Sydney

Some of you have asked how Sydney is doing with her mental problems, so here's a little update. Syd is on Prozac and taking anger management classes. So far all is going well. There have been no sneak attacks in four months.

Each morning she takes three Prozac capsules with her breakfast. Then, weather permitting, she spends a lot of time outside. Dr B says she needs plenty of exercise and space to work off her anxiety.
Outside she can manage to get along with the other dogs because she doesn't feel crowded.

When the weather isn't cooperating, she has learned how to avoid stress by finding her safe places. Safest of all is her crate, which she loves. She has a couple blankets and her toy cow and she enjoys nesting where she feels totally safe.

She also has a spot in the garage where she goes and sits quietly. The others know to leave her alone when she's in that spot and she waits for one of us to escort her somewhere safe. She has learned to wait outside till all the other dogs are in and then she can come in calmly, no craziness with everyone jumping around.

She eats by herself with either Rob or me sitting with her and giving her encouragement. We both try to use only positive language with her and not stress her with our commands or tone. She is no longer allowed in the main part of the house where she gets overstimulated.

I have been doing simple obedience commands with her and she learns quickly and loves the attention. Since starting the drugs she has a greatly decreased appetite and treats aren't an incentive, so I just use a lot of happy talk and petting. It seems to be working.

Syd's very favorite activity is hunting. She's part Beagle and part Dachshund, so it comes naturally and she spends a lot of time patrolling the yard and keeping squirrels up in the trees. She did manage to catch a squirrel a couple months ago, but her main prey is the huge mole population.

 Yesterday was a good day for Syd, not so good for the moles.