Finn had been better

[conuly]

But lately, I don't know. He's been keeping us all up at night with neediness and demands for snuggles and his panic at being in the dark. And his daytime behavior is sliding back into neediness as well. He's always had this separation anxiety, but it was improving until lately.

Ideas? Jenn did just switch bedrooms, could that be the source of this?

We're seeing the vet in two weeks, if there's no improvement in this I'll ask again. It's not just the humans who need sleep. I'm convinced the dogs do too.

*********

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Comments

[batwrangler]

Check for tick-born diseases: A lot of them are extremely painful and cause behavioral changes. Bunny, who is incredibly cuddly, has been less cuddly recently. I thought the warmer weather was making cuddling less comfortable for her, but it turns out she has Lyme (discovered at regular vet check). Since she's started treatment, she's more cuddly (and also sproingier, which I didn't think was physically possible).

[conuly]

We haven't found ticks on him after walks, but I'll ask the vet. Thanks.

[batwrangler]

We haven't found ticks on Bunny either!

[conuly]

Well, it won't hurt to ask.

[oracne]

Thanks for the sidewalk article!

[thewayne]

Could you put his bed in the living room and leave a desk lamp on, or does he demand to sleep in the same room as his humans?

[conuly]

A night light usually helps a little, but lately he's been more demanding of snuggles.

Eva's comment was that if he was human she'd think it has something to do with the fact that we rescued him around this time last year, but neither she nor I seriously thinks dogs have that much temporal awareness.

[elf]

They don't recognize the calendar but they do recognize seasons and other environmental situations - he could associate privation with spring weather, without realizing it's been about a year.

[conuly]

Are you hypothesizing, or do you have experience? I'm willing to jump on practically any explanation, but I admit I don't know that much about dog psychology.

[elf]

Experience (or, transferred experience: so I have heard from long time dog owners; I am a short time dog owner), but will admit that the connection is likely to be thin.

Dogs are more likely to be "traumatized by thunderstorms because their owner used to yell and kick them during storms" than "upset during summer, sometimes of which there are storms," but some dogs are sensitive to things like air pressure and humidity that humans don't consciously notice.

Definitely discuss tick-born and other diseases with vet; dog behavior changes are often the only warning of serious problems. But sometimes, a behavior is just "dog is not feeling happy right now" and it's difficult to track down why.

Jenn switching bedrooms could also be the cause; dogs don't like changes in the routine. Dogs with traumatic pasts are extra-worried about changes, and often want lots of affection so they know things are going to be safe.

[conuly]

Yeah, he's a small dog, and the bedroom is big and dark and scary at night, and the worst of this uptick in desperation snuggles happens at night. So I think that's most likely it, but I'll still bring it up with the vet anyway.

[conuly]

(Though, from talking to other people in the neighborhood who knew more about the situation before we accidentally waded in, it seems they had him upwards of a year or two since acquiring him from his previous owner. Poor boy.)

[robby]

I rescued my Dinah about this time last year, and she's been recently acting anxious, as well. I let her sleep next to my bed.

[conuly]

Finn and Moonpie are both small dogs, so they go on the beds. (And the cats on the counters. It's that sort of house.)

[thewayne]

Our dogs have a very solid sense of time.  They know about when noon is, and they know about when dinner time is.  But that's in relation to a 24 hour day, in terms of a calendar, I don't know. Recently, our black poodle Charlie has changed locations for napping during the day. Rather than sleeping on the bed with my wife, his vastly preferred human, he's sleeping on top of her clothes next to the dog bed facing out in the doorway.  Russet thinks it's because it's cooler.  He does need a haircut, which I expect she'll be giving him and our other poodle Dante in a couple of weeks.  Me, I'm not so sure.

[wendelah1]

I've tried quitting antidepressants several times but my problem was different: I kept relapsing into major depression. The third time, my psychiatrist told me I'd probably need to be on 'em for the rest of my life. It's fine since I think the drug I'm on helps my neuropathy, too.

My husband had a tough time coming off of his antidepressant, and his psychiatrist ended up putting him back on it, though at a lower dose, because of worsening depression, too.

I'm not a doctor but I have to wonder if some of the people who were given antidepressants by their primary care doctors shouldn't have been on them in the first place? Like, they seem kind of over-prescribed now, especially since they're hard to come off for so many folks?

Now I have to read about Google Maps ruining people's lives.

[nodrog]

I'm permanently on Wellbutrin.  If I stop, or even skip doses too often, things fall apart.  Crying jags, flat-line staring-at-the-floor-for-hours depression…

I'm okay with this.  It saved my life.

[wendelah1]

I'm permanently on Wellbutrin, too. I feel exactly the same way--this antidepressant saved my life.

[nodrog]

The one Google Map error I recall was a guy looking for his destination, who was led down what eventually became a dirt road that led, eventually, to a shack and a guard with a rifle.

“I really don't think this is a hotel,” he said to the guard.  The man shook his head slowly.

“Not unless you're a guest of the State,” he said.

[conuly]

One star. Would not be a guest here again.