A Very Big Setback

Mimi had a major nervous breakdown yesterday. I'm not sure when or even if she will complete in agility again.

We had a three-day trial this weekend, and starting on Friday morning, her anxiety was ramping up with every hour that passed. By Saturday afternoon, she was so panicked and trembling so much that I could hardly hold her. Forget putting her on the ground on a leash. She would lunge in all directions in an absolute fear/flight mode. She was refusing all of the special food I had purchased or made for her: boiled chicken breast, dried duck hearts, she wouldn't even look at food. She was panting and trembling and no way no how did she want to go in that ring.

She did perhaps four obstacles the first run on Friday, a couple obstacles on the second run, and no obstacles in either attempt on Saturday. In fact, on Saturday afternoon, when I set her down, she shot across and out of the ring, and huddled up next to a supporting beam and a trashcan trying to hide. I had to get on my hands and knees and pull her out of this little space because she wasn't going to move on her own.

We didn't go back today.

What is causing the stress? Noise. The speaker that says "Go" at the start, the buzzer, metal doors banging, people dropping stuff on the metal bleachers, dogs barking. All of the normal noise you'd find at a trial but that we never hear at practice.

She was apparently quite worried that I was going to put her in the car this morning and force her back to that place again. I was going through the usual morning routine which looks the same for an agility morning as it does for any morning, and I could tell that her anxiety was obviously increasing again. She just knew that at any minute I was going to grab her and the training bag and get in the car so she tried to position herself so she could watch me at all times but not be within my reach. That made me very sad.

I'm not sure how to resolve this.

We have another trial next weekend in Wichita Falls in a venue that everyone says is really nice, much better than this place we were at this weekend. I've not been there before.

I'm worried that if I don't break this pattern of anxiety, it will become a full-blown phobia that I won't be able to change with training.

I may try to take her up to the trial on Friday. I'll bring another dog with us, maybe even two. Maybe I'll give her the tiniest bit of acepromazine to chill her out before the drive up. I'll try one run then leave for the day. And I think I'll purchase a tape recorder/speaker device (like a kid's toy) next week and take it with me to record some typical trial sounds for use at home and at class. Other than that, I have no idea how to fix this problem.

My beautiful little dog is filled with fear about the game that should be giving us both the most joy, and I simply don't know how to overcome this.