Animals and mental illness

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1. My anxious dog

So glad to see this posted. I have an 11 year old collie mix dog and about a year ago she suddenly seemed to be having anxiety attacks - mostly at night. She jumps up very suddenly as if from a bad dream and jumps on the bed and, panting and drooling, tries to climb and lay on me. She is a about 65 pounds, not a small dog, and I am only 4'8", though I certainly weigh more than she does. This has, also, happened during the day, at which time she tries to stay between my legs. She has to be as close to me as possible. Eventually it passes, but it can take hours. What I do at night is make her leave the bedroom and close the door. She scratches at it and I eventually let her back in and she seems calmer. It's a bit like a time-out, though I think the behavior is anxiety driven. I hate the thought of medication but it may, eventually, be an option. It is a relief to know that this behavior may not be unusual. I have wondered about something in the environment, but I have no idea what. Again, thanks so much for posting this. I would love to see other replies to this with some info on how people handled this type of problem.