seasonal anxiety

Question
I have a problem with my seven year old sheltie named Jasper.  In addition to Jasper I have four other shelties ranging in age from 14 years to 9 weeks.  All but the puppy and a 3 year old male have been fixed.

For all of Jasper's life he has been part of our pack.  He was the last of six dogs in our household.  Last year our original 3 dogs passed away in a span of 3 months. One of the males that passed away was our alpha Winston.  In the past year since their deaths we have added a three year old intact male and now a nine week old puppy.

Jasper has lived with us since puppyhood.  His anxiety issues started a few springs ago, usually around the time of mosquitos and June bugs.  Right around dusk he hides in the bushes and wont come inside when called.  When we do get him inside he pants excessively and sometimes trembles.  It usually lasts about an hour.  Except for these episodes, his daily actions seem normal. He also has these anxiety episodes during thunderstorms.  This is a new behaviour - probably less than a year.

Another issue with him has been his lack of interest in eating.  We have had full blood work done and all came back normal.  He does have a thyroid issue which was diagnosed six months ago.  We had this rechecked when the bloodwork was done and it is under control.  His eating issue seems to be a lack of interest in eating kibble.  Some days he will eat 1/4 of dry food other days about 1/8.  We have tried several brands, canned and also tried freshly cooked chicken and rice.  The chicken and rice was gobbled up the first night but was not interested the next day. He will eat a cookie during the day but has started to turn down a cookie at bedtime.

At bedtime he sleeps on the bed with us for about half an hour and then sleeps in the hallway outside out door - which is open.

We have a large property and both work.  The dogs have full range of the house when we are away except for the puppy which is crated.

Another change to our household the past 3 months has been a lot of visitors.  We moved away from our family and this summer has been especially busy with weekend guests.

I hope I have given you enough information to assist us, any guidance would be appreciated.

Thank you

Answer
Hi Stephanie, You have done a good job in explaining your situation, yet I still have a couple of questions. Is Jasper on Thyroxine or some similar medication? Does he have hyper or hypothyroidism? Do you free feed dry kibble to all of the dogs? You did not say if the puppy was a female or male and if it was spayed or neutered, also how old it is. If a female, she may be beginning her heat cycles. Is your three year old male used for breeding? If not, why have you not neutered him. He is of age and may be attempting to take the  alpha position. If you are established as the pack leader, there should not be any problems with the pack losing it's beta (not alpha-that is the family) dog. Yes, the dogs will restructure the pack and that is normal. If the bugs are not severely biting Jasper, I doubt that it is the reason for the anxiety. It may be that there are dogs in season, miles away which you cannot detect, but the dogs can surely smell. If you coddle Jasper when he is anxious, you are rewarding his anxiety with attention and not building his confidence. Teach him to come to you for comfort, but do not say anything or try to console him, simply have him lay next to you and he will sense your calmness during storms... While you are away, does there seem to be any upset in the pack which you can see signs of when you return? You can set up a video camera to see what goes on in the pack while you are away. This may give you some insight into how the pack is restructuring itself during your absence. If you have a repellent on him, which keeps him from being bitten, he seems to be wanting to be outside away from the pack for a reason. The anxiety begins when you bring him inside if I am reading your letter correctly. So, I suspect that there is a dominance problem inside the home which he is trying to avoid. Although the dogs have free range of the home and yard, it is still not meeting their needs for exercise. Walks, runs and other activities at the heel help immensely to exercise not only the body, but the mind. If you cannot take the whole pack, at least try taking Jasper for walks each day to help him rid himself of anxiety, bond with you as the pack leader and up his confidence level. Having company is a good thing in socialization for the dogs, so I would not worry about that as long as your company does not bother the dogs, especially if there are children coming over. Tell them not to look the dogs in the eyes and to ignore them for the most part, until they are all well adjusted. Most people will understand that you are trying to adapt your pack to the new environment. Do you live in an area that is not only prone to bugs but to thunderstorms during a particular season? We are in Florida which has a very active thunderstorm season. Having dealt with dogs that are phobic about the thunder, I have found that they get confidence from us or their owners when they are called to the owners side and the owner simply stays calm during the storm. No words, just a touch, a stoke of the hand, or having your body touch them. As far as the food intake, if he is losing body condition, have your vet adjust the thyroid medication. A dog can lose or gain weight with a thyroid problem until the proper dosage of medication is found. If you have any problems or questions feel free to write back. Leave me some feedback, and follow-up to let me know how your training is going. Thank you for writing. Regards, Susan