety. I have become Ollie's best friend, too.

I guess that is the crux of the problem. Ollie cannot live without me. I am the end all be all to him which is causing him big time anxiety. When I get home at night from work, he is a variable insane beast--running, jumping, racing down hallways and up stairs. I get completely attacked.

You might have a problem with your dog like this, so I thought I would pass along some ideas my dog trainer gave me:

a) Teach the down/stay command until your pet can do it for up to 20 minutes with you out of the room.

Then, go out the front door and come right back in. This is supposed to desensitize him to coming and going. Similarly, I am supposed to do weird stuff like pick up my keys but not leave the house. And, put on my shoes and then wash the dishes. And put my sweater on and hang out. All of these things are intended to desensitize Frank to my coming and going.

3) Then start on training your dog to stay calm while you go in and out of the front door until you can do it with the dog hardly noticing. Trick your dog by putting on your coat and sitting down for a cup of coffee or putting your keys in your pocket and then washing the dishes. Get your dog de-conditioned from being excited the second you start leaving behaviors.

Okay, you got me, I haven't put any of these ideas into practice yet. Why? Why. Well, because I love my best friend and I want to keep him that way just a bit longer. He likes my bed and I am not sure I can sleep with him on the floor. Boy, I better get some help with my own anxiety or this dog doesn't have a chance.


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Orignal From: Anxiety and My BFF