# Occasional Psycho Episode



## NutterButter (Mar 5, 2016)

Our dear rescue Sadie has occasional psycho episodes that can perhaps only be described by the an example of her behavior:

Triggered by: beeping from a backup alarm on large truck, beeping from television sports event, rocket launch, thunder, odd sounds from a TV show, earthquake, fireworks, text alert when I forget to silence my phone, etc. Not always, but maybe once a month.

Her Action: runs down to the linen closet, opens the door, pulls all the towels and bedding out on the floor, runs to the living room, tries to open the fireplace screen (now that would be a mess), runs to the kitchen, jumps on the counter then goes over and sits in the sink for 5 minutes, runs to any open bathroom door and wedges herself behind the toilet, goes into her private closet (which would be fine except that only lasts 5 minutes), comes back into the living room and tries to climb on top of my head.

What I do Grab her and hold her tightly. She is panting hard at this point and heart rate is high. Takes a long time to calm down but finally falls asleep in my lap.

Newest Trick: REALLY WORKS !!!! I use what my wife and I refer to as the Ferengi Oo-mox G-rated female dog version (Any Trekkie will get that). Works incredibly well to calm her down when nothing else does. Just keep stroking underside and topside of her ears. How odd is that ?


----------



## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Oh Sadie, you sound like a handful. 
I'd make sure your batteries on the smoke alarms never get low. 
June hates the beeping noise of our battery backup for the computer. She associates it with bad weather.


----------



## Anida (Jun 10, 2016)

Poor girl


----------



## NutterButter (Mar 5, 2016)

Excellent suggestion on the smoke alarms. I try and replace backup batteries whenever we have the "spring forward" time change. One replacement I bought claims to have 10 year batteries, so I might swap all of them out.

Apparently seizures can be brought on by certain triggering events, and I am wondering if Sadie's occasional episodes are that same sort of thing where her brain just starts misfiring. We warn our dog sitters and so far thank goodness she has not had any problems while they are watching her.


----------



## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

If it was more predictable and you find that holding her tightly really helps then I'd suggest a thundershirt, but it seems like you never know when something will set her off. Poor pup!


----------



## NutterButter (Mar 5, 2016)

einspänner said:


> If it was more predictable and you find that holding her tightly really helps then I'd suggest a thundershirt, but it seems like you never know when something will set her off. Poor pup!


We have a Thundershirt and once she is "setoff" it is too late and has no effect. We have used it preventatively during thunderstorms, but she is so inconsistent it is hard to say whether it works or not.

Today she has decided she does not want to leave the house. Eventually I can get her out by saying "mailman" and she will race out to the mailbox at the end of our long driveway, don't like to fool her if he is not really there though. Normally she loves to ride in my truck, but I can't even entice her with that today. 

As my wife says "the only thing predictable is her unpredictability". 

Funny, we have a scrub-jay that hangs out and grabs cashews or spare dog food when he gets the chance. Today he flew in the house and immediately found Sadie, perched on a railing and squawked at her, then flew back outside as though he was just checking on her.


----------

