hyper pet

Question
Hi Charlotte, I have female German shepard Casey, my daughter loves her to death, my problem is that she freaks out with real loud noise. 4th of July and new years are bad, she jumps the fence and it  tough getting her to calm down. Its hard for us to go anywhere now that she realized she can escape. She is chained up now, something that I really hate but we don't know what to do...is there sleeping pills for dogs to help through the firework holidays? any advice is greatly appreciated..thanks.  

Answer
Hi Jose;
You don't want sleeping pills, you want tranquillizers.
A long time ago, back in the 50s, my German shepherd was sleeping in the front yard, and some teenage jerks drove by and threw a cherry bomb in the yard, and it went off right behind her.
She was only  little over a year old, and for the rest of her ife, every 4th of July or anytime anyone used fireworks, she would almost go into shock on me.
Even a child with a cap pistol would send her into a panic, because of the gunpowder smell.
For the rest of her life, I had to keep tranquillizers to give her at such times.
A dog can die of shock when they get that scared.
now there is additional help.
I have used the Tellington-Touch method of animal massage for years to give relief of pain from Arthritis, after surgery recovery, ans well as to calm them during stress.
I have cured dogs from fear of thunderstorms, and aggression, excessive barking etc.
It is really a helpful tool, and it takes only a few minutes to give a massage, and for no other reason but the relief of pain of Arthritis, the video to learn to do the massages are well worth many times the small amount they cost.
I think the video is about $35.00 now.
You can go to this website and read about what you can do with the massages, and order the video from that site.

  www.lindatellington-jones.com

German Shepherds are very prone to Arthritis and Hip Dysplasia, and the massages when she gets older will relieve a lot of her pain, with fewer medications, and help her live longer and more pain free.
I would see your Veterinarian and get some tranquillizers to have on hand, get the video and learn the massage for claming.
When she gets frightened by a loud noise, they will help keep her calm and keep her from going into shock.
If you know there is going to be a loud noise episode, like the 4th, or a threatened thunderstorm, you could do the massages before the noise begins, and see if they are going to work well enough without the tranquillizers. If the massages work well enough for her to get through a few times of noises, it may be that she can be cured of the fear, but you would have the tranquillizers on hand in case the massages don't work all by thenselves.
Chaining her hup will keep her from jumping the fance, unless out of terror she jerks hard enough on the chain to injure herself.
The massages have proved one of the best training tools I have found. A massage before a training session maximizes the results of the session and ,akes training easier and they learn faster.
The jumping the fence when you are gone, can be helped by running a hot wire alont the top of the fence.
I have had a few fence jumpers that we had to do that to keep them in.
they knew they were not supposed to jump the fence and roam, but some dogs are just rebels.
The biggest worry with your dog, for me, would be that there would be an episode of her jumping the fence because someone fired off a firecracker when I was away.
If she jumped the fence and ran under those circumstances, she would not have her bearings to help her find her way home, and could be going in the oposite direction that we were looking, and would never be found.
A german shepherd can cover a wide territory fast.
I woudl also be worried about someone stealing her out of the yard when I was gone.
I always leave my dogs in the house with the doggy door closed so they can't go outside when we are away.
Our little son's dog was stolen out of our yard when we were only gone 30 minutes, when he was 8 years old, and we never were able to get him back. That little boy grieved so and I have been paranoid about someone stealing our dogs when we are gone ever since.
We have an Australian Shepherd now that is playing a cute game of jumping the fence about 4:00am, and coming around to the front door and scratching to be let in.
My husband strung the hot wire when he got home from work today.
I will be able to sleep the night tonight.LOL
German Shepherds are a well loved breed, and a pretty one can be stollen just because someone wants her.
Another way to look at having your dog live indoors is, with a dog like that, you are safe, but if you have an intruder come in the front of your house, and the dog is in the back yard, and can't get in, your protection is in the back yard where she can't protect you.
A well trained dog living in the house is not as messy as children. LOL
It is true, though.
My dogs have always lived in the house, and they sleep with us. They have their own bed if they prefer to sleep there, but none of my children ever had a bed toy to sleep with. They didn't need a stuffed animal to cuddle, they had a live, warm one sleeping with them.
A good daily brushing with a bath about once a month keeps them nice and clean and no loose hair problems.
Our dogs are part of the family, and the bonds are much closer than if they lived outside.
Charlotte