Ben and I just returned from a week-long vacation visiting my family in Oregon. Leaving Porter, Sadie and Brenda for a week is quite a task. The only person who can stay with them is Belisa--the only person besides me whom Brenda has grown to trust. Luckily, she was available and up for the job.
I didn't sleep the night before our flight. Takeoff was at 6 am, but still, I was intent on over-organizing things for the dogs...and the fleet of people taking care of them.
In addition to Belisa, who was their live-in caretaker and the only person who could handle Brenda, I enlisted my neighbor Shirly to walk P & S for the first three mornings (then she was off to her own family vacation in Israel). I also asked my friend Sarah to walk them a few afternoons when Joe, their dog walker was going to be off because of the Independence Day holiday. She was also scheduled to come over for playdates on two nights.
I typed "cheat sheets" for each room with tips on handling situations that might arise. The bedroom note said things like: "Porter likes to sleep with us, of course, but he will stay on his own bed near Sadie. Make sure he cannot see Brenda. You’ll have to move the tan bed from the living room into the bedroom if you don’t want him on the bed with you." The note in the living room said things like: "If you have taken Brenda to the roof but she is still really hyper and you’ve already given her the evening dose of Buspar, you can give her a melatonin in cream cheese to chill her out"; "If Porter is humping something or chasing his tail try to get him to chew a bone instead or tether him until he chills out"; "If any of the dogs do anything you don’t want them to do, say ‘no’ and tether them."
While I was gone Belisa sent text messages "from the dogs" that illustrated their discomfort with the situation and their hatred for the holiday fireworks. Porter: "Nobody is paying attention to me." Brenda: "snort." Sadie: "I'll protect all the bones. Nobody worry about the bones." Porter: " I hate fireworks." Sadie: "Me to." Brenda: "What are fireworks?" Belisa: "At least something we can all agree on."
I thought the texts were hilarious, and they made me feel comfortable that they were ok.
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2 comments:
What dosage of melatonin are you using? My foster Crash has a lot of separation anxiety and I might try it when I crate him, notice any side affects?
Megan.
(And Lucy, Maddie & Crash.)
I'd start with 3mgs an hour or so before leaving him alone. It calms Brenda down and does promote sleep. I don't notice any nasty side effects at all.
5htp is also a great amino acid that you can get at most vitamin stores. It helps anxiety and is totally safe. Some dogs experience runny stool, but that's about it. Depending on the size of your dog I'd start with 25 mgs once a day...
Good luck
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