Aussie Shephard afraid of noise

Question
I have a 6yo male nutered Aussie.  Our next door neighbors are building a house and the nail gun is going off all day long.  The kids and I have just gone back to school and I came home today to all my wooden blinds broken and the screens pushed out, broken lamps etc.  The dog was down the street hiding.  This happens with the weedwacker, fireworks and gun shots.  We had decided to put him in our garage because we thought it would be a "safe" spot- he's learned to turn the door handle and get inside. He had a crate as a puppy but eventually chewed and pushed his way out of that (it was metal) and the cuts on his paws and mouth were awful.We've tried toys, turning the radio on full blast, medication (Prozac).  We have a 2 yo mini Aussie as well that isn't phased at all and does not have the destructive behavior.  In fact he just sleeps.  I'm afraid we will have to get rid of the dog - I'm looking for any advice.

Answer
So you would rather 'get rid of the dog' and dump his problems onto someone else to have to deal with? Tsk, tsk. That's not right, Leigh. When you got the dog, you made a lifetime commitment to him. Would you consider putting one of your kids in a 'home' if they had severe ADHD or autism, and became destructive when presented with certain stimuli? The neighbors will not be building a house forever! You are just going to have to find >>something<< that works to keep your dog from stressing out so badly, until they are through with the construction.

Ok, so you've tried several things already to try and help your dog, but have not had much success with any of them. Prozac apparently wasn't strong enough, so let me suggest giving him ACE (acepromazine) just before you leave. Talk to your vet about it. ACE is a mild tranquilizer that should, at the right dose, sedate him enough so that he is not stressed and amped up and trying to escape the scary noise of the nail gun next door. In fact, it >>should<< make him just want to sleep.

I would suggest that you confine him in such a way that he CANNOT escape, regardless of whether you decide try ACE or not. You say he can escape a wire crate, so odds are he can get out of a plastic crate with a wire door as well, unless you take measures to prevent the wire door from being pushed through. To do that, you would drill 3-4 holes along the top and bottom of the 'lip' of the door, and insert 3-4 metal rods, about the diameter of a pencil (maybe slightly smaller) into those holes, which would put the rods against the front of the metal door and prevent him from pushing it out and escaping.

If you don't want to try that, or you already know he may injure himself trying to bust out, then a solid metal box, like what hunters put in the back of their truck to haul their hound dogs in, is what I would suggest for him. These things are made of aluminum, and are just about indestructible. In addition, there are no wires or anything for him to hurt himself on if he does spaz out and try to break free (which he won't be able to do if you lock the door). I will say that they are not cheap, but in the long run, they are worth it; especially if you have a dog that objects so strongly to being confined in one that he injures himself trying to get out when he is stressed.

Here is an example of what I am referring to: http://www.pickupspecialties.com/Dog_boxes/dog_boxes.htm


If you think he is safe just being loose in the garage, you need to lock the door so that he cannot turn the handle and get in the house, if he does, in fact, let himself inside (and I don't for a second doubt that he does!). Turn a radio on out there, give him his ACE, and then right before you leave, give him a Kong with peanut butter or something smeared on the inside that's been frozen overnight. That may work to keep him occupied until the ACE kicks in, and it may not. It doesn't really matter; the option is still there for him.