Heart Murmur/Anxiety/Aggression

N102 · Oct 7, 2018

Just recenlty obatined a 3.5 yr old FB who does have a grade 4 heart murmur.
Brought Hali in for a ultrasound yesterday and now are waiting for the results. Hali is not spayed and of course we would like to have her spayed ASAP but our vet will not perform the operation without first seeing the results of the ultrasound. Crossing our fingers the results are good enough to proceed with the spaying.
Hali suffers from severe anxiety/aggresion issues and we are having a very difficult time in trying to deal with it all.
She is very restless and barks at everything. She has really bad aggression towards other dogs etc so of course going for walks is a major event. She is a huge puller on her leash even with a harness. And literallly goes beserk when the vaccum comes out.
Right now at our wits end and we have only had her two weeks.
Hoping the spaying will help with some of these issues. And want to start some form of behavioural training with a professional afterwards.
Any ideas suggestions etc will be grealtly appreciated.
She can be such a sweet little girl but in a flash become a true terror.

mattcantwin · Oct 7, 2018

Wow, that’s a lot to deal with.

I’ve found Loki walks much better at night, fewer visual distractions.

He pulls much less and seems calmer.

Not sure if this is an option for Hali, but if it works long evening walks could be a first step.

N102 · Oct 7, 2018

Tried that she is the same.
Trying some benadryl a few times a day now see if that calms her a bit.

Frenchie Grrrl · Oct 7, 2018

You could try Bach Rescue Remedy for pets or CBD oil. I know these are popular natural remedies that some people use with their dogs.

Glad you are planning on getting a behaviorist to help you. It sounds like that's the way to go for Hali. Best of luck with that and the test results. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. :heart:

2bullymama · Oct 7, 2018

Poor girl... she is still settling in to new surroundings so getting her on a good Schedule can hopefully help her settle in.

In the mean time try using ‘ nothing in life is free’. It will help her know you are the leader and help exercise her brain.

Positive thoughts and paws crossed for her murmur.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FroxerMom · Oct 7, 2018

N102 said:
Just recenlty obatined a 3.5 yr old FB who does have a grade 4 heart murmur.
Brought Hali in for a ultrasound yesterday and now are waiting for the results. Hali is not spayed and of course we would like to have her spayed ASAP but our vet will not perform the operation without first seeing the results of the ultrasound. Crossing our fingers the results are good enough to proceed with the spaying.
Hali suffers from severe anxiety/aggresion issues and we are having a very difficult time in trying to deal with it all.
She is very restless and barks at everything. She has really bad aggression towards other dogs etc so of course going for walks is a major event. She is a huge puller on her leash even with a harness. And literallly goes beserk when the vaccum comes out.
Right now at our wits end and we have only had her two weeks.
Hoping the spaying will help with some of these issues. And want to start some form of behavioural training with a professional afterwards.
Any ideas suggestions etc will be grealtly appreciated.
She can be such a sweet little girl but in a flash become a true terror.

Hi there,
First off, I wish you luck as you prepare to get your heart murmur results. Please update us when you can.

I adopted my FB when she was a year old. Like Hali, she barked and lunged at everything - it didn't matter, dogs, squirrels, leaves, a stick, etc...
I chalked it up to being in a new home (we are actually, at minimum, her third or fourth home in less than 2 years). Please believe that Hali WILL settle down. It took my dog (Daphne) honestly about 1.5 -2 months to really feel comfortable and "know" that we are her forever home. It was so apparent to us that she was hyper concerned with being protective and "on alert." I discovered really quickly, that Daphne was a nightmare on a leash. Snarling and lunging at everyone and everything. I promise you that with practice and a bunch of patience, she can walk in semi-close proximity to other dogs and with the "leave it" command, she just trucks on by and keeps walking. Use high value treats that will keep her attention when you go out for walks and only reward when she has zero reaction to what she doesn't like, and instead pays attention to you. You may have to walk at off times, at first (early morning, later in evening) until she experiences some success. Build up her confidence (I know it seems like she has plenty of that the way she is acting, but more than likely she is displaying aggression out of fear).

Once Hali feels comfortable I would bet you'll see some improvement. I know two weeks seems like forever (it did for me - I cried... a LOT) but be as patient as you can. I think it's great you are already looking into a behaviorist or trainer. My recommendation there would be select someone who uses positive reinforcement. My dog is a completely different dog. It can happen. Keep the faith.

GraciesMom · Oct 7, 2018

First off, welcome to FBN! Secondly, how wonderful of you to have given Hali a home. She's a cutie. We also have an aggressive, anxious dog. She is a resource guarder (especially food). She used to literally attack us as soon as we got out her food bowl (proves how ingrained the behavior was -- what dog attacks BEFORE you put down the bowl???) Like Hali she is a very sweet dog most of the time, but turns into Cujo as soon as the feeding ritual begins. I'm sure with time and patience Hali will settle in as FroxerMom suggests. But if you do need more assistance, you might try one-on-one sessions with a positive reinforcement trainer. This is the path we took and the trainer was very helpful. We literally brought her food and bowl to the sessions so the trainer could work with us on some specific strategies for managing the behavior. The trainer also gave us something else -- HOPE. We left each session feeling more positive. Gracie has vastly improved. We are usually able to feed her now without triggering her aggression and hope to see continued progress going forward.

N102 · Oct 8, 2018

She also goes totally bezerk when we use the vacuum or most any other electric kitchen appliance. She literally wants to attack and destroy them.
Have no clue how to help her with this.

GraciesMom · Oct 8, 2018

You might try dropping some treats when you use the vacuum or any other noisy appliance so she starts associating them with something good. It would require a heavy reliance on treats initially but when she starts relaxing around these items, you could wean her off the treats. If you can't get her attention with the treats because she's already too stressed, start more slowly. As an example, give her a treat when you open the closet door where the vacuum is stored. Once she's comfortable with that, progress to giving her a treat when you take it out of the closet, etc.

Frenchie Grrrl · Oct 8, 2018

There are probably some good videos on YouTube that show exactly what Gtacie's mom is taking about. I remember running across some when I was looking through puppy training articles before I got Gus last year.

2bullymama · Oct 9, 2018

N102 said:
She also goes totally bezerk when we use the vacuum or most any other electric kitchen appliance. She literally wants to attack and destroy them.
Have no clue how to help her with this.

I've had two like this .. Banks, my bulldog and now our Frenchie Cheli.... I opted to gate them in a room when I am vacuuming as nothing helped to deter them from the attack.

N102 · Nov 6, 2018

Update:
So Hali had a ultrasound and it was cnfirmed she has pulmonic stenosis and a grade 4 murmur.
Our vet did sucessfully perform a spaying and Hali has fully recovered from it.
We are now starting to work on her behavioural issues and have started her on a medication to help “calm” her.
Next step will be to hire a trainer to help us help her.

GraciesMom · Nov 6, 2018

I'm hoping everything goes well with Hali. I know the trainer helped us a lot with aggression issues.

Mavis · Nov 7, 2018

Like some of the others here with the same experience, I hope you start to see improvements with a little time and that you feel hopeful about Hali's progress. Do you have any information about her previous environments? Was she abused? Were there a lot of other dogs vying for resources? Could she have been teased or mistreated? Sounds like maybe she was kind of on her own and possibly ignored with no direction in her former home(s) and had to fend for herself. God bless for adopting this little girl. I hope she becomes your heart dog.

FroxerMom · Nov 7, 2018

Happy to read this update that she did well with the spay and has recovered. Hoping to read that the trainer has helped you further progress with her behavior issues. Glad that she ended up with committed owners like you!