Advice on Anxious Aussie?
Hi! This is Maple, my 2 y/o standard Australian Shepherd. I’m looking for advice/support from people who have experience with severely anxious or fearful dogs because I’m honestly feeling stuck and discouraged.
Maple has has struggled with anxiety basically since we brought her home at 8 weeks old. She was the smallest in her litter and the only “yellow bi” coloring, and sometimes I wonder if genetics or early litter dynamics played a role because she has always been extremely fearful and submissive.
She has zero aggression, she is very sweet and reacts mostly out of fear or overstimulation, and her reactions include tucking her tail, alert barking, and trying to hide. She gains a lot of confidence from other dogs and actually did really well at daycare, but otherwise she is just very insecure. She is also extremely attached to us and cannot even eat kibble or work on a Kong unless we are in the room with her. We’ve done a lot of training with separation anxiety and socialization throughout her whole life.
When we go to the vet, she literally gives herself anxiety attacks to the point that she will vomit and have diarrhea from stress during vet visits, and we cannot do normal exams, nail trims, or grooming appointments without her panicking. Our vet recommended sedation, but we compromised on trying to switch her anxiety medication first to see if we can do her annual exam with Venlafaxine daily, and trazadone/gabapentin before the appointment. She was on Prozac for about a year prior to the venlafaxine, which she has been on for 3 weeks now.
She is also very reactive to noises inside the house. We live in an apartment building in the city, so there are constant sounds outside, and it feels impossible to fully avoid triggers. We worked with a positive reinforcement trainer in-home, but it feels like the desensitization and counterconditioning has not really been clicking lately. Sometimes it works really well, sometimes it’s like we’ve never worked on it, to the point that i feel like she is permanently hypervigilant.
What makes this harder is that we truly try our best every single day to give her a good life and work her mind in positive ways. She gets daily park time, puzzle toys, frozen Pupsicles every night, fetch after dinner, obedience work, tricks, and enrichment activities constantly. She flies through puzzle toys so fast that we are always trying to come up with new things for her. She loves other dogs, has no resource guarding or territorial behavior, and is genuinely such a loving and happy dog.
She hates head pats but loves butt scratches. She barks because she is scared or excited, not because she is aggressive.
I think part of why I feel so guilty is because we live in the city. Before getting her, I did so much research and had worked with Australian Shepherds multiple times through dog walking and daycare, so I really thought I understood the breed and what she would need, and I have worked with anxious Aussies and they are nowhere near her level of fear. Now I cant stop thinking about if city life is too overwhelming for her no matter how hard we try. My boyfriend is home with her during the day and I work full-time, and we both put a huge amount of effort into her care, so it is really discouraging when she still seems so fearful after all this training and structure.
I guess I’m looking for answers to any of these questions, or if anyone has had a similar experience. I love her and will absolutely not consider surrendering or euthanasia, so please don’t comment anything like that.
- has anyone had a dog this anxious from puppyhood?
- did medication eventually help?
- did you ever discover an underlying medical issue that was causing anxious behavior?
- how do you handle vet visits without traumatizing your dog further?
- are some dogs just genetically predisposed to chronic anxiety even when you are doing everything “right”?
I love her so much and just want her to feel safe and happy 🥺