Anxiety / attention seeking in new environment.

[jennynaylor]

I recently moved house, this isn't a new thing for the dog we''ve moved a few times and he settles in at home fine. However I have also changed jobs, in my old job he stayed at home and I would go home for an hour on my lunch to give him some company. My new job is too far away from home for me to do this but they are happy for me to bring him to work which i thought would be great. He loves meeting new people and getting fussed over. He just wont settle at work, he paces around constantly, we are on a mezzanine level and hes fine to wander our offices however all he wants to do is go downstairs and wander there (which he isn't allowed to do). A couple of times hes managed to slip passed and go downstairs, he doesnt head for the door just wanders down there. He also has a habbit of standing barking at people (mainly be but he has done it to a couple of others in the office). I've tried confining him to my office (all the doors are usually open so I've been keeping mine shut) but he just sits whining or barking or paces the room. He has a bed here with toys and chews to distract him but unless you are playing with him he isnt interested. If I shut him in my office and I'm not there (in a meeting or something) he will bark constantly (he barked solidly for 2 hours on one occasion), except for when I left the office when the others in the office said within 10minutes of leaving he was silent.

I don't want to leave him at home as here he has company all day but I can't have him here if he keeps on trying to escape or bark.
Anyone any ideas?

[Nettle]

How long do you walk him for before you go to work?

If he has a good long walk with plenty of sniffing time, and then his breakfast at work in a stuffed kong (assuming he isn't food possessive, but feed him out of everybody's way, including other dogs) this should help to settle him.

If he is in a new environment with a new routine and a new home, he is entitled to feel unsettled If there are other dogs about, many times more so. Could be there is some subtle other-dog interaction that he is finding intimidating, so he takes himself off to a different place. I recommend you confine him under your desk with you, then that can be his Safe Place. He should settle in time, but it will take time, because he doesn't understand his new life yet.


How lovely to be able to take your dog to work!

[jennynaylor]

Thanks for the reply! It is amazing to be able to bring him!
At the moment he is the only dog in our part of the office as the other girl who brings her dog is on holiday, so it isn't a dog-dog thing. I will definitely try the feeding at work in a kong as a distraction- he is very food orientated! I rooted out his old thunder shirt this morning and have put that on him with pet remedy sprayed on it, he does seem a little bit better with this on and has also decided he likes to sit under the reception desk so he seems to go there if I have to leave the office for a minute. He usually gets about a 30minute walk before work but today I actually didnt have chance to walk him so hopefully when he has a walk he will be even better!
I'm hoping when the other dog is back from holiday that they get on the hopefully should be a good distraction for each other.
Im going to keep persevering and fingers crossed we are on the right track!

[Bees]

I'm not at all experienced, but I have a very anxious dog. For him, chewing helps calm him down. I give him rawhide, cow tendons, bones and other things that takes him a while to get though. Would something like that, that takes a lot of his attention, help him to settle?