What do I do with my dog when I need inpatient?

I appreciate any advice in this department. Or leads. I have PTSD and I haven't been in a hospital for years. Over the summer I finally decided to get a dog to help me through my troubles. She's been a great companion for me and has helped me to ground myself. I adopted her from a rescue and her previous owners had abused her. I have been able to understand when she is scared and pull her through when she needs a strong leader. We do agility courses together and she came to me a mess and shambles and I currently have her trained off leash, and learning to wipe her paws when she comes in the house. I use anxiety wraps versus meds if she gets anxious. Which is rare anymore. And when she looses some of her natural young energy I want to get her her canine good citizen and start her in therapy dog work.

Recently in the last couple of weeks I have gotten really sick again though as I am working through a lot in therapy pertaining to my own past. Multiple times a day I am triggered by small insignificant things where I curl up in shambles and torture. Luckily I am part of a community treatment team and I spend everyday in there so that I am not a harm to myself. But it's just getting much, much worse. And staying at home alone at nights has proved difficult and even worrisome to me, as I often have irrational thoughts of suicide when I become triggered. I fear that at any moment I will come across one of those panic zones, where I push away whatever and I will land myself in a deathly situation.

My treatment team is aware of this and we've discussed that I need to be inpatient until they stop occurring. Which could be any day. Tomorrow. A month away. Who knows? It's very unpredictable?

I have come up with ample thoughts on what to do with my dog, but I am having so many issues. And basically it's left me with tempting fate and staying with her. Praying to God I don't become triggered alone and end up in a bad situation. I do not have family who could take her. I am disabled right now not only because of the PTSD, but because I have untreatable narcolepsy so affording to board her is out of the question. It would take half of a monthly check to board her for one week.

I will not give up my dog. She has been through so much. And I need her as much as she needs me. I would come home from a hospital to a lonely house feeling terrible about myself from the start.

I'm really worried that soon enough my treatment team will not accept me turning down inpatient for my dog and take her away and commit me. I know that this sounds like "not a situation a dog should be in". But I am not normally like this. And I equate it to someone getting sick with severe pneumonia and entering a hospital to leave behind their dog. They have to go, the dog doesn't know they're sick. Well my dog is smart, this whole week she's spent every night with me in bed, when she usually spends it on her dog bed. But in general I'm pretty okay unless I'm facing a panic attack.

What can I do for her, with her? Has anyone ever faced this before?

hi
contact your rescue group that she came from...sometimes they can help with temporary fostering until you are stable again. the rescue i work with has done that ..both with my dogs when i was hospitalized & with another person's dogs as well.

what i found was that during my most troubling times...my gang kept me out of the hospital because i knew i had to provide care for them...so even with all the med interactions (& they were hellish), ptsd, did, bipolar, etc i did what i could to fight to stay out so i could care for my gang...& my rescue worked with me then to keep my guys at home...even if it meant someone stopped by to help care for them (& me).

if it was an spca or shlter you might not get as much support but if it was a breed rescue or something similar...try them. it is in their best intrest to keep the dog in it's home & safe...so see what they say.

stumpy

Gosh......I came across this just as I'm having to close my laptop. I'll check back first thing tomorrow.......there will be an answer.......

But first......recently, when I had an extended period of time when I couldn't care for my dog. (although I was home) I was frantic and at the last desparate second I thought to call the vet to see if there were any business cards from dog sitters. Over the phone they gave me the name of a woman that one of the vets uses permanently. It was nothing short of a miracle. I called immediately......and made arrangements for her to come by twice a day to help with getting Magruder down the stairs and into the back penned area. Long story short......she also took animals in at her place as well. It was unbelievable......I still can't believe the luck and good fortune of it all. There will be an answer for you........hang on tight.......grey

In my area we can hire people to come to our homes and feed the animals, walk them, whatever they need. If that is available in your area it might be less costly than boarding.

I can understand your concern. I have two cats and I think about the same stuff. With me its the physical stuff as I am pretty stable mentally. When I was in the hospital last year twice my daughter cared for the cats. Now my neighbor said she would if I need more surgery.
Do you have friends that can take the dog for a while? Its tough, but you need your dog, and your dog needs you! The last thing now is to loose that dog. I am with you...I could never afford any place for my cats either so that is totally out of the question for me too.
Call your church if you have one...anything......call a pet store, the pound....neighbors....I don't know your living situation but its good now to explore and see what is out there...if you feel well enough to do this.
I will be thinking of you. Grey will probably also have some great ideas as dogs are her life too!! I know you will get more people with some good responses. This way when you find some people to care for the dog you can always have them there in case you need them again.

Think positive...Oh my cat Lucie has anxiety too...not from any situation really but she is getting older and I think about two months ago she had a little stroke as she was behaving extremely irrationally for a few days. She even peed in her toys which has never happened. She never went anywhere but the kitty litter. Anyway she is back to normal but has anxiety and chews her tongue when stressed.

Thinkin of you. Let me know what happens. Give doggie a hug from me!!!

It's so precious that you care about your dog so much Sounds like a special dog.

I don't know much about having pets, but I hope you can figure it out. It would be nice if the dog could visit you in the hospital but that might be asking too much

We do have "pet sitters" in my area unfortunately for me though Jazzy, being a doberman would not approve of a total stranger walking in our house. And they too are costly. 30 dollars a visit. And at the very least my dog would need 4 visits a day. O gosh don't make me do math. Usually they are used in instances where a person may work during the day I suppose?

She has her head in my lap right now. It makes me want to cry and I'm trying so hard not to blame myself for this. But I fear she already knows something is wrong.

The rescue idea is a good idea. I did get her from a rescue. Not an ASPCA. But I really fear sending her back there, one of the main reasons I took her from there was because she was so terrified. Later after adopting her I found out the owner has been charged with theft of dogs. Switching out microchips in dogs and giving people back the wrong dog, when the dog ran away from the owner. And that is down right frightening. Not to mention I am in a who legal process just trying to prove that Jazzy is mine, because that place never gave me anything but a receipt saying I paid for a dog. So legally she still belongs to them according to the lifetime license. So if I take her back there, who is to say they won't keep her? And resell her? Which is probably what they did with the other dogs. The only proof of ownership is on the microchip.

On the other hand I am closely familiar with other rescues in my area, but I am not so sure they would be willing to board her, since I did not get her there. Maybe reduce cost? How would I even ask for that? I have such a hard time asking for those types of things... =/

I like Stumpy's idea about seeing if the rescue shelter could foster her while you were in-patient. I was thinking along the same lines. Maybe talk with your vet and see if they know of anyone in the local area who does fostering for people. I would say put an ad in the paper seeking a foster but you never know who you're really dealing with so it's probably better to go through the rescue places or your vet. Also, maybe call around to different vets. Sometimes the Vet staff will actually foster animals and you might just find someone.

Do you have any family or friends that could foster for you?

It shows great love and strength to be thinking ahead and planning for your dog. I imagine she is as blessed to have you in her life as you are to have her in yours.

I hope you find a good place for her to be while you're in treatment. Keep us posted on how it's going.

I agree, talk to the rescue, they might be able to help you out.

I have two dogs and two cats, but I got lucky, my friend took care of them while I was in the hospital. It's awesome how much you care about your dog, she's very lucky to have you as her human.

I hope you feel better soon.

This is the very reason I have thought about starting a charity that raises money to provide people who need animal care or sheltering during low income times.

I think the idea of callling around and explaining your situation to the rescue groups and vet offices is great! Most of these people, should they be animal lovers, would rather see an animal fostered temporarily than have to be placed in a shelter or taken away from you. Good luck and let us know!

I totally understand your concerns as i have very similar problem, i am being put into inpatient neuro psychiatric rehab for up to 6 months and am looking for a solution of who will care for my gerbils! neighbours say they will but have small feisty dogs, so does my friend, i am considering asking the local pet shop or vet if they would care for them till i come out for a small fee, the other option may be to lease them out to a local primary school or childrens centre as they are used to small children in large numbers as they used to go to nursery with me each morning! I understand your dog will need much more care than two gerbils do, but if she is a good pet who knows your local pet shop may be willing to let her live there for a while.

I still have no answers. I have called/emailed around and got very little answers or leads as to what to do. It's depressing. And things are not getting better on my end.

I am headed into one lonely weekend. My therapist is being a jerk again. He refuses to help me resolve this. Refuses to even make it okay that I would ever give her up either. Tells me "you can't give her up, she's been through too much". And so here I am stuck. It's hopeless. I just want to die. But I want to save myself. And I don't know what to do. He refused to talk over a plan for the weekend for me. I am holding on by the very last thread and he knows this. And he's just sitting back and watching me.

Why not use your dog as a service dog? If you are in the USA, there is no national certification required. The animal needs to do at least 3 things for you that you cannot do for yourself. There are PTSD support animals as well..which your dog may qualify for....
in the USA, service dogs are required to be allowed in centers, hospitals, restaurants etc. http://www.dogster.com/forums/servic.../thread/699322
http://psychiatricservicedogs.pbwork...824/ESA-vs-PSD

I have a service dog and a small part of how he helps me is calms me by "climbing" onto my lap (head and neck and front paws) and lying there until I realize I was upset etc. and regain composure.

Good wishes on this!

My best friend home sit for me I give my friend money for dog food and he take cares the rest for me .Sending huggs your way

That's a really good idea to have your dog accepted as a service dog.

He climbs into your lap to comfort you when you are depressed.
He encourages you to have routine in your day, and helps you feel safe when you're out walking.
He helps you to focus on outside stimuli when you're being overwhelmed by paranoia or psychosis.

I think those three things should qualify him as a service dog, and you may be allowed to bring him in patient with you.

I send you hope for a brighter day; Love for your wonderful dog-------------

if you don't mind; I will pray that you find a solution that is both effortless for you, and your dog---------------------theo