need help with dog anxiety
Hi guys. I have a 7 month old rescue puppy (boxer/American bulldog) who we are not sure what to do with. We tried to crate train him. after 3 weeks a
of constant crying in the crate we gave up on nighttime crating (he's crated in our bedroom). he does fine locked in our bedroom with us at night. We have been crating him when we aren't home. Until last week he was fine with that. He was neutered on 2/1/14. The prior week he was getting a lot of Benadryl for an allergic reaction to an unknown allergen (since resolved but had resulted in facial swelling). So in the past week here is what he has done..... mon he was his usual self in the crate, tues he managed to dismantle on side of his metal crate (we reinforced it with zip ties tues night) and he peed on his bed in the crate (never had an accident in his crate since we got him thanksgiving weekend). wed he peed in his dog bed (different dog bed) and then shredded it to little pieces. Thurs nothing too major just some chewing type behaviors. Friday he chewed a zip tie off the crate. Sat he went into his crate for 2 hrs while we went out to dinner. When I got home I heard yelping, sprinted to his crate and found he had caught his jaw trying to chew his way out. he was ok other than an abrasion on his gum. Sunday we did a trial where we locked him the upstairs landing for 1 1/2hrs while we went out. Came home, no issues. Today we put him in the upstairs landing again. he chewed a section of baseboard and a section of wall.
When we crate him and in the upstairs hall he gets his antler, a kong filled with frozen peanut butter, and at least one other chew toy plus some water. He gets 2 short walks plus one long walk each day in addition to playtime (lots of fetch and tug of war) with us or the neighbors dog.
I don't think exercise is the issue. this is a sudden onset change in behavior within a few days of being neutered. Our vet does not want to medicate him since he is just a puppy. I still have some leftover rescue remedy from my old dog and am contemplating trying that. I might still have my DAP plug in too (will look for that tonight). I'm afraid to use the rescue remedy with an unknown allergy status and am also unfamiliar with its use in puppies. My vet is totally unfamiliar with this product and can't advise me on it. Anybody here ever use it on a puppy? Any other suggestions on what to do? I'm afraid he will hurt himself in the crate or inject something bad from eating the wall etc. any help is appreciated. thanks.
of constant crying in the crate we gave up on nighttime crating (he's crated in our bedroom). he does fine locked in our bedroom with us at night. We have been crating him when we aren't home. Until last week he was fine with that. He was neutered on 2/1/14. The prior week he was getting a lot of Benadryl for an allergic reaction to an unknown allergen (since resolved but had resulted in facial swelling). So in the past week here is what he has done..... mon he was his usual self in the crate, tues he managed to dismantle on side of his metal crate (we reinforced it with zip ties tues night) and he peed on his bed in the crate (never had an accident in his crate since we got him thanksgiving weekend). wed he peed in his dog bed (different dog bed) and then shredded it to little pieces. Thurs nothing too major just some chewing type behaviors. Friday he chewed a zip tie off the crate. Sat he went into his crate for 2 hrs while we went out to dinner. When I got home I heard yelping, sprinted to his crate and found he had caught his jaw trying to chew his way out. he was ok other than an abrasion on his gum. Sunday we did a trial where we locked him the upstairs landing for 1 1/2hrs while we went out. Came home, no issues. Today we put him in the upstairs landing again. he chewed a section of baseboard and a section of wall.
When we crate him and in the upstairs hall he gets his antler, a kong filled with frozen peanut butter, and at least one other chew toy plus some water. He gets 2 short walks plus one long walk each day in addition to playtime (lots of fetch and tug of war) with us or the neighbors dog.
I don't think exercise is the issue. this is a sudden onset change in behavior within a few days of being neutered. Our vet does not want to medicate him since he is just a puppy. I still have some leftover rescue remedy from my old dog and am contemplating trying that. I might still have my DAP plug in too (will look for that tonight). I'm afraid to use the rescue remedy with an unknown allergy status and am also unfamiliar with its use in puppies. My vet is totally unfamiliar with this product and can't advise me on it. Anybody here ever use it on a puppy? Any other suggestions on what to do? I'm afraid he will hurt himself in the crate or inject something bad from eating the wall etc. any help is appreciated. thanks.
