u/mildly-anxious-me

I'm so tired if this. I adore my puppy. It's rescue, a mix, not sure of what. There's some labrador, some beagle and some terrier in there for sure, but he's probably a mut.

Thing is, he's a very, extremely social dog. He behaves great when he's with me, but as soon as visits come over, he just loses it. He greets them with a toy and it's all fine until we sit by the table and want to do something else that doesn't include him, he can't be the center of attention all the time. Then he starts jumping my guests, stealing things, destroying them, barking, crying, etc, everything to get any attention. I've tried having him in another room - he barkes, nonstop, even for 3 to 4 hours, sometimes more.

I've tried having him on a leash or his create near us, in the same room - same thing, he barks and barks, not matter how much I ignore him. I give him something to chew, his Kong or whatever - it's great, until he finishes it, then he starts demanding attention again. I always take him on a walk before guests come over. No difference.

I'm so lost. I don't really know what to do. Not sure if this problem will fix itself with age, or it's something I'm doing wrong. I'm constantly ashamed when people come over. Any advice?

It's terrible. I had an eating disorder (anorexia) during my teenage years - maybe from 14 to 16 years old. I'm now 28. I've recovered as much as one can recover, but every time I feel sad, or anxious, or anything bad happens, I feel the ghost of past thoughts come back and tell me I shouldn't eat, I don't deserve it, that if I can't be happy, at least I can be thin, and that if I eat what I want for comfort, I'll just be sad and fat, which is worse.

For example, I've recently got ghosted by a guy I really really liked and was in deep limerence with, and I just can't get back to normal life - and the thoughts are "hey, let's not eat those brownies, or just don't have breakfast this week - if he didn't like you like this, maybe someone else will like you if you're thinner".

And the worst part is that I'm looking really good right now! I'm not fat or overweight, I'm just right, and I usually like what I look like.

Does anyone else experience this? How do you cope?