Oh hey there. It’s been a while. That’s because I’m absolutely terrible at a little thing called consistency. Proven by the fact that I vowed to blog each day in November and didn’t even make it halfway through the month. Go me. I didn’t promise I’d be good at this. Anyway I’m writing again and nobody’s making you read it so get off my case!
Okay so my dog’s life was not technically in danger. I just thought that was a more compelling title than ‘Chewbacca is really helping out in a stressful situation.’
Sam has anxiety issues. He’s basically riddled with them. We don’t know much about his life before becoming our pup. All we know is that while we adopted one of the sweetest, most adorable dogs around, we also adopted a furry bag of issues. Since his back surgery, he’s been dealing heavily with separation anxiety. We’ve drugged him a little bit (naturally of course) – and while it definitely helps, he still has a really difficult time being left alone for long periods of time.
We’ve been dealing with this for months. I’ve been going to let him out on my lunch break three times a week for over half a year just so that he can have a little fresh air and a potty break. When I get there, he’s usually standing on his hind legs in the crate, whining and happy to see me. When I open the crate he runs over to his water dish and obsessively drinks water (there’s a little one in his crate but it’s always dry by lunch). Then he frantically goes to the door and I take him outside. Putting him away to go back to work is always heart-wrenching. Sometimes he hides from me when he knows it’s time to leave. Sometimes he has accidents in his crate and I know it’s not because he can’t hold it; it’s just because he’s anxious.
So this week I got the bright idea to put his favorite toy in his crate with him. He’s got this Chewbacca toy that Brendan picked up at Petco and the moment that B brought it home, it replaced Mr. Whale as Sam’s favorite toy. He had never really utilized toys as comfort items before, but I thought that, at the very least, he could chew on Chewie and try to pull him apart as a means of entertainment while Brendan and I spent the day at work. It turns out that Sam and Chewbacca became best friends.
Sam and Chewie taking a potty break at lunch time.
Now, it’s like I have a totally different dog on my hands (in a good way). He’s still just as sweet and loving as can be, but when I went to let him out today at lunch… he was just relaxing in his crate with Chew. He didn’t seem anxious or frustrated when I opened the door. He didn’t run to the water and lose his mind guzzling water. He stepped out of his crate and then gingerly picked up Chewbacca so that they could enjoy a nice trip outside. When Sam needs to do his business, he places Chewie down in the mulch to wait in a safe place. I’ve tried picking the toy up to carry it for him, but when he notices that I’ve got it he jumps up on my legs, essentially asking me to let him carry his new best friend himself.
I know it seems so stupid, but I feel like this little toy might be saving my pup’s quality of life. It’s too bad that Brendan and I can’t be there as a companion more often. And certainly, the cat is no help. I was getting really stressed feeling like we adopted this little guy just to keep him locked in a crate for most of his time. Now the only thing I have to worry about is what happens when Chewie inevitably breaks. Guess I better get a sewing kit.
-Linds
lindsay.l.barta 