[TlcMyBEagle]

Hello,
This is my first post here, what a wonderful community. My 7 year old female purebread beagle sleeps very often and just seems so down and sad most of the time when she's awake. She gets very excited when I come home and that lasts for a few minutes and then she goes right back to sleep again. We got her when she was two years old off of a breeder, she was bred twice(two puppy litters). She was never really a happy or sociable kind of dog. She shakes when she goes outside and is very leary of men however she LOVES women, though. Anyway, I brought all of this up to the vet just recently and his answer was dogs her age usually sleep alot. But actually, she's been like this since we got her.(maybe sleeps a LITTLE more now). I used to give her treats and that made her extremely happy, lol,but she had surgery last year and had bladder stones removed so now she is prescribed a special diet for life by the vet, so no treats ever again.

I seriously think this dog could benefit from some kind of doggie antidepressant if they exist? Do they? Any comments and or suggestions is appreciated. Like I said she shakes when she's outside, so walking her does not do anything at all. And I give her lots and lots of attention and pet her very often.

 

[angelaH]

Welcome to beagle world.
Has your vet made sure that there is nothing physically wrong? She had bladder stones last year and must have been in pain before surgery. What is the diet? Does she enjoy eating? You could use some of her diet food as treats?
It sounds as if she is still carrying baggage (bad experiences) from her early days. Does she get broody? Our Susi had to have puppies for the first 6 years of her life and now aged eight and a half,she still gets broody if she gets a soft toy.
Sounds like your girl had bad experiences with men. How does she get on with other dogs?
Once it has been confirmed that she is healthy, then maybe get male friends to come round and first get them to ignore her, then gradually get them to offer her a diet treat. She will eventually get used to men being nothing to be afraid of. Our Snoopy used to growl at any men who came in, but eventually got used to them and now greets all our friends, and strangers who call.
Beagles DO sleep a lot, when ours aren't eating, sniffing in the garden or out walking, they sleep.
Do you have a dog park near you?I cant tell where you live, but once she gets over her fears I'm sure she'll love to go for walks. Do you have a garden?
If she gets on with other dogs, do you have friends with dogs?
Once I know more about your circumstances then maybe I can come up with more suggestions. I just know that our two rescues are much happier together and depending on your circumstances it might be worth considerng a second dog?

 

[TlcMyBEagle]

<span style="font-weight: bold">Quote by A doghouse </span> Welcome to beagle world. Thank you

<span style="font-weight: bold">Quote by A doghouse </span> Has your vet made sure that there is nothing physically wrong?
She just had a visit to the vet in Februaray, although he didn't do a urinalysis or have any blood work done.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Quote by A doghouse </span> She had bladder stones last year and must have been in pain before surgery. What is the diet?
It's called Prescription diet CD
<span style="font-weight: bold">Quote by A doghouse </span> Does she enjoy eating?
IMMENSLY, lol
<span style="font-weight: bold">Quote by A doghouse </span> You could use some of her diet food as treats?
The only treats this company offers(and it's the ONLY brand the vet said she could eat)is dry doggie treats...in which she doesn't like. Give her some beggin strips(resemble bacon) and we have one happy beagle.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Quote by A doghouse </span> How does she get on with other dogs?
Not too well, we just bought and sold a Yorkshire terrior because of the fact that she kept snapping at her.
Do you have a garden? No I do not, I live in an apartment but have plenty of places to walk her.

 

[beagletails]

To start off...I have a 3 year old Beagle that has been bred before (by us) and last fall we had to take her in to the vet because we thought she was terribly ill. It cost me $262 to find that she was perfectly healthy, but DEPRESSED! (A doghouse) asked if your female gets broody - well I can sure tell you that Maya does. Hence the reason for the depression so often. We had a 2nd female that was bred last fall, but Maya was on her break from breeding then, so when Jas had her babies, Maya couldn't hardly stand it. She did help to mother them A LOT, but she knew it just wasn't the same as having her own. I felt so bad for her. Then due to problems with Jasmine's delivery and her mothering skills we opted to return her to her previous owners with a selected pup. Once her litter was sent on to their new homes and Jasmine and pup returned to her previous owners...Maya became so depressed that it prompted that visit to the vet. She wasn't eating well, she was sleeping all the time, she was shaking or shivering as if she couldn't maintain her own body temperature, etc... Well since then she has had her times of moodiness, but due to her own pregnancy for the last two months - she is GREAT!!

Now with all of that being said - Maya has become more laid back and mellow with each litter she has had. Before long I may have to take a cattle prod to her to get her to move. J/K She lives in her pack with 3 other dogs and she loves them and cuddles with them and on a VERY RARE occasion we will catch her in play with them, but for the most part she walks slower, sleeps more, plays less, etc... than the other 3. She can still get very excited when people come to see us, we come home after being away for 5 minutes, or when food is involved. I don't think it is depression or the fact that she has been bred before as much as she is just quiet and content now that she is getting older. I doubt I will ever medicate her for depression, but like (a doghouse) we may have to let her continue to be bred until it she is 8 or so just so we know we will have a good 4 months out of every year that she is not sad. Who knows what the future holds for her really. She is not unhappy here in any way, she just loves to be the nurturing momma.

Now for some suggestions: (a doghouse) mentioned giving her some of her special diet as treats. We do this with our dogs. We keep a container of their kibble on the table and when they do a trick or do a desirable behavior we give them a kibble of their own food. They are so silly and they think it is a real treat. We also feed ours baby carrots. I can't imagine that your dog couldn't eat a carrot, but check with your vet. Ours LIVE for their carrots every day. They devour them!!

I don't know if you have children in your home, but I do infant daycare in my home so their are 3-4 babies here at all times. One little girl (now 2) has been coming since she was about 7 months old. Maya has adopted her as a pup. She HAS to check on her Kimberly every morning when they arrive. Once she knows that Kimberly is alive and well with no needs - Maya is off on her own way and can be calm. It is strange how she has developed that attachment with the certain little girl, but I am wondering if you might have some way to relieve your female's desire to mother/nurture something. Who knows, maybe a kitten or other small live animal, or a medium sized stuffed animal that she could connect with and love, or a medium sized (non yappy) breed puppy that she can nurture through puppyhood into an adult that may become her best friend, or perhaps even a neighbor child that you stop and see for a few minutes when you go for a walk. Just try out different things, but know that her sadness may just be her NEED to nurture.

I know this was long, but I hope I have offered some type of help for you. We don't want our doggies to ever be sad. It makes us feel helpless so just keep giving her lots of love, attention, keep her healthy and try to give her opportunities to do what she feels she is best at - being a mother!

 

[TlcMyBEagle]

I had a feeling her sadness was attributed to her having two sets of puppies and not being able to nurture them. I did try having a puppy around just recently(yorkshire terrior) but that didn't work out. They just didn't get along, Sadie(beagle) snapped at her so we had to see the cute little pup. Anyways, maybe I'm over exaggerating but she does sleep alot, and isn't a happy go lucky kind of doggie at all.
Thanks for both of your responses, anymore is also welcome.

 

[Sephly]

maybe going to beagle meet ups in your area or just a dog park might help? sounds like she really wants some more dog interaction.

 

[BookerMoose]

Firstly - welcome to BeagleWorld!

I do believe that there are doggie anti-depressants available if Sadie really is sufferening, but I also think from your description that she has some of the traits of each of our two female beagles.

Popcorn is 4 and has a lot of baggage from her old life (she was a stray so we don't know exactly what happened to her). She shakes when we go outside (and actively resists going outside in the first place most of the time), is terrified of men and only slightly less scared of women, loud noises completely paralyze her, and clearly she only feels safe and at ease inside our apartment. We have tried to get her over her fears and she made some improvement when we first adopted her 2 years ago, but she has pretty much plateaued for the past year or so and we don't expect she will ever really become a self-confident dog at this point. Even at the dog park she doesn't socialize but just stays at our feet. She doesn't really join in with our two male dogs when they are playing, either - and she was not happy when we brought our fourth beagle Buzz home in the fall... although she is coming to terms with his continued presence now (most of the time).

Our other female Booker is 12 now and sleeps a LOT (meaning bascially whenever she isn't eating or out on a walk). I would attribute it to her age, but she was also exactly the same when we adopted her at 3 years of age. She doesn't play with toys, or even play at all (although Buzz has been able to get her out of her shell a little bit recently). We adopted Moose as our second dog after Booker with the idea he would get her out of bed and playing - but that never happened.

Neither Popcorn nor Booker are therefore what you would call bubbly or happy go lucky - Popcorn because she is too scared to be, and Booker because she just doesn't have the energy - but I do think that is really just their personalities rather than there being anything wrong. I do believe that Booker would rather be sleeping than doing pretty much anything else - and that is just her. And Popcorn - I wish I could make her fears go away but we obviously can't do that. But when she curls up in the crook of my arm and falls asleep, and finally feels safe - I cherish that and know that is just what happy must be for her - instead of romping around the park or playing like it is for other dogs.

On the treat issue - Popcorn ended up with a severe allergy problem last year and she was also placed on a Prescription Diet food (Z/D in her case). For treats we just use the pieces of the kibble itself - rather than the Prescription Diet treats which, like Sadie, she also didn't like - and as long as we pretend they were real treats she seems to be fooled into thinking she is getting something more exciting!