The Last Two

This was a good day. Today we took the last two dogs for their annual exams. I wasn't looking forward to taking Syd and Mac and put it off as long as I could. The reason for the hesitation? Sydney has a problem. Ever since she was a little puppy, Sydney hasn't reacted well to new situations. She never learned to read signals from the older dogs and when she was close to the other dogs and they were bouncy and happy, Syd would overreact.
 
At first we thought it was something she would outgrow and we tried treating her for anxiety. We used a drug and a pheromone spray. We had iffy results. As she's gotten older, her stress level has grown. She's fine with the other dogs in the yard because she can go off by herself when her stress builds up, but in the house she lets out a high pitched whine, then attacks the closest dog.

If she sees that one of the dogs is sick or injured, she attacks them. We can't let her in the same area as Morgan and when Bailey's back was bothering her, we had to keep her far away from Sydney.

This afternoon I gave Syd some Acepromazine, a tranquilizer and some valium, an anti-anxiety drug, then we put her in the car and drove to the vet's office. The drugs jazzed her up and she was bouncing off the walls by the time we got there. She was happy to see everyone, she likes people, but needed to be muzzled for the exam. She was pretty worked up and struggled enough for three people to hold her.

After the exam and vaccinations, she got on the floor, we removed the muzzle and she was fine. She rested on the floor, wagging her tail and even licked the doctor's hand. We dicussed her behavior and came up with some ideas. He thinks she has a canine version of Asperger's Syndrome. She can't relate to other dogs and can't control her stress levels around them. We'll be sticking to the routine that seems to work for her. She eats alone, sleeps in a crate and spends most of her time outside. We'll try taking her along when another dog goes to the vet so she can get familiar with the place and get a cookie just for being there.

Life isn't easy for or with Sydney. At one time we listed her for adoption, but how can you put a dog with her problems into a home that may not be able to handle her issues. So we'll muddle on and hope she mellows out a little as she ages.

Mackey, on the other hand, was very good today. She sat still for her exam and vaccinations. She licked the doctor's ear while he examined her feet and she showed what a sweet little girl she is.

 Both girls passed with flying colors except that Mac has a chipped tooth that will need to come out one of these days.

We retested Fudge's urine and the infection is gone. Fudge has recently had an eating problem. For almost a month, he refused to eat unless I spoon fed him. Last week I spoke with Dr B  at length about what could be causing him to not eat. Then I took a video of Fudge trying to eat and played it for him. He thinks  Fudge has a neurological problem in the esophagus. He suggested mixing his food with something to make it slide down easier. We started with water and it worked. I mix enough water into his food to make it soupy. At the doctor's suggestion I feed him separate from the other dogs and don't try to hurry him. Fudge has been eating his meals by himself since we started this new routine. Today I reported the good news and he told me what to watch for if the problem should get worse.

So, all in all it was a good visit. Sydney has some problems that aren't going to go away, it's just the way she is. We'll deal with them and try to keep her stress levels down as much as possible. She won't be joining in games or parties because it's overwhelming for her, but we try to spend one on one time with her when the others aren't around.

So now for a glass of wine, an important hockey game and some relaxation.