Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Henry’s Anxiety Coming Back?

Henry

Henry had a bad night a few days ago. He had completely fallen back in his anxiety ritual. The whole stand by the door, go potty or go fake potty, come back in, get a treat, pace the house, go back to the front door and repeat. We were shocked. We have no idea where this came from or why out of the blue he just suddenly reverted back to this anxiety soothing behavior. The routine was in place and nothing out of the ordinary (that we could tell) had happened to cause this.

Oh the worry of this, though! Was this a sign that all of our progress was going to be undone? Was he just going to revert back and we were going to have to start all over with baby stepping into things again?! That night he was amped up at bed time instead of being a sleepy head. He demanded a bonus bowl of food. He was all over the place. We started to panic. But we went to our tool box. We whipped out the lavender oil and slathered it all over him (like we do each morning before we are off to work), gave him a rub down, turned out the lights and hoped for the best. And it worked! He was able to get settled into bed for the evening and while the next morning was not 100% ideal, he was able to work his way back into his new good boy routine. A day or 2 after later he was getting back to normal (but who the heck knows what normal is these days?).

I'm telling you, I think he just does stuff to toy with us! Is it possible that he does this just to get a rise from us and good blind dog laugh on the inside? This might be an avoidance method for us to handle that because the real reason is too scary. The reality is that he is living in a house of cards right now more than we'd like to admit. If he could have regressed that much at something completely unnoticeable to us, then it's just going to show that we still have a lot of work to do and we have started to count our chickens before they have indeed hatched. C'mon, H! You've got this. You are a big brave dog. #HenryStrong

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Minnie, Mack and Mario

08/19/2015

When I first starting reading this it really scared me as well. Glad that Henry is over the hump!

Sue VDB and Annie Fannie

08/19/2015

Poor OBP family. Something like that makes everyone anxious. I wonder if it has something to do with the hemorrage he had and his brain misfires once in a while. Or like humans who have dealt with a lot of trauma, he suffers from a dog form of ptsd.

You are in my prayers that Henry will completely recover from this episode and you can relax as much as you can.

Patty25

08/19/2015

Hopefully, Henry was just messing with his peeps and not regressing. #HenryStrongAllDayLong #HenryGoodBoy

xoxo Patty

Mary M

08/19/2015

Poor Henry. He is lucky, though, that he has the most caring, devoted pug parents in the world!

Ann

08/19/2015

Let’s see….Henry has an anxiety attack and gets extra treats, another meal and a massage with lavender oil…maybe we could all borrow a page from Henry’s playbook! When my Julia wants extra attention, she limps. She is almost 14 and a bit arthritic, but I have seen her on many occasions limp over to me as if she were in the greatest pain and then flop over as if my rubbing her belly would be the only thing that could bring her back to life. One belly rub and a treat or two later, and she is galloping around with my boys as if she were a two year old! Henry has a pretty perfect pug life and is one darn intelligent pug…and I’ll bet he knows the two of you better than anyone can imagine. He needed some extra TLC and OBP is way better than any resort spa! #HenryStrongandOneSmartCookie

Christie Sachde

08/19/2015

Maybe he was just a bit off the night…he may take a few steps back every now and then but I bet he will never go all the way back to where he was. Here’s for no more panic in the pug:)

Susan States

08/19/2015

It is hard when all seems to be moving ahead and then BAM! Hope this was a minor set back-perhaps the coming change of the seasons? It’s especially hard when it comes to older dogs I have been seeing this in Daisey-1 good day, 1 not so good day, the OBP peeps now this all too well. Henry will continue to progress after all he is #HenryStrong#HenryGoodBoy! Pug hugs from pastor sue & the Colorado 2

Sandra B.

08/19/2015

We all have a bad day from time to time, sounds like Henry may have had his earlier this week.

I can relate, we recently sold the house (after 19 years) were we lived with my dearly departed Nick and Nora Puggies.
I was feeling sad the other day about it, missing my Puggies like nobody’s business! But, stiff upper lip and all that…

#HANKWILLPREVAIL

Martha

08/19/2015

I’m so sorry to hear that Henry had a bad night with a step backward. Must have been really worrisome for you! It sounds like you coped with it really well.

It seems to me that it’s very possible a very small thing triggered a thought or memory that was a bad one, and that led to anxiety. For dogs and people alike, it can be tough to shake those feelings off. So I actually think Henry coped fairly well to let your tried and true efforts settle him down to his good boy routine.

Unless you’re right that Henry likes to play with you and is chuckling to himself on the inside 😉

Brenda Cooper

08/19/2015

I think everything has been said but it does seem likely that something set off a memory or feeling that upset him. Hopefully it won’t happen again. I know how worried you both must be. I am still praying for your little family and sending pug hugs your way.

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Henry’s Anxiety Coming Back?

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