The Puzzle About Stella Is Finished

That puzzle being what is the cause of Stella's separation anxiety at almost 7 years old.

The final piece of the puzzle on Stella's separation anxiety was delivered late last night from a message on Facebook to me from Stella's original owner. The reasons of her separation anxiety are really clear now. I can now explain the reasons for Stella's two issues. 

Before I start I want to say in no way do I place any blame on Stella's previous owners. As you all know things happen in life and sometimes results cannot be controlled by the changes that life brings. I am fortunate that the previous owners have been helping me trying to solve her separation anxiety issue.

So on to her two issues and reasons for them. One of those being the destruction she does only some of the times I am gone (abandonment). Second the reason for her "frantic" attempts to escape the room I leave her and Sadie in when I away from home. (claustrophobic)

During the discussions I had with Stella's current owner last August 2015, I was told she had severe separation anxiety and was terrified of thunderstorms. In the past I had different hounds with those same issues, although they were different hounds. It was good to know that before hand but they were also something I thought I could fix if I decided to take Stella.

I thought a solution to her issues would be me giving her a home where I am home 99.9% of the time, day and night ... plus she would have another bloodhound (Sadie) to keep her company.

Those have helped her I believe but at the same time, when the causes are so deep rooted, it takes time to totally eliminate them and even then there is a chance she will always have those two issues.

By the first thunderstorm of last year I found out that she was NOT terrified of storms. I knew what terrified looked like from my first basset hound Harry. He would start hours before any storm would show up with constant pacing, howling, whining, trying to dig his way out of the house, or to craw in the 2" space (yes, inches) to get under the couch. The times storms arrived while I was at work Harry would also destroy things and at times even worse than Stella has ever done.

So when Stella whined very little as she walked over to me during her first storm with us I didn't think her fear of storms was that terrible. She paced a little but in her normal slow, one leg joint at a time ... in slow motion. Then she would eventually lay down and sleep through loud thunder and lightning with no problem.

At the time in August 2015 from what I was told, I would be her 3rd owner within her 6 years of age. That later proved to be wrong, as I am her 4th owner in her first 6 years. That info didn't bother me but it also helped me find the answer to one of her issues of what I call "abandonment" ... even when I might be gone from the house for as little as 15 minutes.

When Stella's original owner moved from a farm to a city, from open farmland to privacy fenced in neighborhoods, the family living conditions initially didn't allow Stella to move with them. On a temporary basis, Stella was given to her brother to keep until the family would buy a place that had enough room for Stella.

That took a year to do. I am not sure how many times the original owner came back to visit Stella, nor do I know how far away her brother lived from the original owner, but I get the impression the original owner did not visit her very much. It was like Stella had been given away to a new family.

That explains why from the first minute I brought her home, she didn't leave my side no matter where I went in the house. I was told "she is claiming you" telling the other hounds I have that "you are hers". Over the 11 months I have had her that has improved a lot where now she and Sadie hang out together all the time, yet there are times she doesn't leave the room I am in.

So that to me explains this "abandonment" feeling she has.

That feeling and reaction continued after the original family brought her to the city to live with them again. She did not forget what happened when they left her, therefore every time this couple would leave her for the day as they worked their jobs ... Stella would go crazy because they were gone.

Somewhere around her 5th year, the original family thought she would be better if she were back in a farm environment, so she was given to a friend that lived on a huge farm and had other dogs to play with. They had plenty of land to run on. That is where I picked her up in August 2015.

Even then, with other dogs to keep her company, and as much if not more land than i have here including the field ... Stella would go crazy when they left the house and were gone all day at work. With new doors having lever handles, Stella could and still can on my one and only door handle like that ... open the door and escape outside. While they were gone she would escape the house. They lived on a country road with a fairly good amount of traffic but much further away than what I live here next to a highway.

So they decided to kennel her during the day while they were gone. They researched the internet for a good inside kennel that they would keep in their large garage. They bought the largest and strongest, recommended by the store and were told it would handle a hound of Stella's size.

This is where her issues of feeling "claustrophobic" come in, that she still has today even in a room the size of 12'x15' and at times inside of my house while I mow the yard.

From the photos the owner sent me before I decided to pick her up, she destroyed that large black indoor kennel and basically was strong enough to break open the door lock attachments and the curled heavy wire loops that connected the walls of the kennel ... and would escape.

Multiple clips were added as reinforcements, similar to the clips at the end of a dog leash. Once again she would bust her way out of that kennel from the inside. If she was left in the garage on her own without the kennel, she would get into things, such as car oil.

They decided she needed to be re-homed after escaping the kennel, opening the door handle to get inside their new house ... then opening the door handle lever to let her and another dog outside ... these two dogs met the owner down by the mailbox next to that busy country road when the owner came home from work. They were out of ways of trying to keep her safe while they were working during the weekdays.

So what is the "final piece of the puzzle" ????

While living with the brother temporarily, she lived outside in the standard wire kennel you are familiar with. I am not sure of the size but you've seen them ... chainlink, maybe 6'x6' or 8'x10' ... then having a dog house to sleep in while staying outside all 4 seasons, through storms, snow, and wind. There could have been possible tornado type winds as there were a few tornadoes that passed through that area in previous springs.

During one very bad storm A TREE ... not a tree limb ... but A TREE blew down over her kennel and her dog house ... a terrible experience for any dog. Luckily she was unhurt but a very traumatic experience . After that of course ... she was terrified of thunderstorms or any other loud type noses. (she jumps when she hear gunshots).

After showing my friend last night the information I received about Stella's terrible experience and a very close call to being killed or hurt ... she had the exact answer and the same one I thought of as I went to sleep last night.

And I quote --- "So it seems to me that her trauma was being confined in a small space that she couldn't escape from as a tree crashed down on her and not a fear of lightning. Might be why she wants to escape from the confines of the bedroom (small space) when you are away. Claustrophobic triggered by separation."

That explains it all ... "Claustrophobic triggered by separation"

It is such a relief to finally know more of what happened to Stella in her past and confirms why she goes crazy, with destruction at times, not all the time ... trying to get out of the bedroom or even the house when I let her run the house while I mow the yard. I only leave them in the house while I mow when it is too hot outside ... like recently.

It explains the times she goes from room to room to look out the window when I take the walk down the driveway to the mailbox. I cannot explain why sometimes I can be gone for only 15 minutes and she goes crazy compared to being gone a few times 3-4 hours and come home to zero damage from her.

Yet, everything is explained now and why she does what she does is much more clear.

She is a great bloodhound. I will never give her away no matter what she does. What issues she does have are no way her fault. I only see her getting better and better as time passes on, just like Sadie did. Only Stella has had to start her path to improvement a few years later in life than Sadie did.

If you read this far, thanks for wading through the long explanation.

On a side note many of you received a notice that I had posted a new blog post yesterday only to arrive at the blog to see that post had been removed. It wasn't serious. It was just the case of me making a post and later deciding I didn't want to blog publicly ... something I have been trying to get through again this past week or so. In this case I thought you might like to know a little more on the 'why' of Stella's separation anxiety.

All is good in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella's Bad Side

How can a great bloodhound have issues? If you were to see her at the house or outside you would never suspect she has severe separation anxiety. Since having basset hounds since 1987, some rescued from shelters others bought from breeders … Stella’s separation anxiety is the worst I have ever seen in a hound.

I was told before I decided to pick her up, that she had issues. The previous owner and I thought with me being around all the time, in addition to having another bloodhound to stay with … she would improve. That improvement was true from Aug 30-Nov 22. Up until then, any damage was very minor if any took place. It didn’t happen all the time.

Up until November 22, I was never gone longer than 2 hours. I guess I became over-confident with her performance, so on November 22 I thought nothing of taking a trip to see an old friend about 1.5 hours away. I was planning being back home by 4pm … I didn’t make it back until 7:30pm. I had also left early that morning, around 7am.

She wasn’t alone .. Sadie, Winston and Heidi were with her. She had food, water, every bone in the inventory and a couple Kong toys filled with peanut butter … all to keep her busy.

It was a SHOCK what I saw as I opened the door. That is putting it mildly.

It was THE worst damage I had ever seen by a hound in the 29 years that I have had them. Her strength was on exhibit, the word severe would be a compliment … no I will not post the photos I took.

Since that night on November 22 – I started over from scratch in her “training”. Just like the first day I had her, I leave her with Sadie in my now, pretty bare bedroom. Why that room … no electronics to destroy, no refrigerator door to open … and no doors to open.

From the best that I can figure out … she doesn’t freak out if I am outside for an hour. I have even quietly walked up to the window to see what she is doing … laying next to Sadie sleeping. I have stood outside next to the room to see what I hear … no sounds, no howling.

So the ‘trigger’ must be when she hears my FJ driving down the gravel driveway. When I have started my FJ or Mini Cooper and left it running but never leaving … no damage.

Until last night I thought it was “time related” … that I needed to be gone for an hour before she started destroying things.

Last night I was gone for 10-15 minutes to pick up a pizza I had ordered.

I even rolled the bed out to the center of the room on the hardwood floor, so she didn’t have to drag it out with her jaws attached to the end of my bed … that has been her most recent act.

I even leave the closet sliding doors open so she doesn’t have to push them off the track to get inside. There is NOTHING left that she can destroy … she did all of that November 22.

So I return within 12 minutes … TWELVE MINUTES … and there are signs of destruction.

Months ago I had moved a heavy chest of drawers in front of a small wall that is between the bedroom door and my closet doors. She had been digging on the wood trim by the door handle, since she could not open the ’round’ door handle but she can open ‘lever’ door handles. I decided to protect that wall.

Within 12 minutes, she had slid that heavy chest of drawers away from the door handle … ready for this???????

She started digging at the drywall, door handle high.

Very, very, very disappointed … and confused.

So I will be digging deep throughout the internet for books, articles or even possible books here at my local library … on canine Separation Anxiety … and hopefully find some sort of answers. I guess I have my answer why I am her 4th home in her short 6 years of life.

I can’t say that I am happy this morning in the ‘tropics’ of Southern Indiana.

Stella's Fear Of Thunder

Can't quite see the rain drops

Since it had not thundered much between the time Stella arrived here in 'the tropics' (Aug 30) and now, she had to remind me this morning that her previous owner had told me "Stella's afraid of thunder". I hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary in last fall's storms so I didn't think much about it when the thunder started pounding loud this morning.

The skies were getting really dark, some lightning strikes near by and a blast of thunder ... just as my morning blog post was published, I lost my satellite internet connection. It wasn't a second after it published it went out. By that time the house was dark as night and Stella was pacing and whining. She ran to the door a few times and nudge the door handle with her nose as if she needed out -- it was just needing to 'escape' that loud noise.

View from the Mahjong game

While having a reassuring chat with her, Sadie came over and placed her nose on top of Stella's head to let her know that all is well inside the house when it is storming outside. Compared to my first basset hound, Harry, this was nothing in terms of a storm. Stella did not freak out, did not pace but stood in place a few times to listen. Harry would have been pacing a hour before the storm arrived and then he would have tried fitting his basset hound body under the couch, behind tables and crying the whole time he paced.

Stella decided this was the best alternative ... let it rain all it wants outside.

With my computer turned off due to the lightning .. I fired up the laptop, running on it's own battery, on the kitchen table so I could play Mahjong and watch it rain at the same time. Here is a screen shot of my addiction .. Mahjong Deluxe, the only app I've ever paid for ... 99 cents. I started last year to get each game completed in less than 7 minutes, then 5 minutes, then under 4 minutes, under 3 min 30 seconds. There are 4 different sections with each being progressively harder and more tiles to remove per game. So about 160 games are included. I play them over and over trying to remove all the tiles as fast as I can. My time ranges from 2:15 to 4:40 with most of them being between 3:00 - 3:15.

Along with that I had to do some weather research. Under normal sunny skies there is always a chance of Stella's separation anxiety going active while I am gone. Now with thunder and her being alone I might get the double whammy on this. She was going to be left with Sadie in the bedroom as usual while I went to the store for groceries and a stop by the library to check out some books.

Taking Sadie and Stella with me was not an option on this trip. They would have been okay in back of the FJ while I was inside but about the time I would have opened the back door of the FJ to load groceries ... I would have had two loose bloodhounds in the parking lot. I didn't want to chance that. Yet, what would I do if I were traveling and needed to buy groceries?

I put my weatherman's hat on, studied the local weather on wunderground, then checked the radar out to St Louis to see what was coming towards 'the tropics' ... it looked like I had a window of opportunity to 'escape' and buy some groceries. Heidi moved out the living room where she can roam the house while I am gone. She can drink all of the bloodhound's water, check their food bowls for any pieces of kibble that might have been missed. It also prevents the bloodhounds from playing too rough with her while I am gone.

I must admit when I pulled the FJ out on the highway I was expecting the worse when I got back. Stella had been okay during my short store trips at night only a mile away and my short trip to the library downtown and back ... so this two hour vacation I was going on would be a good test for her.

When I returned, there was NO damage when I slowly opened the door expecting the worse. All of the dog bones that were left were in a different location, the dog bed on the hardwood floor was slid across the room and Sadie's tongue was hanging all the way out of her mouth as she was out of breath and panting. Obvious signs that some bloodhound wrestling had been taking place.

We headed outside for them to dump tanks and I could get a few photos after the storm had blown through. Heavy winds the other night had gusts up to 45mph, it looks like that took out part of my fence .. where did that top piece go?

I am not sure how much rain we received. I don't have the high tech rain gauge that Greg has down in Texas ... it either rained a lot or I have a low spot on my makeshift patio.

Sadie and Stella took a while to find that perfect spot ... dog owners will know what I am talking about ... these two walk forever sometimes just to find it. Luckily they have plenty of room to add new spots if they choose to.

Heidi had gone before I took the trip to buy groceries. She was only out long enough to stay out of the rain (behind the yews) and get her job finished. There wasn't time to lock and load the camera. By the time the bloodhounds had gone outside Heidi was asleep for the afternoon.

I decided to follow the Paleo Diet shopping list. That makes shopping pretty easy. It consists of the aisle for meat/chicken/fish, straight over to the the vegetables and then the fruit section as you proceed to checkout. I had to make two trips into the packaged food aisle ... Seattle's Best Coffee #5 and some extra virgin olive oil. I like that kind of shopping.

Of course since I have not decided yet if I or they will change the FJ oil, today the line and time to wait at the Walmart Automotive department was zero. I found that out with a basket full of groceries and no time to get my oil changed. If I decide to get my oil changed there, the place will be packed and the wait long. Maybe I'll try on some Sunday morning when 90% of the county is at church. Otherwise I might stop at the Toyota dealership or just do it myself.

So the fridge is stocked, a couple of new books to read plus finish Area 51. There is an IU basketball game to watch tonight. All of the hounds are in their deep sleep mode ... should be quiet here the rest of the day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

New Dog Food & No Damage By Stella

This morning I was talking about different dog foods. A few days ago I posted photos and wrote about Stella's separation anxiety and a lot of damage.

Well in the past 2 hours, I bought a brand new type of dog food and rearranged my bedroom so Stella would not continue to tear the wall apart that was next to the door handle.

Last March, my vet (John Royal) suggested I try 4Health Duck & Sweet Potato for Heidi's skin problems. He had a client that showed a certain breed of dog, that had similar skin issues as Heidi's. Another words ... severe. He didn't know the name of it but it was Tractor's Supply's brand of no grain food. It's made by Diamond.

I have a 'gut' feeling this is going to work for her for a couple of reasons. One, there is only ONE protein source (duck, duck meal), whereas all the other brands that have Duck as their #1 ingredient also added chicken or lamb further down the list of ingredients. I have always suspected that the chicken or lamb could be an allergy problem, especially after emailing Fromm Dog Food and hearing them say that chicken was a problem.

Why did I wait so long to try it?

I am trying it now because I am desperate for Heidi. The bison, chicken, lamb, duck with chicken meal, pork, and the duck with quail and chicken meal never really worked. All no grain food. The times I tried to put her back on Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice ... her skin was red within 2 days.

So the Diamond No Grain I bought for her November 30 is now for Winston, Sadie and Stella since it was time to buy food for them. The 30# bag will last Heidi almost 2 months.

It took 38 minutes and 31 miles to drive to Tractor Supply in Bedford. That was less time and less miles than driving to T&T Feeds in Bloomington, plus they had a great selection of all the different dog foods, just a much lower prices.

I'm sold.

Before I left, I moved my chest of drawers from the west wall of the bedroom to the small south wall that is between the door and the closet door. That blocked the wall so Stella could not dig into the wall and continue to tear it apart like she has the past two times I've left the house.

I also opened the right closet door all the way, then locked the baby gate perpendicular inside the close to give support to the closet doors from behind pushed in and also block Stella from getting into my cloths that are on hangers.

I am not sure what changed for her but when I got home 1:40 minutes later, there was zero damage and no signs where she tried to tear down the baby gate or try to move the chest of drawers. The door was NOT scratched either.

That is a great thing.

Hounds Survived The Labor Day Weekend

Their pace was pretty fast and furious for the Labor Day Holiday with food, a lot of college football on the tv and temperatures hot enough outside that justified hours of sleeping in the cool inside.

They didn't do much different than their normal days which included numerous trips outside then back inside to enjoy the AC. We did do the daily walk every day after 7pm. They slept their normal amounts of time, which is a lot. In fact all 4 hounds are sleeping as I write this in the middle of the day.

Heidi went out this morning just long enough to pee and then sprinted back inside the house as I was walking in to get the camera. The other three hounds did their daily sniffing expedition and Stella passed a very big test being off the tethered rope.

The previous owner said that she use to follow her riding mower as she mowed the yard. The sound of my mower last week when Stella opened the door on her own and came out to meet me mowing, was probably because of that reason. Well today it wasn't me mowing, but my neighbor that is north of me. He is across a field but the sound of his riding mower was loud enough that she heard it.

So when she was way out in the field taking care of her business, she starting to meander in a northern direction. I called her by her new name and she turned to come towards me. Not only was it good that she came in my direction but she once again answered to her new name which is only a week old.

She hears her name in this first photo. It's her choice to go to the neighbors or back to her yard. It was her slow pace but she did make it back to the yard.

With Heidi back inside enjoying the dirty blankets that will be washed today, Winston was trying out his latest hobby of eating the fresh fine grade dirt that is pushed up through the ground by the moles. I cannot tell you what he enjoys in eating that dirt but he likes it. I hope this new habit of his is short term.

Sadie is staring to like Stella more and more since she sees that Stella has no intentions of becoming "leader of the pack". (On a side note I know it's proper English to put that period inside the quotation mark but to me it's never looked right that way ... so I follow my own rule).

Sadie is starting to spend more time sleeping next to Stella or at least with 3' of her. There has been no issues of eating dog food in the same room. All three hounds eat their food much faster than Stella does and I've had to stand in front of her to keep the other hounds away from her food dish until Stella finishes. They seem to REALLY like the Fromm Less Active blend with Duck as the #1 ingredient. Heidi started her new bag of Earthborn Holistic food today, moving from Bison Meal to Lamb Meal as the #1 ingredient.

I also made a short trip to town last night and left her in the bedroom with the other three hounds .. she did okay again, no signs of damage to the walls, back of the door or window sills. That might sound weird but from photos on the Bloodhound Owners group on Facebook, all of that damage plus more is photographed. Most likely caused by the hound's separation anxiety.

I am sure having the other hounds with her in the same room play a huge factor in Stella's success when I am away. I am also willing for her to have a bad day occasionally and understand it's always possible.

I think this last photo of the morning shows that she is a pretty happy bloodhound and Sadie is no longer upset with the new hound in the family.

This is suppose to be the last day for a while where the temps here will be in the low 90's. Someway tomorrow it will have a high in the 70's. I hope we have seen the last of the 90's until next July sometime.

You never know what the change in weather might bring here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.