So I adopted this GSD mix last summer, and he is an amazing dog, great with people and dogs and very protective. But like all dogs, especially rescues he does have a few problems and the biggest and most frustrating is his sudden and prolonged panic/anxiety attacks. Especially at night, he will be fine and relaxing or asleep and all of a sudden jump up with the most frantic look on his face, eyes as wide as they can be and start panicking. He will either jump in your lap, or claw his way up onto the couch or even my computer chair.

He is 9 years old and has had this problem since I got him last year. I took him to the vet and talked with him, and the vet wanted to put him on Xanax which I refused. I have been on Benzos before and eventually stopped taking them because I hated how I felt on them and do not want that for my dog. The panic attacks are not frequent enough for a daily dose of meds anyways, and I really want to do something natural if possible.

Right now if he is uncontrollable/unconscionable for a prolonged period I give him a few allergy pills (This is perfectly safe but not ideal)

I have tried to exercise him right before bed, I even take him to work where he spends about 9 hours a day running and he will still freak out at night. Once my wife and I go to bed it starts, he will usually get up on the bed with our other dog and chill for a while but at about 4:00 am consistently he gets up and the ritual begins, heavy panting enough to wake us both. On full moons its terrible, he will not calm down whatsoever and will spend the entire night awake. When he doesn't get what he wants, which is one of us to get up, he will start getting up and laying down every 30 seconds moving only a foot at most and then he will start sitting on your head...

It's bringing my wife to tears because of the stress of waking up to deal with him. I love this dog to death but he can drive me up the wall sometimes.

Please, if you have a suggestion post it, I will try just about anything at this point.

Dog on the right for reference

Thundershirt?

Calming spray


eta Good on you, for rescuing that animal!

Ever thought of waking yourself at 3:30  AM, before the onset of his anxiety attack? Maybe that's the time to put the vest on him: before the attack starts.

You just might wean him away from the panic attacks!

Try a non-benzodiazepine anti anxiety med. I've had dogs and cats on Prozac and it's great. Keeps one cat from freaking out randomly and attacking people.

Hug him, until he relaxes.

Maybe something in the house is triggering his panic attacks at 4:00 am.  It might be worthwhile to be awake and see if you can pinpoint the source.  
Computer restarting after automatically downloading updates, water softener going into flush/recharge mode, neighbor's garage door and/or car door thunking shut as they leave for an early shift, trash-truck banging cans around...who knows.  

My Dad's dog has panic attacks from time-to-time, too.  If there's thunder outside or if the Army Depot is setting off ordinance, he goes batshit.  Hunting dog, and guns have absolutely no effect on him, go figure.  
Anyway, the point is that there is some external source for his panic attacks, rather than a doggie dream (he has those, too, and it's hilarious).  

Thanks for the advice guys, Definitely going to look into the thunder vest. From his previous blood-work the vet has said he shows no signs of any abnormality's which was a relief. I am a bit of a night owl myself and have been up before or trying to go to sleep when 4:00 hits. I have not been able to hear or notice anything at all at that time-frame that would trigger him. We live in an apartment and is actually one of the few times when it is dead quiet in the house, with absolutely nothing moving. I'm wondering if its not a high pitched sound I can't hear or something? I did notice one time when I was taking him downstairs to go outside that one of my neighbors fire alarms was beeping to let them know the battery was dead and it made him react the exact same. He instantly got bug-eyed and started doing that scared run where they run as low as possible.

He just will not relax at night, he did it again last night to the point where I got up and slept on the couch and closed the bedroom door to keep him from disturbing the wife.

Even when he is dead tired, like right now from running all day, he just will not relax and go to sleep. He looks like a heroin addict, his head starts nodding down until it touches the floor, and he all of a sudden snaps back awake and the process repeats.

I do know he was abandon twice and since I rescued him we have really not been apart for more then about 10 hours and even then he is either with my wife or our other dog. My wife says when I do leave and can't bring him he will wait by the door for hours until she can coax him into coming in the living room and hanging out. I do not have kids so my free time is spent doing stuff with the dogs, and I adopted him specifically because he was older and I was afraid he would not find a home and be put down. Ever since I got him, he is never more than an arm's length away and I wonder if since I have given him a taste of the "good life" he is deathly afraid of losing me and what he has, since it has happened twice before.

Here's a picture of his look of sheer terror. You can really notice a difference in his facial features in my opinion.

Could there be something in your home, e.g.  a thermostat clicking, that could set him off?

Sounds like you adopted a GSD.

They're not relaxed.  My family dogs growing up were all Golden Retrivers, and going to GSD'S is a whOle different ballgame.

I might pursue this avenue a bit.

I wouldn't foresee dogs as being capable of having an anxiety attack. They aren't humans.

I think its been pretty well documented that they do? I was reading the other day that they have been actually looking into PTSD in dogs. They can be pretty complex. I'll try and get a video of him doing it so you can see what I'm talking about and also show it to his vet. It's about time to take him in anyways

Dogs can definitely have anxiety attacks.