[suesands]

I went on vacation and left my dog with my daughter and cousin. My dog is a beagle bassett and ever since I got home she barks whenever I put her to bed. The bark is different and she shakes really bad and runs from me barking unlike anything I have seen. She also crouches down and looks up at the ceiling, almost like her vision is going bad or something. She seems to be eating more and swallowing a lot. Any advise.
My vet put her on Valium which will eventually knock her out but I don't want to live like that. My daughter and Cousin claim that nothing happened to her. I am taking her to the vet to see if they can help. If anyone has any advise I would greatly appreciate it!:confused:

[Choux]

They abused your dog in some way. If they would tell you what they did to her, you could devise a plan to help the dog get over the unfortunate experience.

[suesands]

That's what I think but they said once I left she wouldn't leave the laundry room and barked back there. I have gone away before and she has never done this. She did it for 5 days, then I gave her the valuim for two nights, she stopped for a week and started again the other night.

[labman]

They abused your dog in some way. If they would tell you what they did to her, you could devise a plan to help the dog get over the unfortunate experience.

While this is an obvious possibility, I am happy you are taking her to the vet. Any negative event could have been accidental or even unknown. Choux has not earned my confidence in her knowledge of dogs.

[suesands]

Yes I hope the vet can help, she is a rescue dog and has always been skidish but this is just so weird and frustrating.. She's fine if she's next to me but she hates her bedroom. I also have two other dogs that are starting to get a bit stressed out by her barking. I will let you know what the vet says. Thanks you so much for your time.

[RubyPitbull]

I would hate to jump to the conclusion of abuse here. Simply walking a dog on a different schedule than what she is used to can cause stress. It all depends on the confidence level of the dog. Since she is a rescue and has always been skiddish since you adopted her, it may simply be that she is getting older and used to the schedule you had her on. Dogs are creatures of habit. When their routines are changed they don't respond well to it. Put a rescue in someone else's home when she has finally adjusted to your own home and the routine you have set up, can cause a major disruption to all the work you have done with her. You have to look at it from her perspective. Her leader was gone, she is in another place and she has no way of knowing if you are coming back. That is so very confusing and disconcerting to her. All dogs are affected in varying degrees by changes in their routine depending on their age, the background, and how strong a leader you are. The fact that she is fine when she is next to you is a huge clue. If you are a strong leader with your dogs, your not being there could have created a major stress factor for her and she is having trouble calming down. She is sticking close to you because she finds comfort in it. She may think that you will disappear again and leave her. Time is a concept dogs don't understand. You say you have gone away before, so give it some thought as to what could possibly have been different this time. Has it been awhile since your last trip prior to this one? Did you go away for a longer period than usual?

I think the trip to the vet is a good idea. Since you haven't mentioned her age and how long you have had her, you do need to rule out any physical problems first. If it is a training issue, come back here and give us an update as to exactly what is going on, how old she is, how long you have had her, and when you took these trips and for how long. Did you take most of your trips close to the time you adopted her and haven't taken one in a while until this recent one? You need to look at this from every angle and you need to consider that due to not knowing exactly what she has been through prior to you rescuing her, she may be suffering from separation anxiety to the "nth" degree and all the training advice in the world may not help. She may need to continue to be on anti-anxiety medication for a while until she is confident her routine is completely back to normal.

[N0help4u]

She either was abused or she is suffering from separation anxiety disorder. It could be that you leaving her in an unfamiliar place with strangers tramatised her.

[suesands]

My dog Audrey is 5 years old, I have owned her since she was 6 months. She was in her own home and yes I was gone longer than I ever have been. She is on a anti anxiety compulsive behavior medicine and valuim. I only give her the anti anxiety. She fights the valuim and I only give it to her when she is really out of control. She still barks every night. Now when she barks I tell her to lay down and I put my hand on her shoulder and apply pressure and talk to her to calm her down. Her two sister dogs cuddle around her. This seems to work. But I still have no answers from my cousin who watched her. I don't think they did anything to her I just think having a stranger in her house, paterns changing and me being gone for 10 days put her over the edge. The problem does not seem to be getting better and I can only hope that she does not bark every night for the rest of her life. I don't want to have to give her more drugs because she tends to sleep all day now.. UGH still frustrated and tired. She has always been a "barker" but only if someone came over or pulled in the driveway. She is happy to go to bed but it seems like a half hour after I put her to bed is when the barking starts.. Thanks to everyone for your help and responses, I really appreciate it.

[labman]

Thanks for the update. I am concerned there seems to be little progress in over a month. Perhaps have the vet recheck her. Also ask the vet about a dog behaviorist. If you found a good one, you might get to the bottom of the problem. Have you seen any changes in the other dogs?