One day several unwanted stray dogs at the kennels were taken in by a rescue, a weekly event, but the rescue ran out of kennel space for him and a Rottweiler, both had nowhere to go and were due for destruction-the fate of many stray dogs.
When a volunteer for EDDR arrived to bring him to us, he was in the back of a transport van with the Rottie about to be taken to the vets to be put to sleep. We made arrangements for the Rottie too and she went on into another rescue.
Bobby arrived and was quite vacant, he wasn't interested in people and never made eye contact, his ideal was to be just left alone, but we set up a structured daily routine for him and he slowly began to join in with life and to interact more with people-this was in him, but he needed the confidence to let it flow. Bobby was gradually introduced to other dogs, people, built up areas etc, it became clear he had been a 'city dog'; not phased at all with heavy traffic and passing crowds.
Bobby had a much needed dental with the EDDR vet; his teeth were rotten for a relatively young dog. EDDR also had him neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, de-flea'd and wormed.
A couple of weeks in and with a good prospect of Bobby finding a new home of his own, we had a heavy thunder storm with lightening-poor Bobby turned into a different dog. As the storm was brewing, I noticed a change in his behaviour (possibly due to a build-up of static in the atmosphere) but was unprepared for the full scale of his response. Bobby trembled in a corner, was vomiting, too frightened to move, he quickly became a shivering wreck, then he panicked to get behind a cabinet, to hide/seek sanctuary, almost going through the glass, later he ripped his bedding too pieces and destroyed his bed; he got himself into a right state, this was sadly repeated with fireworks.
This wasn't the first time we had encountered this type of phobia and so we went to work on this with a tailored strategy to reduce the fear; to begin with I crate trained Bob-this was straightforward, he liked the safety of his own den area, for safety Bob didn't go out when thunder was expected and especially not when the fireworks were about, but he enjoyed travelling in the van and we got caught out a few times with the weather! We also began a sound desensitisation program and tried out Valerian and Skullcap.
We never 'cured' his fear, but we reduced his anxiety bringing it under control & have successfully managed it since, using a wide range of items which suit Bobby from our tool box including a calming CD, Rescue Remedy, Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP) diffuser & stuffed kongs. Always thinking safety first and being aware, now Bobby is not happy at these times-but he can handle it much better if he is set up properly when it comes. Pictured on the left; on my lap on the sofa, a favourite position, along with digging up large holes in the grass!
The two other dogs Bob shares a room with ignore thunder and this I feel as helped him over time as well. I think he has come a long way.
Bobby now has a DAP collar he wears during the fireworks season, he still shreds his bed-he can reduce a blanket to one inch strips in about 30secs and looks at you with tail wagging as if to say "look over here, I've sorted that blanket out for you"!
When you're in this position yourself with a dog which almost falls apart during thunder storms and fireworks season for your household is a living hell, you soon truly understand how upset owners become and how quickly a situation can become very desperate indeed.
Photo to the right of Bob having a hug down at the beach one summer, here he has just come out the water, first time, he had a good day out in Brighton and has been back several times on a summer day trip.
