skreiaberg
New member
@otherpsychotichalf Definitely consult an animal behaviorist if you can find one within a few hours of your location. One trip to the behaviorist did wonders for my dog. I was considering putting her down because she had such terrible anxiety and just went into these blind panics all the time. I tried positive reinforcement with treats, but the second she got triggered, she stopped recognizing treats or me or anything. I tried attention and focus classes, agility, leash handling, tricks classes, obedience classes, we did fenced dog parks, doggie day care, and CBD oil before landing in a behaviorist's office. The doggie day care and the CBD were the things that helped the most before the behaviorist, but she was still having blind panics about 5-7 times a day which was down a lot from 20+ a day (and still beyond anything we could handle). The behaviorist also prescribed some zoloft and trazodone to help keep her from going into blind panics so we could get her calm enough to work on meaningful training. That did the trick-- the first week on the meds, she had maybe 5 blind panic moments, and they were short-- like a couple minutes instead of a couple hours. Now, my dog has an awesome life, and she knows tons of cool tricks. At first, I couldn't walk her alone, and now we can go on leashed hikes through the woods and over boulder fields, cross lakes and streams, and even walk through the city.
Find a place that offers a "baby smarts" training seminar, too. They are usually only a few hours long either all at one time or an hour a week for two-three weeks.
It sounds like you want what is best for your dog. You've made a lot of progress with him, and I hope that bringing a baby into your house goes smoothly. If not, though, please consider that the option of re-homing might be what's best for him. I've fostered a lot of dogs while they are in the re-homing phase, and in most cases, re-homing has been the most loving, caring act the owners could do. I don't have an anecdote related to specifically to a child-reactive dog, but my favorite story is the story of a dog I fostered for about 3 weeks:
This dog literally tore through couches, busted through plastic crates, and ripped the doors off metal crates-- even climbed fences. The dog could not tolerate being confined but he also couldn't be trusted to be alone in the house. The owner ran with the dog for miles and miles, doing crazy runs up mountains and between towns, even doing ultra-long distance runs on the weekends. At my house, with my dogs, he didn't have any of these issues. I put him in a crate next to my two dogs in their crates, and when I got home, he was snoozing. I left him out all day with my dogs, and every time I checked on him with the security cameras, he was lounging in the living room with my dogs. The only thing that got destroyed were dog toys and the fabric crate I keep the toys in. So, I told the owner to either get another dog or find a home where there were other dogs. It ended up being a crazy switch-- the owner found a home with three dogs-- one of which was a husky that would run away no matter what and the owner re-homed her dog with them but she also took the husky who loved running with her. They have play dates together all the time. The owner jokes that it takes a village to raise a dog.
Find a place that offers a "baby smarts" training seminar, too. They are usually only a few hours long either all at one time or an hour a week for two-three weeks.
It sounds like you want what is best for your dog. You've made a lot of progress with him, and I hope that bringing a baby into your house goes smoothly. If not, though, please consider that the option of re-homing might be what's best for him. I've fostered a lot of dogs while they are in the re-homing phase, and in most cases, re-homing has been the most loving, caring act the owners could do. I don't have an anecdote related to specifically to a child-reactive dog, but my favorite story is the story of a dog I fostered for about 3 weeks:
This dog literally tore through couches, busted through plastic crates, and ripped the doors off metal crates-- even climbed fences. The dog could not tolerate being confined but he also couldn't be trusted to be alone in the house. The owner ran with the dog for miles and miles, doing crazy runs up mountains and between towns, even doing ultra-long distance runs on the weekends. At my house, with my dogs, he didn't have any of these issues. I put him in a crate next to my two dogs in their crates, and when I got home, he was snoozing. I left him out all day with my dogs, and every time I checked on him with the security cameras, he was lounging in the living room with my dogs. The only thing that got destroyed were dog toys and the fabric crate I keep the toys in. So, I told the owner to either get another dog or find a home where there were other dogs. It ended up being a crazy switch-- the owner found a home with three dogs-- one of which was a husky that would run away no matter what and the owner re-homed her dog with them but she also took the husky who loved running with her. They have play dates together all the time. The owner jokes that it takes a village to raise a dog.
if you want to dig for it, there's a "It's me or the dog" episode with Victoria Stillwell that has an expectant couple with a similar issue.