Living with a shy dog: the house full of spiders

I’m lying on my bed, cuddling with the person I love most in the world, periodically eating chocolates. And yet I’m shaking with fear. Just one flight of stairs away from me, the bottom floor of my house is teeming with spiders. Big ones, small ones, masses of them, crawling all over each other, completely covering the floor in a sheet of black. My loved one tells me not to worry. Why would the spiders come up here? I'm being silly. Yet I can’t relax. Who is to say what a spider might do?

No, that didn't actually happen. What did happen was this: I had my shy dog Jenny upstairs in bed with me and I fed her little smelly meaty dog treats while she shivered in terror. Outside, our tenant was moving out, and burly men were carrying boxes and pieces of furniture down the driveway. I knew none of these men were going to come inside, pin Jenny down, and extract her organs, but somehow she couldn’t believe that. Every time I found myself getting frustrated at her over the top reaction to these men from whom she was completely safe, I reminded myself about my vision of the room teeming with spiders. Who am I to say what will happen? Who am I to say what is terrifying?

Jenny, always alert!

Jenny barks in fear when my husband comes home. She loves him, and after her initial startle, she comes up to him to be petted. My husband sometimes gets (only so slightly) frustrated with her: she knows it’s him! She loves him! So why is she scared every time he comes through the door? I imagine what I'd feel if my loved one had a habit of coming home waving a large gun in my face. Even if I knew intellectually that he had no intention of firing it, I’d still feel deep apprehension. I think that the sound of the opening door is as scary to Jenny as the sight of a loaded gun would be to me. When I’m feeling unsympathetic to her fears, it helps me to translate them into images that are as viscerally compelling to me as her fears clearly are to her.

We continue to give her treats and reassurance when something scary happens, to teach her how to relax in the face of her fears, and to provide her with both daily and as-needed medications to aid her brain in processing her fears. Over the years, she is gradually becoming an entirely different dog. But it’s an ongoing process.

Jenny, learning to relax with a loved one.

Dogs and brains link fest

Here's what I've been reading and tweeting about this week (in between scrambling to get an NSF grant proposal submitted):

• Fascinating post on the genetics and ethics of Shar-Pei wrinkles from Pedigree Dogs Exposed
• Trainers and vets need to collaborate better! I fervently agree. From Jennifer Cattet.
• Companion Animal Psychology on a recent study which suggests that owning a pet might help decrease stress in the parents of autistic children
• Julie Hecht got interviewed about what dog breed is the smartest (I suspect the answer will not surprise you, but it's a good read)
• And I and other researchers got interviewed about why dogs get perhaps a bit too happy when we come home, and what you can do about it
• #fieldworkfail was the awesomest thing to happen on Twitter last week
• People are actually using DNA to find out whose dog pooped there
• The American Animal Hospital Association just published guidelines for veterinarians on behavior management for dogs and cats. A trainer weighs in.
• The brilliant Ed Yong on that most complicated of hormones, oxytocin. Bonus cute baby mouse picture.
• Julie Hecht writes about dogs, cats, owners, and Crazy Green Monsters
• Want highlights of what the veterinary behaviorists talked about at their symposium this summer?
• Companion Animal Psychology on that question that I keep hearing people ask: does early spay/neuter affect an animal's behavior? This study was done in kittens and found no effect. (But as always, remember these studies are hard to interpret due to difficulties in study design.)
• Lovely and informative metaphorical tour of the brain
• Update on the new strain of canine influenza (dog flu) which was first identified in Chicago and has moved to Georgia
• The pet microchip market is expanding, and that might not be a good thing
• Do you know what "shelter medicine" really means? (Lots of people don't.)
• You'd think show dogs would be the perfect weight. You'd be wrong
• Should Vets Give Treats to Pets? (spoiler: absolutely!)