[pyrnet] anxiety question

["padawan" <padawan@attbi.com>]

Hi Everyone,

I just recently joined this list.  What a great place!  I have a 6 yo spayed
female named Amadea who is a member of our family.  She's a little on the
big side (about 125 lbs), her nose is slightly pink, but she's loveable and
very much the family dog.  We have had her since she was 8 weeks old.  In
general  she is very mellow and loves to be with the kids.  She's smart,
independent and stubborn but knows the rules of the house (when she decideds
to follow them).  Its been great fun reading the posts and hearing about
other peoples experiences with their Gt. Pyrs.  Unless you have one it can
be difficult to explain who they are.

We have had a problem lately leaving her alone.  I have left her in the
house alone for several hours without incidents for many years.  I can't
leave her outside (we have 4 arces fenced) because she will bark (surprise
surprise!).  Anyway, two weeks ago I left her in the house for about 4-5
hours.  When I came home, I found two doors she had attemped to tear apart
(she was trying to get through the windows) and a set of blinds ripped to
shreds.  At first we thougth someone had tried to get in.  However, a week
later I had to leave her again and was gone only 2 hours.   The same thing
happened again, the doors further mangled and a second set of blinds
destroyed.  When I came home the second time, she was visibly agitated. We
have never seen this type of behaviour in her before. She has not had a
chewing issue since she was a pup.   Prior to these events the worst she
ever did was sleep on my bed while I was gone.

In the past year she has also developed the fear of thunder many have
discussed recently.   Could these be related?  Is this something I should be
discussing with my vet or could this be a behavior problem?

I have read the posts about anxieties but are these mostly related to
younger dogs?  Do older dogs develop anxieties too?

Thanks for listening.

Deb