[firefly]

I have a ~3 year old rescued neutered poodle mix (we have had him almost 2 years) that has bad anxiety/nervous episodes. It is not tied to me or my husband leaving or being away from home. Sometimes they are noise related and other times he will be outside and launch into a full blown attack (I have been out with him and have seen or heard nothing that would trigger it). My other dog is always fine so it is just something unique to Wally.

When he has these episodes, he will secret some anal gland fluid, tuck his tail (which is always up), shake uncontrollably with an occasional jaw shake. He will whine and run from room to room. During one violent shaking episode, I ran him to the vet and they couldn't find anything wrong. They did blood tests and a dental exam when the jaw shaking started and everything was fine. They don't believe they are seizures since he has full mental capacity and his shaking is more of a violent shiver than uncontrollable muscle spasms.

When he has an episode, I usually ignore it (I don't pick him up and baby him) and try to redirect him to something else like tug-of-war which he loves. The episodes seem to be getting worse and more frequent (maybe a bad episode every other day lasting about 30 minutes when they used to be every couple of months for about 10 minutes). I would hate to have to medicate him, but I don't want him to be scared all of the time of nothing.

Anyone have other suggestions on how to deal with these things?

 

[spotted nikes]

I think medicating is kinder than letting him be terrified.

Try a Thundershirt. They have a money back guarantee.

Any chance you have stray electrical current anywhere? Older home/electrical?

Could static be shocking/scaring him? Try rubbing him with a Bounce Fabric sheet (unscented).

Is he getting walked a couple of times a day briskly for about 40 min each time? Excess energy will increase anxiety.

Try NILIF. It'll help build confidence.

I'd probably also get his abdomen xrayed/ultrasounded to make sure he doesn't have a strange obstruction/adhesion. There was a vet that used barbed staples on an intestinal surgery on a dog where I used to live. I would imagine adhesions/something like that could cause random/sharp pain with no other symptoms, other than panic.

Does your neighbor have a Sonic bark deterrant, that another dog is triggering, so your dog can hear it?

 

[firefly]

Thanks for the ideas!

He has been x-rayed before (he and his brother chewed on a pin cushion), but they found nothing. I am pretty sure my neighbors don't have sonic bark deterrents as we all have dogs that bark

I will probably try the thunder shirt. I did find one of his favorite tug toys that has been MIA for a few months, so earlier when it looked like he was starting to freak out, I brought that out and he snapped out of it.