Drooling Dilemna

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Postby BigDogBuford » February 14th, 2006, 11:27 pm

So far, Clifford is a really easy foster dog. He's pretty much house trained, crates and tethers just fine, no food aggression or off the wall dog aggression. He does have one issue, though.

He's a mega drooler. Seriously.

He only does it when he's in his crate and he's mad because he didn't get to go or he's hearing me getting the dogs' meals ready. He crates up great, doesn't pee or poop in there, doesn't carry on or bark. He's recently started shredding his towels and then there's the huge puddle of drool in and outside of the crate where he's pressed his face up against the door.

Any suggestions? Is it just going to take him a bit to get confident and more relaxed? He's a foster dog that I've had for about three months now. He spent the better part of eight weeks in his crate when I got him because he was going through heartworm treatment.

Thank you...
~Jeanine

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Postby Romanwild » February 15th, 2006, 12:03 am

I can't think of anything. He's just a drooler. :|
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Postby BigDogBuford » February 15th, 2006, 12:09 am

Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. How about the lovely towel shredding thing? For the time being, he doesn't get a towel...I'm running out!
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Postby pLaurent » February 16th, 2006, 12:14 pm

Drooling very often means anxiety.

He spent the better part of eight weeks in his crate when I got him because he was going through heartworm treatment.


Why would he be crated for 8 weeks for HW treatment? Just curious....

That could very well be the source of his anxiety. He goes in his crate and doesn't know when he'll ever get out.
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Postby pibblegrl » February 16th, 2006, 12:18 pm

pLaurent wrote:Drooling very often means anxiety.

He spent the better part of eight weeks in his crate when I got him because he was going through heartworm treatment.


Why would he be crated for 8 weeks for HW treatment? Just curious....

That could very well be the source of his anxiety. He goes in his crate and doesn't know when he'll ever get out.


Vets usually want a HW patient to be kept very calm and spend most of their time resting, this is to help prevent any large chunks of HW from breaking apart and traveling which could kill the patient.

A large amount of drooling a lot of times does indicate anxiety..Dale was like that when I first rescued him. Check for any dental issues and then try to see if you can figure out what's making him stressed.
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Postby Maryellen » February 16th, 2006, 12:27 pm

yep, anxiety. i just had a pup here that drooled like a spicket and shredded everything in her crate.. total anxiety... instead of a crate, can you put him in a large xpen with a top on it? this way its larger than a crate but not a crate.. or can you put an xpen or baby gate in a room and give him the entire room???
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Postby pLaurent » February 16th, 2006, 2:03 pm

Vets usually want a HW patient to be kept very calm and spend most of their time resting,


Yes, my dog had a huge number of heartworms and the cure and treatment was horrible but I never crated her and could take her for slow walks.

or can you put an xpen or baby gate in a room and give him the entire room???


That's a good idea. I dont' think I would want to continue crating this poor guy for any extended periods.
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Postby BigDogBuford » February 16th, 2006, 11:54 pm

Maybe a little more history is in order:
This is a Katrina dog that spent lots of time caged at Lamar Dixon....weeks. He was then sent to a dog collector where he spent a week in a cage, sitting in urine and feces, outisde in the cold. Then he was flown up here to WA and spent a week at a nice kennel before I brought him home. He's been with me almost three months now. His teeth were checked out and they're just fine.

He was crated per my vet's instructions during HW treatment. The treatment alone kills 20% of dogs and I wasn't willing to take a chance. He spent about 4 weeks of that treatment in a crate and 4 weeks tethered so he couldn't run around and play. He wasn't allowed any walks, but I do have a 1/3 acre fenced that we could go relax in.

Just to make things clear, he's not crated for extended periods. He's crated at night (because he'd eat the kitties) and he's crated every once ina while during the day ususally for no more than three hours. I take him to work with me almost every day, so he's just leashed behind the desk with me. If we put him in one of the deluxe runs in the back, the fountain is on again. He can chew through a chain link dog run so I don't think any of the other containment options would work. I do have him in the jumbo size crate. He's got a bit of a chewing problem that's getting better but I wouldn't trust him not crated without anyone there.

I'm wondering if he's here long enough, that he'll relax a bit and start to realize that nothing bad is going to happen. I put a DAP diffuser in the spare room where he sleeps at night and I was wondering if Melatonin might be worth a shot. I'm also wondering about relaxation exercises. Is a rigid schedule best for him right now? Any other suggestions? I hate to go the med route before I've exhausted all other options... I honestly think he's afraid of being abandonded again like he was during the hurricane.

Thanks in advance!
~Jeanine

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Postby mnp13 » February 17th, 2006, 11:47 am

Ruby was a crate drooler due to serious SA, we did everything we could think of to calm her down. We finally went to melatonin and benedryl. 2 melatonin twoce a day, and benedryl 20 minutes before being crated. It took about a week to see the improvement, we kept her on it for about 3 months and then weaned her off. We had no problems for about a year, then things got bad again so we started up again. Now she only needs the benedryl when she is crated at someone else's house, she's fine at mine.

Give it a try, it can't hurt the dog and actually makes them happier about life in the long run.
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Postby a-bull » February 18th, 2006, 2:18 pm

Maryellen wrote:yep, anxiety. i just had a pup here that drooled like a spicket and shredded everything in her crate.. total anxiety... instead of a crate, can you put him in a large xpen with a top on it? this way its larger than a crate but not a crate.. or can you put an xpen or baby gate in a room and give him the entire room???


Great advice. I'm a big fan of gated off rooms/areas, especially for dogs that have seperation anxiety or hate crates. Having said that, I understand everyone doesn't live in a house where they can find a room that can be devoted to a dog.
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Postby BigDogBuford » February 18th, 2006, 11:29 pm

mnp13 wrote:Ruby was a crate drooler due to serious SA, we did everything we could think of to calm her down. We finally went to melatonin and benedryl. 2 melatonin twoce a day, and benedryl 20 minutes before being crated. It took about a week to see the improvement, we kept her on it for about 3 months and then weaned her off. We had no problems for about a year, then things got bad again so we started up again. Now she only needs the benedryl when she is crated at someone else's house, she's fine at mine.

Give it a try, it can't hurt the dog and actually makes them happier about life in the long run.


He weighs 52lbs....how big is Ruby?
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