Dog depressed - daddy away. Help!

[bealp]

My 4-year-old boxer is so down! My husband is deployed. Before we adopted her a year ago, she was abandoned several times. She probably thinks it happened again! I don't know what else to do. I try so hard to get her to get excited about things, go out, play, do training, etc. But half the time she just sits there. It's so not her. The vet mentioned doggie prozac, but there must be a better way! I don't wanna do that. Has anyone dealt with that before? Any solutions? The vet said it happens a lot when people deploy, when there is a divorce in the family, a kid grows up and goes away to college, death, etc. Please help us

Patricia

 

[Cami]

Do you have something in the house that has his smell on it? Winter jacket, robe etc?? Something that had his scent on it might help her? Just a thought.

 

[abbey_eisma]

My fiance is in the air force and fortunately we didnt have Duchess when he was over in Iraq. He does have to go away for weeks at a time for training camps and such. What I do is put a sweatshirt or something that smells like him in her crate. I also let him talk to her when he calls and she just goes nuts! He has his own ringer on my cell phone and when he calls she knows...she will kidney bean around and woo woo until I let him talk to her!

 

[garvinsmum]

My fiance has been away a lot over the last 18mths or so, at first Garv was very upset, he actually cried, poor baby. Now he is getting more accustomed, but I guess it's a lot easier because he's not away all the time. Like the others, I found putting something that smells of him out for Garvin to cuddle up to helps, but I had the opposite reaction with the phone. I would put it to his ear so he could hear daddy but he would just become distressed and yowl and get more upset. But it's worth a try for you. Other than giving her lots of time and cuddles I don't think there is a great deal you can do and time will eventually heal. It's important to do things that keep you happy, otherwise I think they pick up on your mood too. And if you do as I do and take comfort in Pringles, it's best not to share with the dog

 

[MY2BOXERGIRL]

My Husband is also in the military and next year he will be stationed back on sea duty, I was thinking the very same thing about Lexie being depressed. She is his baby. I worry more about her being sad than our 4 year old who has already been through 2 deployments. Thanks for all the good advice.

I was also thinking that (I know its too late now to tape anythingnow) but if you have him on video tape you could let her watch it. Thats what we did for our daughter, She was very young at the time and we didnt want her to forget her daddy. Maybe before he leaves next time you could have him make a special tape for her to watch.

Can you do a video confrence with him??? Just a thought. Good Luck !!!!!

 

[Jade's Mom]

I know that when Jade misses her daddy, hearing his voice on the phone helps!

 

[douma]

The vet mentioned doggie prozac, but there must be a better way!

Instead of prozac you could use Bach remedies,i use these to my self and Avra.Really useful and safe
http://www.bachcentre.com/centre/remedies.htm

 

[MrsTanker]

We didn't have Tank when DH was last deployed to Iraq, but just recently he spent 2 months in the field and was away. Tank slept with (and carried around everywhere with him during the day) one of his t-shirts that I kept out of the wash so it would smell like him. Also, I constantly played some videos that DH had sent to me when he was in Iraq (short ones made from his digital camera) that I'd saved, so Tank could hear his voice and see him along with hearing him on the phone once a week when he was able to call. These things seemed to do the trick. DH is due to redeployed again very soon, so hoping we'll have the same result.

 

[Tankersbabe]

Been there and done that.

Semmi would not eat for the first week that hubby was gone to school in Oklahoma. Flat out refused! He was out at Ft Sill for six months, and only got to come home at Christmas time. She would look for him through the house every day when I got home from work. She checked the bedroom, the bathroom, the living room, and sometimes she would go upstairs. She carried a ballcap of his around all the time like she was asking for donations.

He talked to her on the phone every few days, and that seemed to help.

We took lots of walks, and played, and I talked to her ALL of the time. Constant conversation with her. It kept her busy...and she got through it.

When he came home at Christmas, she met him at the door all wiggling and happy! When he came back home for good in April, she didn't recognize him at first...then you saw the lightbulb come on and it was all over with. LOL! She is definitely daddy's girl.

She gets a little down in the dumps when he leaves for drill and for other schools (nothing as long as they run to Ft Sill though). But she knows he is coming home and it mommy and me time until then.

Good luck!

Stef

 

[bealp]

Kyllian Tales....

Tankerbabe - too funny about the cap - I bet she did look like a begger!

Thanks for all the help everybody. I found a shirt that hadn't gone to the cleaners and hung some winter jackets around some chairs. I played our wedding video for her. She was amuzed at first, but sniffed his image, got nothing, and quit caring....

She went to the vet today to take care of some allergy issues and to rull out everything physical. She is healthy.

The vet said not to worry much and keep her busy. He would also like her to drop 7 pounds by exercising more - she put on a couple of pounds in the last two weeks and has 77 now.

She already has her senior companion certificate, and on Thursday we will start classes for the Canine Good Citizen and some agility stuff. She will also start going to doggie day care a couple times a week. He thinks that along with more walks and activity will help keep her healthy and even happy. The class will be fun and her "boyfriend" is in it - a litle jack russell (sp?). The day care twice a week could be fun for her since I work all day. It will also help because it's at the clinic, and it's also where she will stay when we finaly get to have a honeymoon about a month after Mike gets back. Mike deployed soon after the wedding. By going to day care, she will associate the place with something fun instead of it being where she goes when she feels yucky. It will make us feel better when we leave town for a week....

We are definitely well informed and have a plan. We will see if it works now!