Why is Archie so stressed that he struggles to settle and constantly behaves frantically?
It was quite exhausting being with poor Archie, a three year old Red Setter.
It took an hour for him to settle down – briefly – before he was on the go again, catching imaginary flies and lick lick licking the sofa.
Toileting indoors is also part of the picture. Energy rushes where he tears all over the place, over the sofas and dangerously near to knocking over their toddler.
Meltdown
It was like being in the presence of someone struggling with a nervous meltdown. One can understand that living with this can be frustrating for people who don’t know what to do about it. They love their beautiful, gentle dog – very small for a male of the breed – but their way of coping is the very opposite to what I would myself do.
I work on the theory that whatever people are doing, it isn’t working, else the dog wouldn’t be doing it any more.
So, try the opposite or at least something very different.
Punishment
They had resorted to an electric shock collar, mostly used on ‘beep’, and compressed air spray, to shock the dog into stopping. When he charges past the little girl they may resort to shouting and pinning him down.
Oh dear 🙁
He is punished after the event if he has chewed a door frame when left outside alone or if they find poo in the house.
I don’t want you to get the idea that these people want to be cruel, but they don’t know different and they are at their wit’s end. Methods advocated for correction in a certain popular TV programme and taken out of context are largely to blame.
Stress bucket
I explained how you can look at stress levels rising in a dog like water rising in a bucket. Each time something happens – the postman comes, the dog gets left alone, he gets chastised and so on – a little more water drips into the stress bucket.
The dog’s stress levels can take days to go back down again, so it’s not hard to see that the bucket will eventually overflow. In poor Archie’s case, it’s at the brim constantly, and each time the owners respond as they do it merely tops it up.
So, de-stressing big time is the order of the day.
He does no repetitive stuff when out of the way in his crate. They will gently and quietly put him in there for calming ‘time out’ when he gets out of control with himself. They will have alternatives to hand for him to chew, to distract him from sofa licking but so he can still release the calming pheromones licking and chewing give him.
They will ditch gadgets and punishment. They will look at positive ways to reward him and encourage him instead of negative methods.
They have a much better understanding of Archie now. By nature he is highly strung, but I am sure before long they will see a different dog.
NB: For the sake of the story and for confidentiality also, this isn’t a complete report. If you listen to ‘other people’ or find instructions on the internet or TV that are not tailored to your own dog, you can do more harm than good. Stories are up to date at time of writing, each one with permission.
Theo Stewart – dog behaviourist helping dog owners helping their dogs through understanding. I can help you too
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