Monthly Archives: December 2012

Some Thoughts on Dog Stress at the Holidays

Posted on by
2

Since I have had “adopted” Yorkies for the last 23 years, I have had many thoughts on dogs experiencing stress, especially at holidays. My current dog  dynamic is no exception. I now have two very different dogs that have their own kinds of stress that I have to learn to recognize and deal with.

My number one concern is Jake, my almost four-year old. He has his own ways of dealing with stress and I’m not crazy about them. He tends to vocalize when we come into contact with new people on the street or in my home. My actions are to pick him up. Now I know some people say I’m enabling him and he really wants to be picked up, but, hey, it works.

He also mounts his soft donut bed and humps vigorously until he sports a quite impressive erection, which he waves around until it disappears. This usually happens when we have company. I’m getting over this, slowly. I think the best thing is to not make a big deal out of it and maybe he’ll grow out of it.
I have tried to get him interested in playing ball with Gillie as a release for stress, but when I throw a ball and Gillie goes to get it, Jake just jumps on her back making it impossible to continue the game. I have settled on confining Jake to the house and playing ball just with Gillie.
I live and learn from Jake.

Gillie’s stress is managed by close contact with me. She loves to sit at my side, across my lap, on my chest, on my laptop, wherever I’ll let her perch. I’ve also noticed that she may pee in a non typical place when stressed. I think she once had a UTI that was cleared up after she was on antibiotics for something else, so I can never rule that out as a cause for house training mistakes.

I found an interesting article on this subject. http://www.webvet.com/main/2008/12/10/your-pet-stressed?xid=nl_EverydayHealthPetHealth_20121206