Respite

Despite my earlier post that I felt things were going well for Xeno and I, I believe that this was merely a small oasis in the midst of a general decline in behavior. At the request of Kathy Sdao, I made an appointment with my vet to consult with her about various issues including food balance, specifically how much protein Xeno should be getting; whether it's safe for his joints for me to run with him; and of course the most pressing question: to Prozac or not to Prozac. My vet was treated to a display of Xeno at his most stressed when he refused to even come near the front door or any door for that matter. He was more stressed than I have seen him in some time so I put him back in the car and called it quits. She offered to come outside and see him there but I declined. His stress level was through the ceiling, he did not need an exam per se as I had just gone to her with the intention of discussing these issues and my hopes were low that he would go inside and allow her to examine him. It would have required an IM sedative and I did not want to do that for a brief exam. She encouraged a lower protein diet and said that sometimes high protein can contribute to aggression. She said as long as I am feeding a premium diet so that the protein that IS there is quality, she would recommend I continue in that vein. He is currently getting Innova which is made by Evo and this was approved. She also said that exercise for fearful, stressed dogs is critical and that I needed to pick my poison. In this case, she feels it's worth the small risk of straining his joints because running is such an excellent outlet for excess stress and anxiety. Finally, after much discussion and getting history, info' and specific incidents from me, she said one of the possibilities I needed to face is euthanasia if he does not progress. I was quite stunned and did a fabulous job of not crying in the clinic. She said that while he has not bitten yet, there is a chance given his breed characteristics, background and size that he will bite at some point and it could be serious. I believe she was suggesting euthanasia as a preemptive initiative and also to cover herself for liability reasons. Kathy did not recommend euthanasia at this point but said it may be a possibility down the road. The vet told me that she would not write in his file that she recommended euthanasia as she had not yet even seen him. She also said she would recommend at least trying Prozac conservatively as we have few options at this point. However, in order to do so, for her malpractice insurance, she is required to refer me to a veterinary behaviorist in order to prescribe medication.

Had I known there was even such a thing as a veterinary behaviorist, I would have skipped the first three trainers/vets, saved myself a lot of money and headed straight to her office. Dr. Sung for a mere $420 will observe and evaluate Xeno over the course of 2 hours. Once she has completed her evaluation, she will recommend a positive reinforcement based program, possibly medications and daily living conditions that ideally will improve his ability to respond to cc and ds. We have an appointment for Feb. 7th which is the soonest I could get one. Evidently there are only 30 veterinary behaviorists in the country and I am lucky to find Dr. Sung only a few miles from my house. I left the vet's office feeling hopeless despite the referral. Everyone is so immediate in their condemnation of my boy but I see in him the capacity to learn and grow beyond his history and his breed characteristics. He is on my deck right now going wild over a tennis ball, pouncing on it, flinging it around and chasing it. That is not an LGD characteristic! It also didn't used to be a Xeno characteristic. But I thought back to what M had told me about his home before hers and she said he had chased the sheep. Hoping to capitalize on a desire to chase, I have been putting raw food in a tennis ball and we have been playing daily to get him interested in it. If I can get him to chase and retrieve a ball, it will make a huge difference in our ability to exercise him thoroughly while avoiding people and dogs.

I feel there are still about 5 various options that bear trying first. As such, I emailed G at Big Heart Rescue and M of course to advise them of the current state of things. Thank god that BHR continues to support their adoptees and adopters after the fact. G put a lot of thought and research into coming up with a plan to nip this in the bud. At their request, and one I whole heartedly agree with and which I had not thought of myself, we decided to remove as much stress from his life as possible. He will be somewhat isolated with me in the house and allowed to just "be". We will modify his diet, add back in the homeopathic remedies, cease cc and ds for now, add regular T Touch (more on that below) and in short, do everything possible to keep him away from his triggers and feeling safe and relaxed. I did not consider the effect of small amounts of stress, on a fairly regular basis and the cumulative impact they might have on him. I think this will be effective in reducing his increasing aggression. I also realize that although it was with the best of intentions, I have been pushing him outside his boundaries quite a bit. I have confused his loving going for car rides, with his being ok once he's in the car and sees men; his loving going for walks and runs with the stress it puts on him if we encounter a stranger; loving the dog park but running into too many people etc. etc. I am sure this has begun to wear on him. It is a relief for me to adopt this new plan because while I started out very relaxed with him (too stupid to know better!), I am very aware of my own stress level now that muzzles and euthanasia have entered the picture. I know he can sense my stress and he is unbelievably sensitive to me and my emotions. In this new scenario, it will be far less stressful for me as well, not to worry about running into someone, a dog on a leash, a loud noise, freezing in the street etc.

Ironically, yesterday and prior to receiving G's email, I took him for a long walk on a nature trail by a slough here. There is a paved portion as well and there were a fair number of bicyclists, runners, rollerbladers etc. He was a saint. For some reason, a man on a bike is not threatening at all. He paid them no mind. Whenever he saw a runner or stranger, he automatically sat and took treats as we have been working on. Not a growl, a bark, no freezing and no fleeing. He was completely calm and relaxed, so much so that when we encountered two leashed dogs, he again sat for a treat with no pulling or turning into his whirling dervish self. I was astounded at his behavior. He was the best behaved dog we ran across and had Hudson been there, I probably would have been ready to thrown HIM in the slough! And again, tonight I waited til it was late to take him for a walk and we ran into no one. For once in his life, he got back to our house, refused to go in and insisted on walking north up our street, the one direction he always refuses to go. So I let him walk around the blocks again and he finally decided he was good to go home. Who knew?! But I also know that it isn't always like this and that's the point. I never know when it won't be so we will go back to basics.


I contacted Lori, a much recommended T Touch practitioner here in Seattle (appropriately she lives next to Woodland Park Zoo!) I have an appointment with her on Jan. 30th but she wanted to discuss Xeno with me as I had told her I would not be bringing him. After a brief rundown of all that has transpired, to my infinite relief she was horrified that euthanasia has been suggested and based on her extensive work with feral cats and dogs, she feels we can make significant progress with Xeno. We decided I would bring him, she would observe him in her backyard and then if needed, he can sleep in the car while she teaches me on her dogs. I believe he will respond well to this as he is incredibly affectionate and touchy with me.

I bought a basket muzzle which was recommended by everyone (the only thing they all agree on!) and it came in the mail today. I took it out of the box to let him see and sniff and his reaction was instantaneous, he barked aggressively, paced, wouldn't come near me for some time even though I hid it and his entire body screamed STRESS. I can only guess that he probably did bite his abuser at one time and was forcibly muzzled. I have no doubt at all that he recognized exactly what it was and what it's used for. Needless to say, this is a huge problem. I would prefer not to use anything but the basket muzzle but even switching to a different muzzle will, I suspect, be incredibly difficult. He is going to balk at anything on his face like that. My only hope is the ease with which he adjusted to the Halti. For now, I do not want to stress him even by leaving it lying around for him to see, his reaction was that bad. Since he is in relative isolation and Lori has recommended a Halti/harness combination, my control of him is very good right now. If I walk him late enough and early enough, the few people we do run into are far enough away that I can get him out of the situation in time to avoid triggering him. Lori will also work on things that will relax me which is, as covered above, becoming important! I have also deteriorated with him in some respects. I sometimes wonder if Xeno would have been better off going to a more experienced trainer who does not fumble through as I do sometimes. If there were a more experienced trainer willing to take him, I would allow him to go through my tears. But despite my novice status as a trainer, I think it would be hard to find a home where he is happier. We spend 24/7 together most days and we are devoted to each other. Indeed, it will be hard to evaluate him in 3 months which is our proscribed time period to try out the no-stress plan. He is so happy and relaxed in the house that he appears to be a totally normal dog. I will have to take him out again in order to know if it worked because I cannot use home as a measuring stick. I will do whatever it takes to make Xeno a happy, unstressed dog. My fervent hope is that he can be that dog here with me.