All those things might help and definately won't hurt. Dogs have short memories as far as past bad experiences. he may have withdrawal problems, but should return to normal quickly after you get back----as long as you do not feel sorry for him and inject human feelings---which, of course, dogs cannot understand. They simply understand you are different and that causes them to respond differently. Example---we rescued a whippet mix---in the pound, she was the most abject, miserable looking/acting dog I have seen in a very long time. But, our male---for whom she was to be a companion liked her----so home she came. It took us months to get her self esteem raised---and then we left for a weekend. We had the wife's sister(who Molly loves) come take care of the dogs---Molly had a relapse. Her house training disappeared, she would not go outside---my SIL was frantic. Two days after we returned, Molly was back to normal---no after effects at all. The SIL treated Molly like she was in mourning since we left---so the dog responded by doing that exact same thing. So, the folks at the bording facility understand the problems that can arise and are probably competent at handling situations---and being a friend, she will probably do extra. Go---have fun. Don't worry about the dog. And be glad to be reunited, but do not feel guilty when you coame back..

My 15 year old dog had some of the same issues. I think it is a combination of senility and pain. Panting is a sign of pain in dogs. Senility can cause anxiety. About my dog: At about 14, she forgot how to drink water from her bowl. Seriously. I tried every type of bowl, raised it, lowered it, whatever. I ended up having to give her water by using a needleless syringe and squirting it into her mouth. I also could put a cup or so of water in with her food and she drank that fine. Weird. She was also restless at night. Pacing, panting. I think from general confusion, (senility), and probably pain. I had her on deramaxx for arthritis. When that seemed to stop helping, I switched to steroids. Normally I would not put a dog on constant steroids, but at her age, it wasn't like I had to worry about long term effects. I also gave tramadol - twice a day. Increased to 3 times a day towards the end. I think that just like when people get old, old dogs do not need as much sleep/cannot sleep well at night. Think about how many old people get by on 5 hours a night. Part of that may be because they sleep a lot during the day, just like dogs do. Just a theory. Anyway, I would consider switching to steroids for the arthritis, and giving your dog an extra tramadol at bedtime. Good luck, I know it is heartbreaking. My Maggie would get "stuck" too. Behind doors due to senility, or on slippery areas (tile, wood laminate), because she didn't have the muscles in her back legs to be able to get up :( And, I'm very sorry about your daughter Jill. I know the pain of losing a child never goes away.

The T-shirt or anxiety wrap does work. I've used both with dogs who are severely afraid. In addition I use Melatonin, proven to be effective for dogs who have this phobia. The dose is 3mg for a large dog, half that for a small dog. I have an 80 pound hound I give 6mg to. I don't think you can overdose on it unless you feed them the whole bottle. It's a naturally produced chemical that tells the brain that its time to relax and get ready for bed. The minute mine show any anxiety -- they can pick up thunder far sooner than we can -- I break out the Melatonin. I wrap mine in cream cheese because they like the taste and have trouble spitting it out. :) We have a new neighbor with firecrackers so we have nightly panic attacks now. I have 9 dogs, 7 of whom are terrified of loud noises and thunder. Oh joy. I'm trying to get them to associate the noise with treats. It seems to be working a little. I went through a whole package of cheap cookies (more distracting than dog treats) and Maggie my hound who is the most frightened was smiling by the time the last crackers went off. One thing to be sure to do is not buy into the fear. Be happy and bouncy when you talk to them and tell them it's just noise. If they are really bad though, you need to speak to your vet about something stronger than Melatonin. Peace, Jane and the Gang

I have a Thundershirt sized for my lab I will send you if you want to try one. She started getting phobic about fireworks and we had neighbors who would shoot off big aerial displays that rattled our windows and shook the house. It was kind of too little too late by that point and we have found other things that have helped more. Neighbors moved too, so we only have the distant fireworks for the most part and seem to be able to limit the valium to a half dose on the 4th and NYE. Anyway, we aren't using the Thundershirt now and if it could help, I'd be happy to send it to you. We also use Composure chews. In our case, I give them to the dogs for a day or two before the main fireworks holiday and a day or two after -- mainly to catch the folks who set them off for days. They do seem to help, but that alone is not enough. I also started using Hemp and Hips supplement chews after a co-worker was raving about a hemp supplement when she was talking with my DH. I researched them and decided to try this less expensive one first. We gave it to both dogs -- the lab to see if it helped with anxiety and general energy (she was 12) and the border collie for arthritis/joint support. It made a quick difference in both dogs, but we have backed off giving them to the lab on a regular basis because of other health issues. One thing I will tell you is that you can give a dog too much. After seeing how the dogs responded, DH bought a bag of hemp hearts at Costco. He used them regularly for a while and then stopped. I thought I might use some in the dog treats I make and then not have to buy the supplements. What I didn't stop to think about was dosing -- or the fact that with the boys home this summer, my brown-eyed beggar was getting an uncontrolled and increased dosing. We went through a couple thousand dollars in vet bills when she had accidents inside the house but didn't have a UTI. The docs were telling us she needed this test and then that one -- did an ultrasound looking for cancer, blood panels and specific tests. Something wasn't sitting right with me -- and I don't think the vets believe me, but I researched it and found that a high amount of hemp can cause incontinence. Back off the hemp though and things return to normal. It's worth trying -- and we're still using it, but with more awareness. I will also tell you that I realized that my lab got worse about fireworks after I got upset about the shaking windows and the fact that they were concerning the dogs or the fact that we were getting the glowing embers from their fireworks coming down in our yard during the summer of our worst drought. By seeing me get upset about her being upset, I was reinforcing her fears and telling her there was a real threat to be upset about. I started looking at ways to work on behavior modification and de sensitizing. Of course, that works best if you know what is causing her anxiety, but you can work on rewarding her for not losing it when she is starting to get anxious. I used distractions -- activity, TV on, training and giving her treats to give her positive things to associate with the c=sounds instead of all negative. It has helped a lot. We have gone from several days of having to medicate her in the evening to pretty much being able to use chews and treats and only having to use medication in a half dose once or twice each season. Sorry this is so long. Hope something here is helpful.