Best laid plans…

We’ve been enjoying the warmer than usual Cedar Key weather and are now fully switched over to shorts and tee-shirts.  We’ve been visiting local parks and nature areas and taking time to enjoy the  seafood and even a little live music.

By now we would or should have planned our 2017 travels for the remainder of the year. However, the planning for this year has been  difficult. I’ve created multiple travel Plans A through D for this year, each one scraped for a new one.  What’s the problem?  Well, our dog, Maggie, has been displaying some high anxiety behavior in travel situations which before didn’t bother her.  Her condition has us rethinking our travels for this year and has inspired more then one conversation about our ability to continue this lifestyle if she becomes worse.

Anyone who doesn’t or hasn’t had a family pet may not understand how we could permit a dog to control our decision to this degree.  And for those of you who do have a four-legged “child,” you likely appreciate the dilemma we’re facing. It’s compounded by the fact that she’s 70 lbs and sizable. Said another way, she’s a force to be reckoned with in the back seat of our truck when she’s freaking out at the sound of the highway.

We’re trying to understand any possible cause or reason for Maggie’s sudden fear of traveling. I’ve spoken at length with Maggie’s Vet and he has seen this behavior in several of his other patients.  He said sometimes a middle-aged dog like Maggie can develop some irrational fears, which may or may not get better over time. He wrote her a prescription for Xanax and wants us to try this with her to see if it helps. Xanax has shown some positive results in helping pets with anxiety disorders.

On a daily basis we’re giving her Pet Naturals of Vermont Calming, behavioral Support Bite Sized Chews and Zylkene Nutritional Supplement for Dogs & Cats to Aid In Relaxation.  These two products are different but complimentary to each other. The Vermont Calming Chews includes vitamins and natural plant based supplements known for providing a calming effect while the Zylkene contains a natural product, derived from casein, a protein in Milk to aid in relaxation. It’s early yet, but we’ve noticed some calming effects. The Xanax would only be used for the most severe situations, such as thunderstorms, fireworks or perhaps when riding/traveling  in a vehicle. We’ve done one test with Xanax involving travel with mixed results.

We’re also working on different approaches to other stressful day-to-day situations. For instance, it had become difficult to walk Maggie in many of the RV parks because she was reacting strongly and rather aggressively toward other dogs, all while on the leash.  I’ll write a separate post on how we’ve addressed this and the promising  results we’ve had with a new harness.

One thing we(I) readily acknowledge in this process is that we are probably part of the problem and must change some of our own reactions, methods and behavior to solve these issues, if possible.

Considering all of this, we’ve decided to plan less travel for 2017.  We’ll stay along he gulf coast of Florida until mid-May and then slowly work our way up to the 4 Paws Kingdom Campground and Dog Retreat in Rutherfordton, NC…a park which caters to dogs and their owners. From there we may explore a little of Virginia before returning to the Charlotte area for the holidays.

It’s not what we’d initially planned for this year. Heck, it’s not even among our first three plans for this year but we hope it will be enjoyable, positive and productive. If not, there’s that Xanax…