Pet care: Dog is freaked-out when home alone, too

Second in a series.

D espite her struggles, Evie was a fun dog, throwing her toys around and then treating them like puppies. Vicky and Richard were strongly bonded to her. They were willing to do whatever was necessary to help her feel better.

Pet parents manage with whatever information they can find. Evie’s folks worried about her damaging their house when they were away so they confined her to a crate. After I advised them to set up a surveillance camera, they saw their dog barking frantically as she lurched around her wire cage. Returning home they found her shrieking with wild abandon. Sometimes the crate wasn’t where it started. The peanut butter-stuffed Kong, intended as a distraction, sat undisturbed. Evie’s overwhelming joy when bolting for freedom took 15 minutes to subside. Richard and Vicky were saddened by all of this, but they had to see it to understand it.

There was nothing healthy about Evie’s spikes of fear, her attempts to chase Richard into the next county, or her freak-outs when crated. Any long-term improvement would require us to address the underlying causes of her distress.

So, why was Evie so frightened of Richard while trusting of Vicky? It wasn’t his aftershave. He didn’t wear any and dogs don’t care about that stuff anyway. I came to know this couple pretty well. Richard is not the devil; he’s not even a politician. He wasn’t the only man Evie tried to run out of town either; she threatened hate crimes against pretty much anybody male.

If you’re an anxious, easily scared dog you gravitate toward safety. Research has demonstrated that most women are smaller than men, move more gracefully and speak in more evenly modulated tones. Men, with our booming voices, tend to thump around like lumberjacks. Even those of us who are not barbarians look that way to dogs like Evie. The correct answer to last week’s quiz is c) Richard’s typical male mannerisms were a fear trigger for Evie.

Could Evie have been abused by a man in her previous home? Tune in next week.

For help with behavior problems, you can sign up for a Zoom group conference at drjeffnichol.com

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