A Blog from the Storage Room

Posted by Gabe on July 14, 2010 under Family | 13 Comments to Read

It’s 12:35AM.  I am currently in one of the most difficult and awkward situations I have been in for quite some time, both physically and emotionally.  You see I am in my basement.  Not just any part of my basement.  Not the finished part.  Not the part we spent so much time, effort and money on.  No, I’m in a storage area with half the room filled with junk.   The only light I have is the light shining from my Droid’s screen.  I’m sitting on an old outdoor lounge chair mat covered with a blanket.  And I plan to be here all night, awake.  Now you must be thinking I am making this up or exaggerating for effect.  I wish I were.  I haven’t even gotten to the good part yet.  I’m not alone.  Not only am I saddled with the fact that I am writing a blog post fat-fingering my Droid keyboard, but I also have a leash in my left hand.  It’s attached to Pablo, the 110 pound Bernese Mountain Dog we rescued about 8 months ago.  He is panting frantically and has been for the last hour.  You see we recently discovered that he is scared to death of thunderstorms.  Normally they pass through quickly but I checked Intellicast and it looks like we are in for an all-nighter.  So how did we end up here?  Well I was awakened by him trying to crash through my bedroom door.  I was unaware that my wife was already up and had cleaned one round of pee that he left on the landing.  This we have learned is a nervous reaction he suffers from when he gets scared.  It was clear that one of us had to stay up with him.  The flashes of lightning bouncing off the walls were causing him to pace nervously through the house and crash through doors by using his head as a battering ram. It was clear to us that upstairs was not the solution.  We have also learned that sequestering him in a room doesn’t work as he has torn up the carpet and underpadding of our bedroom while trying to break free.  Outside was definitely not an option because of the impending weather.  The garage was a consideration but due to the fact that there were things he could get into that would harm him it was ruled out as well.  So that left the storage room. We felt he had to be supervised so here we are.

It’s now 1:17AM. Since we are in a remote corner of the house away from windows I can say that Pablo is calming down a bit. If I move about he’ll start panting nervously again. I am doing my best to ignore him as I have been told by several sources this is the correct response to be administered so the dog won’t feel that I too am scared.  But it actually appears that if we are spared loud claps of thunder, I may have a shot at getting some sleep at some point.  That’s if I can sleep.  I not only have Pablo to deal with but I have my conscience as well.  You see, we really don’t know what to do with him.  We have been through this several times and the bottom line is that we are ill-equipped to handle him.  We have two other Berners and he fights with our other male Charlie so they must be separated at night and when we are not home.  But we simply don’t have an answer to this problem.  We have given him drugs which knocked him out for a while but then he would have trouble getting up.  We gave him Melatonin (recommended by our vet) earlier which had little if any effect.  Bach Flower remedies haven’t worked.  We have been down this road several times and it always leads to a dead end. I see no other solution than to give him back to his original owner.  Now when we “rescued” him he didn’t come from a bad place.  He came from a breeder who simply wanted to rehome him after a life in the show ring.  He is actually quite accomplished having been in the top five of his breed at Westminster.  He is actually a wonderful dog.  He captures the hearts of all who meet him.  I have told anecdote over anecdote about the crazy things he has done.  But as I write this I wonder if our time with him will soon come to an end.

It’s 1:43AM and the battery on the Droid is doing quite well. Pablo is now fast asleep. When we were all discussing this upstairs I felt we had no choice but to give him back. Now as I sit here typing this journal into my phone I’m wondering if we can’t somehow make this into a room where he can go when the weather gets bad.  We already know he can break out of his crate.  He’ll need something much sturdier. Maybe if I can just sleep on that thought…

The Droid struggles to light up the area which somehow seems appropriate.

2:53AM. Still haven’t been able to sleep.  There are short bursts of relative quiet followed by longer periods of panting.  I am at a loss. I really don’t know what to do with him.  What kind of message does this send my 11-year-old daughter if we give him back?  That’s it’s OK to discard your animals if they become inconvenient?  I’ve always felt disdain for people who get their animals from the shelter only to return them some time later.  I have neighbors who did it twice until they finally settled on the third dog and I remember the resentment I felt towards them.  Now maybe I will have a little more tolerance especially since I did not experience what they did.  And I think about Pablo — poor guy.  I’m sure he’s not happy about this either.  Will he be better off back at the breeder’s with seven other dogs staying in his kennel in the garage all day?  Am I off-loading our problem on someone else?  This is very difficult.  The time that we locked him in our bedroom and left the house for a number of hours was the worst.  Although the weather was beautiful when we left, a thunderstorm moved through the area at some point.  He tried and tried to get out of the room by tearing up the carpet and under-padding next to the door.  There was blood all over the area as he must have also had to deal with the carpet staples somehow.  So this isn’t just about protecting the house.  We also have to keep him safe.

10:30AM.  Sometime after 3AM we both did finally get to sleep.  When I awoke I had no sense of what time it was because the room was still dark.  It was 7:15. The storm was over.  I fed the dogs and went up to the glorious comfort of my own bed.

Creating a Safe Room

Bad things are always at their worst when they are happening.  Now it’s the next day.  Pablo is asleep and I am at the computer in my office.  All is right in the world again.  When I came out of the bedroom I noticed that my wife was crying and she had canceled her plans for the day.  She believed that the only solution we had left was to give him back.  I’m glad I slept with him down there.  It wasn’t so bad.  All we need to do is clean out the junk and put in some kind of kennel which will protect him.  And yes because we are wimps we will have an air mattress next to it to make sure he doesn’t harm himself during nights like the one we just had.  So that’s the project for today.  It looks like at least for now Pablo’s visa has been extended for a while.

So why did I write this?  I did it as it happened because 1) What else was there to do? and 2) It may have been the catharsis I needed to help me get over what we were dealing with.  If you or someone you know has had a similar experience we’d like to know about it.  Any other solutions we haven’t thought of would be welcomed also!!

UPDATE 7/15/10: Thanks so much for everyone who has supported us during this difficult situation.  Since this post can be a potential resource for others I would like to share Rida’s experience with the “Thundershirt”.  We are going to try it as well. Here is her post.  And just FYI last night was blissful – a whole night in my bed with no interruptions!  How we all take things like that for granted…

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  • Melissa said,

    Maybe your vet can try prescribing him a milder tranquilizer. He shouldn’t be so knocked out that he can’t get up. You may have to try different dosages but your vet should know the right amount to give based on his weight. But like people, he may just be very sensitive to certain meds and needs an adjustment. I hope you can find the solution, I know it would break my heart if I had to give up my dog for any reason. I would be like you and trying to find every possible solution so I wish you luck! I think your idea about a safe room is good one :)

  • Kyra said,

    Gabe,

    I feel your pain, but admire your strength to keep trying. Our lab was less than desirable for two years and we also debated whether to find a new home for him several times. It was a war between my husband, the dog and myself. After two years of chewed everything (including our new furniture, the day we paid it off), he is my husband’s favorite (don’t tell my other dogs that). Older dogs, however, take much longer. I had a lab/newfie mix that I rescued from an abusive home when I was 19, she was 2. It took her several years to get over her fear of loud noises and never left my side. She turned out to be one of the best dogs I ever had and still miss her to this day. She kayaked with me and would swim through the rapids and then jump on the back of boat to rest through the flatter sections. The rewards always outweigh everything else. ;)

  • Gabe said,

    Melissa: The vet suggested we use a lower dosage which we did. That didn’t work and I think it even gives him some kind of “hangover” later. At this point all we can do save knocking him out every time is to try and make him as comfortable as possible.

    Kyra: I really appreciate your comments as it gives me hope that there will be brighter days to come. It’s easy to say “get rid of him” while it is happening but I know we would all miss him so much.

  • Paul K said,

    Gabe,
    Tough situation. I admire your families commitment to helping a 4 legged family member through their emotional phobias. It’s commendable. Our family has also had our share of dogs with challenging issues (though not this particular one) and we wrestled sometimes with do we surrender them to someone else or continue forward. Like you, we chose to work our way forward together as a pack, and eventually found solutions that worked for all involved.

    A question/possible suggestion about the kennel/crating issue. You say Pablo can escape his? Is it a collapsable crate? The wire kind where the front or back folds in? I ask because I had a Houdini of an Australian Sheppard mix years ago that figured out if he pulled hard enough eventually those ends pulled in. My solution was to reinforce the joints with clip on D-rings.Slip those on and the dog (although I’ll concede that a 110 lb Berner probably generates far more torque than a dog a third of his size) might not be able to pull those walls in and get loose. Doesn’t solve the core anxiety issue, but might give you and the family the peace of mind to know he’s at least secure in that space when you can’t be with him for some reason. D-rings are nice because they’re easy on, easy off if you need to move the crate. If you need a more permanent solution, you might consider wrapping wire around the seams where the walls meet the roof to reinforce it. Hope this at least inspires some creative problem solving.

  • Gabe said,

    Thanks Paul,
    Yes- that’s the type of crate I was talking about. He pushes his head against the door of the crate and bows the catches enough to set himself free. I didn’t believe it at first having accused my daughter of not locking the crate properly.

    We did have a similar solution but the problem is that he is so determined to get out he hurts himself on whatever is there. The wire of the crate has exposed ends which can cause him harm. Not only do I want to know that he’s secure but I also want to make sure he’ll be OK in there. The breeder had kept him in a “run” which I guess was a different story. These are expensive deals costing as much as $800. O well, it’s only money right? Thanks for the thought.

  • Maxine said,

    Hi Gabe,

    There are other classes of medications besides the one I know your vet prescribed, that are based on SSRI type anti depressants. These don’t show their effects as dramatically as the other class (that you used), but allow the dog to learn how to deal with a stressor along with the other behavioral therapy I discussed with you. Then the dog can be weaned off the medication.
    A shipping type crate may be a better crate option for Pablo – they are more snug and den like than a wire one. You will need to gradually get him used to it while you are around and there are no adverse weather events. Once he has a place he feels safe, then he can be safely confined when needed, but if he does not feel safe, then it is likely to be seen as a a punishment. The FCHS has a wide variety of crates available as loaners for a small fee, and if there are some that are Pablo sized, that can be a good first step.
    John and I will be happy to schedule another visit to help get a safe place set up and to check the pack structure and dynamics – it all fits in together.
    Please assure MM and KAH2 that we want to help Pablo stay a part of the pack for the reasons you gave.
    Maxine

  • Gabe said,

    I’d be interested in learning more about the crate you mentioned. I’m also hoping that this is a phase he will eventually come out of.

  • Paul K said,

    Pushes his way out? That’s one determined canine. I think your strategy to build out a safe room in that relatively quiet corner of the house sounds like a good plan.

    The only additional thing I can think to add would potentially be some sort of ambient sound machine? Without knowing the nature of your home and how loud the storms actually sounded down there, would some white noise help to gloss over the sounds of the storm?

  • Gabe said,

    I thought about that too. Sometimes he stops all of a sudden as if to listen to something he heard. Then he continues on with his panting. We have a fan that we will run down there when we have the room set up and see if it helps.

    Also the suggestions are coming in from everywhere. (Very thankful to everyone for their support by the way.) The latest is a “Thundershirt.” Anyone had any experience with it? http://www.thundershirt.com/

  • Rida said,

    Gab, I’ve @ replied you on twitter, because we’ve had direct experience with anxiety & storm & fireworks issues with our Berner mix. We’ve tried Thundershirt in recent weeks, along with long-term medication, so you might want to check out my blog posts on that (mentioned on twitter). For us, we’ve seen good results with Thundershirt…a 40-70% improvement, depending on the size & duration of the storm. Our pup even slept through July 4th fireworks for the first time in 7 years w/us because of the Thundershirt and her anti-anxiety medications. Please let me know if you want to dm, email, or chat about our experiences. Good luck, and hugs all around to your Berners.

  • Gabe said,

    Thanks Rida for the great info. I updated the post to link to your blog so that others could benefit from your experiences.

  • Rachel said,

    We have had to give up a dog. He was a rescue and he cornered me the 3rd day we had him. I was pregnant with #2 and it was a no-brainer to give him back. We agonized over it anyway. Since then, we adopted 2 more (lovingly referred to as the Crack Puppies on Facebook) and it has taken a full TWO YEARS to adjust to them (and vice versa). They are wonderful, funny, cute and TERRIBLY disruptive. They have destroyed countless pieces of furniture, clothing, backpacks, etc. I actually had a running $ tally going on FB for a while… Deep down, there were many times that we longed to give them back. Like you, we worried what message that sends to the kids. Obviously, we kept them and have no regrets (well, maybe some… :-) )

    More traumatic, however, for my family, was giving up our sheep a year ago. That may seem strange, but our sheep were really dogs. Six big dogs. They were all bottle fed and super loving. They came when I called, followed me around the yard, even learned to open the sliding glass doors and come in the house. I had major surgery a year ago in May and I knew I wouldn’t be able to take care of the sheep. It was too much to ask DH to do. So, I found them a new home. It was horribly traumatic for the boys. I’ve cried about it regularly for the entire year. Well, the story ends up well. I stayed in touch with the new owners and they bred the sheep. They had 8 lambs and are happy to have us take the original sheep back! So, at the end of August, our babies will come home! It turned out to be a good lesson for the kids. I knew my limits, got help, and made it right as soon as I could.

  • Gabe said,

    Wow I love that story about the sheep, Rachel. How excited you and your kids will be to get them back! I am so glad I blogged about this incident because I have learned so much as a result and it also helped me come to my own conclusions. I really hope that it has taught me to become less judgmental about those who have had to give up their animals for whatever reason. It’s so easy to say they didn’t do enough when you don’t have their side of the story.

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