Traumatized boy dog.
 

Hi all, I am new to Yorkie Talk and have spent hours reading all your posts and advice, but can't seem to find a similar problem to mine. Bolt is my first Yorkie and he has been the most wonderful addition to our lives. From day one he has gone everywhere with us, so he is used to crowds and general outings. His favorite outing was a walk everyday and the beach on weekends, although he hates the ocean(any water for that matter-water is for drinking!!) There have never been any behavior problems, fearfulness or anything else for that matter. He is not afraid of strangers, fireworks, thunder, loud noises etc.
Unfortunately about 2 months ago we were inadvertently too close to a military display(had no idea how loud it was going to be). It was so loud it scared children, adults, set off car alarms etc. We got away and into the car as quickly as possible because Bolt was petrified, so were we. My problem now is that he is obviously traumatized and I don't know how to help him. He still gets excited to go walking, but as soon as a vehicle comes past, especially a big, loud truck or bus he becomes frantic. He pulls on his harness frantically trying to get away. He yanks, drags, hyperventilates and becomes absolutely panic-stricken. He just wants to go home. If we go anywhere with crowds of people we have the same reaction. It is dreadful to see my baby so afraid and I don't know how to help him. Picking him up doesn't help he just struggles and tries to get away. The minute I put him down its back to the frantic tugging etc. Is there anyone out there with any advice? Please help, thank you in advance.

So sorry to hear about this experience! Dogs will cue off of people's reactions and when everyone at the event was afraid it likely confirmed for him that afraid was correct. How big is Bolt? Will he fit in a front pack? I would suggest a series of desensitization activities where Bolt is held close to you right from the start instead of on a leash - short exposures to where he is held secure to you - and after he's calms that way with increasingly longer exposures try a leash again. As you're doing things just keep going without missing a beat so he picks up on your confidence. You may need to use calming meds in conjunction.


That said, I'm not an expert. You may need to find a specialist to help you. I hope Bolt heals from this traumatic experience.

OMG poor baby........you came to the right place. I don't have any experience with this but this is a large community I am sure some one can point you in the right direction. The first thing that comes to mind for me is have you tried a thunder shirt when you take him out in public? I feel so bad for him to be that terrified.

Three years ago Cali was attacked by a huge hawk (she is only 4 pounds). She famous for her life and won, it was very traumatized. Could not ride in the car on the highway because she thought hose tall semi trucks might be coming to get her. Before the attack she loved to go in the car.

It took a out a year of lots of patients and xanax, ever so slowly we gave her back her confidence. I would medicate her before we went out (always with the lowest dose possible) and as the year progressed I found I could lower the dose some. We also started agility which gives dogs lots of confidence!

A year and a half later we were off the drugs and today she is strong and confident again.

The key for us was the medication for her anxiety and the slow, slow, slow, slow progression. The agility was like a miracle - it was indoors and loud and rowdy with clapping and hoots and hollers for encouragement and she soaked it all in. We started as pre-agility class and are now in masters classes.

Don't be afraid of the anti-anxiety medications and find a vet who is comfortable prescribing it. Takes a while to get the dose correct. I managed to get the liquid xanax and it acts fast.

Wishing you the best - let us know how it goes.

You might want to look at a behavioralist and possible anxiety medicine. Poor guy.

Couldn't agree more - get your baby to the vet, explain what happened to him and get some anti-anxiety medications to use for the present and together with behavior modification techniques to re-associate/replace scary things with something he highly desires, you can over time bring him through and past the trauma. I've read that the quicker you can get adrenaline-rush reactions tamped down with a benzodiazepine type medication, the quicker the brain and body stops the 'fight or flight' response to stress triggers and prolonged reactions that tend to replaying/relive the traumatic event.

I've also noticed that dogs with occult or undiagnosed medical problems tend to over-react to traumatic events and develope PTSD type symptoms. So be sure your vet fully examines your dogs, checks his blood, urine, feces, anal glands and be sure nothing medical is adding to his stress. Since he cannot tell us verbally, sometimes the way he reacts is the only voice he has to tell us all is not right with his world.

If this were my dog, this is what I would do:

With a medically-checked, hungry dog(I'd want him at least 6 hours from last meal so that he'll be highly open to my food bait), I'd medicate and wait for its effect and then take the dog toward an area of known stress and just as he alerts to something he reacts adversely to, I quickly shove a piece of warm, juicy boiled chicken or turkey hotdog piece from my hip treatpack before his hungry nose, saying "Circles! Circles!" in an upbeat but calm voice(in other words not a military command type voice), walking him in a tight, superfast circle so that he has to focus hard on the wonderful smell while also intently trying to keeping his footing, not whatever is causing his stress.

After 3 or 4 fast/tight circle-walks with that bait just before his nose, I then calmly walk away from the stressor with the great-smelling bait in place and bring him home where he feels safe again. As we go and as soon as he'll take it, I allow him to swallow the bait and now praise the calm reaction, as stressed dogs usually have to calm down before they'll take treats or food. Should he regress during the walk home, I bring out the ever-ready bait and walk him very fast in a few "Circles, circles" or even fast-run him and treat when he can take it.

I repeat this type treatment at least once or twice a day until my dog no longer adversely alerts to sights or sounds or smells, reducing the medication as tolerated and has replaced his worry of loud or sudden sounds, flashes, etc., with the anticipation of great scents, great baits and getting to walk fast and play circles and get a yummy treat, all things most dogs really love.

Deprogramming a dog from the type of trauma you've described can take some time or be rather quick and easy, depending upon a variety of circumstances and the dog handler. Good luck with helping your baby!

If your dog is not food-oriented but toy-or-play oriented, bring along a favorite or new squeaky toy or tugowar toy to bring out and hold B4 him as you fast-circle-walk/fast-run him so that he focuses intently on the highly-valued toy and activity. Usually it's the herding/working type dogs that are more toy/tugtoy-oriented but whatever works to get your baby's attention off the stress trigger and onto something positive in conjunction with a fast-paced activity where he has to work physically hard to keep up - all fashioned by you into a calm but upbeat, happy intervention activity that smack right into the stress-trigger and gradually replace it, together with mild medication, can help your dog learn to associate past stress triggers with new, happy, fun, rewarding activities and powerful praise from you.

Your calm, in-charge demeanor during this reprogramming it utterly critical. Don't feel sorry for him, that won't help. Just show your boy a confident, leader who knows how to help him and even during setbacks will always be there to keep him pointed forward with self-assurance. So train yourself how to stay calm even if your dog is seized with temporary terror to always send the message there is nothing to fear really.

Lots of truly, heartfelt(make it straight from your heart & it will speak directly to his little soul) praise when he is calm and participating in your happy walk intervention program go a long way toward reprogramming his brain.

Another tool for deprogramming your dog will be desensitization of things that scare him about outside - loud and sudden noises. I would record some sounds of loud buses, trucks and other loud and/or sudden outside noises or guns discharging, bombs exploding(you can find record those outside or find these audio tracks on the internet) and play those at a low level while Bolt is eating or you are feeding him high-value treats, so he can gradually begin to desensitize to those types of sounds and re-associate them to something he highly values - FOOD.

If you keep the volume low enough and he's hungry enough, he'll eat his treats or dinner despite the unpleasant sounds, so strong is his will to obtain food. If he walks away and refuses the treat or leaves his bowl, take the recorder to another room or reduce the volume and only play it for the first few bites per eating session for the first week, gradually increasing the volume and length of the recording at tolerated. Never scold him for any fear reaction, merely redirect his attention to something else quickly and calmly, like getting up and opening the refrigerator door or opening his toy box.

The idea is to have him learn to accept that those are merely sounds and if introduced while he is engaged in something he loves, like eating his dinner or getting treats, his hunger should help him accept that the sounds are merely just that and not going to hurt him. After a couple of treat sessions/meals, he'll understand that the sounds didn't cause him any harm and if he objected by not eating, you quickly moved the sounds far away or lowered them; and he should, over time, come to associate those loud sounds with FOOD - his wonderful treats and dinner - the highlight of any day for a dog. Hopefully, he'll come to see the sounds associated with outside are also associated with his food and trigger only good feelings of anticipation and fulfilling reward with them.

Of course, you reward him with meaningful praises for hanging in there and eating his treats and food during the sounds so that he additionally feels the pleasure of your pride in him for this achievement.....more pleasant associations with the once-scary outside sounds.

If he likes to play tugowar or chase a ball, play the sounds during a rousing game of tugowar, ball or rough-house play, further showing him that loud, sudden sounds are not going to hurt him, thus desensitizing him to their power and re-associating them with positive rewards.

This reminds me of what happened to my former yorkie, Micky. Was never afraid of t-storms until a really bad one hit. We also happened to be in our house at the shore, which has lots of windows, so the lightening was very noticeable. From that point on he would have full-on panic attacks whenever it stormed (or 4th of July for that matter). Running through the house hyperventilating, peeing, absolutely inconsolable.

I would look into hemp oil or cdc oil works well on anxiety