Help! My dog has extremely bad Anxiety when outside!

[Sebby]

I have a American staffy, I’ve had her since she was 7 weeks old, but ever since she reached the age 1 (she’s 2 years old now) she has been impossible to handle. Out of the blue she has started ripping off our fly screen Windows. Fly screen doors. She does not stop crying day and not until we let her inside. We have tried ignoring her, but she does not stop. She jumps the gate that blocks off the side of the house just to get to my window. She has ripped every single fly screen on every window. She continually rips the fly screen door off till the point I’ve taken it off. She has sliced her paws open jumping a fence that seperates the back yard from the undercover area when the gate door is open... she will close the gate door and jump over the fence. She will legit just go insane until she’s inside, it doesn’t matter if she’s by herself or with someone as long as she’s inside she’s fine. But she’s too big to stay inside all the time. Lately I’ve been letting her sleep in my room during the night but through the day I pop her outside and she goes insane again! She has cost me a fortune taking her to the vets because she’s broken a nail or sliced her paw open from doing all this and drools constantly during it as well.. like you’ll walk outside and there is just puddles of drool from her.  I’m getting abused by my parents cause she doesn’t stop because she’s my dog. I’ve tried treats with ingredients that help calm her down, they worked at first but don’t anymore, I’ve bought them from the shops. 
we had another dog who was 10 years old so she was never l alone outside but that didn’t matter... she still did it with him outside with her as well. But sadly he passed away from a snake bite last week so she is on her own now. 
 

is there anything I can do to make her stop?  I cannot sleep or anything because she won’t stop whining I’m going insane! 

[Rebanne]

so she has had 12 months of doing this behaviour? From 1 year to now at 2 years. I think you need a professional behaviourist so they can see your dog in action

[Two Best Dogs!]

That sounds so stressful you and the dog both   I wonder if something happened in the yard one day and now it's evolved into full on stress habit  

 

Seconding needing a professional behaviourist, that is very extreme!  Anxious Dogs  of  Australia Support Group on facebook has a few dogs that are like that/were like that/are improving. They also have huge list of reviewed behaviourists to help you pick from, and can also ask for other local options if the ones in the list do not suit you.

[persephone]

What a shame it has been happening without help for you for a whole year  I can imagine how awful it must be. 
I agree that something probably happened to absolutely terrify her one day, home alone ..and now, just being outside is the trigger. Being indoors is away from the 'nasty'..and so she can relax. Locking her outside will never fix it. She is at a big risk of also dying from snakebite, as she will be too anxious to pay any attention

It will cost money, but, if you really want help, a PROFESSIONAL dog behaviourist ..NOT just a trainer is the only way to go. 

Two best Dogs wrote a good post. 

You and your poor dog will need a management program - she will need a lot of extra training ..doing different things, and she may need medications to help her ..not treats..but that was a good thought  


 

Edited November 9, 2019 by persephone

[Dogsfevr]

I would suggest the signs where there when younger .

You need to see a vet behaviourist and ideally a year ago would have been better but there is no cheap fix or simple solution.

[juice]

I agree , something has happened in the yard and she is now terrified. Imagine you were forced every day to do something you were scared of , drooling is a massive sign of the stress she is under , she is not being naughty she can’t help it . 

Please don’t just go to the nearest cheapest trainer , they will probably make it worse and cost you in the long run . Vets are no good at this either , you need to look at the recommendations in the above replies and in the meantime leave her inside . 

[Tassie]

5 hours ago, Dogsfevr said:

I would suggest the signs where there when younger .

You need to see a vet behaviourist and ideally a year ago would have been better but there is no cheap fix or simple solution.

Agree .. definitely a vet behaviourist .. not just a non-vet trainer.  The dog will almost certainly need some medication (not just pet store calming treats) just so thaty the edge can be taken off what sounds like extreme distress, before any useful training/behaviour modification can happen.