My Dog Needs Therapy.

If you know Glacier, you know he isn't a "normal" dog. I guess all dogs have their little quirks, but Glacier has a lot. Last night I was reminded again of one of his more annoying traits.

It all started when one of my neighbors pounded on my door and frantically asked to borrow my shovel. Apparently a sewage line had broke or backed up or something, and about half of the cabins in our neighborhood were flooded with sewage water. The worst had about 6 inches covering the entire first floor. Six inches may not seem like much, until you think of how much you have on the floor.... furniture, electronics cords, shoes, lamps, dog stuff, etc. Luckily, my cabin was on the opposite end of the neighborhood, and apparently slightly uphill, so no damage. Thank God. Although our landlord did recommend we not use our bathrooms all night. He thought it would be fine, but trust me, if you saw the other cabins, you wouldn't want to risk it. So off I went to crash with my other family...

Glacier likes visiting people. Staying at their houses, that's another story. Some people he's fine with. He sleeps fine in Meeteetse, or at the neighbor's house when I'm in Utah, or with Chris when I'm on longer trips. Everywhere else.... I'm lucky to get a few hours of sleep. Even though he's stayed out at the Porteous house quite a lot (uh, we even lived there for about 6 weeks last year), he just doesn't like sleeping there. At my house, he sleeps very soundly, and not very much can wake him up.

So here's how it typically goes when we stay somewhere Glacier does not want to stay at. He normally sleeps at first for an hour or two. Then he wakes up. He starts pacing and panting. I seriously thought last night he was going to hyperventilate at some point. I try to get him to lay down and pet him back to sleep. Sometimes it works, most the time it doesn't. I also try telling him 'NO' and he realizes its bad and tries to stop, but I don't think he can help it. He's just plum freaked out. He gets back up, panting, pacing, panting, pacing, panting, etc. After a while he may sleep for an hour or so. Then back to his anxiety. If I happen to move or get up, he jumps up frantically, thinking I am going to get in the car and drive us home. Do they make Xanax or whatever those anxiety pills are for dogs? I know, I'm a bad mother, I just considered drugging my dog. But with only about 2-3 hours of sleep last night, you would too.

Is this normal? I understand dogs like routines and everything, but this is getting a little out of hand. I just think he should be used to some of these situations by now, and he's not. I just googled dog anxiety, and all it brings up is separation anxiety, and he definitely doesn't have that.

I can't believe I'm writing about my dog possibly having anxiety. Maybe I am the freak? Or maybe the lack of sleep? In any event, I feel bad for my little guy. He's so exhausted right now since he didn't sleep last night. And its not good for any creature to be anxious for too long. I guess for now we will have to say no to sleepovers until we figure out how to make him sleep at other places.