# My stress and my dog?



## Huginn (Nov 21, 2011)

So, today has been an incredibly stressful day. I broke up with my boyfriend and have been clearly emotionally distraught for the last few hours. Huginn has reverted back to habits that I thought he had kicked. He was obsessively shredding the couch, the cushions, the carpet, his toys, my feet, my arms etc. Every time I try to get him to stop he just gets more into it. A friend suggested that maybe he's acting out because he can feel my tension and doesnt know what to do. Is that possible?


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Not only is it possible, it's pretty much a sure thing.

When my dad died, and when we moved, and when i had insomnia laying awake at night - all affected my dogs. happy, sad - they react accordingly.

Dogs are about a billion times more in tune with us than we are in tune with them.

Sorry about the BF. Maybe you and huginn should go for a long walk together - it would probably make you both feel better!


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Yeah, I'm sorry about the boyfriend too, he obviously wasn't the one and it won't be long before you'll be thanking your lucky stars....
And, yes, you are putting out so many more stressed body language signals than you realise and Huginn is picking up on them. Thats great for such a young dog though, he is obviously very much in tune with you.
I live with a disabled husband and sometimes the demands he puts on you are over the top. No matter how hard I try to hide it outwardly because I have to be the stable influence in my pets lives, Mol goes under my desk and starts to shut down. I have absolutely no idea how she knows, except maybe she can hear my heart pounding, or more likely, I do some type of stress body language totally unconsciously. It's an interesting subject.


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## Love my lab (Dec 9, 2010)

oh yes I am sure he knows it. They pick up on your energy, because that is how in tune an animal is. Over the summer I came home early and felt so sick. I walked in got on the couch and just layed there, well Reahven came over sniffed me and she got on the couch and curled right up next to me and just layed there with me all day....I moved she moved. It was an empowering moment of love and devotion that melted my heart. I didn't think it possible to love her more then I already did, but that day I feel deeper in love w/ that puppy of my mine.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

I would definitely say Huginn knows it.
Rhett(his 1/2 brother for those who dont know) is the same way, he will get SUPER hyper(I think trying to get me to feel better)....thankfully he has calmed down a few notches and will now lay next to me if I ask when Im sick/stressed.

Im sorry to hear that Tiff.....but, well you know how I feel! :hug:
Call or text me when ever you need to!!!


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## Huginn (Nov 21, 2011)

Ok, I am glad that it is not just him going back to his habits he had the first week. I have had so many dogs with anxiety problems, I was just concerned with it being something like that. He is being much better this morning, the only thing he wants to chew on is his tennis ball. He was just a terror last night . . . 
Thanks for the condolences everyone, it was a long time coming and what needed to be done, and strangely I feel a little better already.


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

I think it's absolutely related to your emotional state. I've noticed that since I started new ADHD meds, my dogs are both quieter around the house because I am less restless and less agitated about getting my school work done. It's amazing how sensitive our pets are to us!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

dogs are very sensitive. 

i'm sorry to hear about you and your boyfriend.....

something to do, maybe, is take huginn for a walk all by yourself.....go outside.....that way, your stress can dissipate into the atmosphere, and huginn sees a more positive side.

plus it will tire you both out and put the concentration on the walk...

let the mountain absorb your pain....ya know?


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

Definitely the problem. Some breeds are also more in tune to their people than others. When Nick and I... fight (for lack of a better term) Buck doesn't give a rat's ass but Dude paces and won't settle down for hours. It is partly because smooth collies feed off of their people and partly because he grew up in a home where full blown screaming matches were a regular thing, courtesy of my stepfather. He had things thrown at him on occasion (usually because I was the intended target) and I think that's partly what causes it. Nick and I have yet to actually fight but even just a heated debate over something as silly as breast feeding where we are literally just having a debate with no anger involved makes him nervous. We don't even have to be disagreeing. The other day we had a conversation about dopplegangers and, because of an experience we had a year and a half ago, we believe in a lot more than we used to and the conversation just got... emotional because we were remembering what happened to us. It freaked Dude out. 

His puts his hackles up, ears back, tail down (but not clamped between his legs), and just paces. He reacts like a dog who is scared of fireworks would react (which he is also afraid of). They definitely feed off of your emotions. Border collies, IMO, would be a breed most likely to react to you and your emotions.


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

Dude and Bucks Mamma said:


> Definitely the problem. Some breeds are also more in tune to their people than others. When Nick and I... fight (for lack of a better term) Buck doesn't give a rat's ass but Dude paces and won't settle down for hours. It is partly because smooth collies feed off of their people and partly because he grew up in a home where full blown screaming matches were a regular thing, courtesy of my stepfather. He had things thrown at him on occasion (usually because I was the intended target) and I think that's partly what causes it. Nick and I have yet to actually fight but even just a heated debate over something as silly as breast feeding where we are literally just having a debate with no anger involved makes him nervous. We don't even have to be disagreeing. The other day we had a conversation about dopplegangers and, because of an experience we had a year and a half ago, we believe in a lot more than we used to and the conversation just got... emotional because we were remembering what happened to us. It freaked Dude out.
> 
> His puts his hackles up, ears back, tail down (but not clamped between his legs), and just paces. He reacts like a dog who is scared of fireworks would react (which he is also afraid of). They definitely feed off of your emotions. Border collies, IMO, would be a breed most likely to react to you and your emotions.


I've noticed similar behaviour in Malcolm. He gets VERY upset if people "yell" at me, even if there's no anger/aggression to it. He now totally ignores this guy friend I dated briefly because the guy once yelled at me. Malcolm will NOT greet him (totally unprecedented) and stays between me and the guy at all times. (Malcolm does not, by the way, do anything aggressive toward this guy or any other person - he just stands between me and the "threat" and sometimes WOO WOOs.)


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

For sure they feel that sort of thing through us. Wayne and I don't fight often, but when we do Aussie is the worst. He gets in between us, and shoves himself in between Waynes knees to get his attention. And of course it gets Kirby upset as well, and then the dogs seem to get even more anxious. So yea, they pick up on our emotions probably even more than we realize.


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