Jasper, happily chewing on his bully stick, with sister, Sophie, in the background

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared any shelter dog news from Animal Care & Control in NY. We’ve been so immersed in acclimating and training our own shelter rescue, Jasper, but that’s no excuse. Jasper, like your rescue babies, is one of the lucky ones. These sweet beings are still waiting.

For any of you who have a dog with behavior issues serious enough to try medication, maybe we can go through our journeys together. We just started Jasper on Prozac.

I know medicating our dogs is a controversial thing and I was very reticent about doing it. Because of that, we tried everything we could think of and that was recommended to us by experts to get Jasper’s behavior under control.

You see, as soon as we adopted him, he began shriek barking and lunging at any and all strangers – men, women, children, it didn’t matter. In September, when we were on vacation in the country with the dogs, my 28 year old daughter came to visit us for lunch and Jasper bit her. I don’t mean a little nip. He full on bit her, creating a puncture wound in her calf and broken skin on her hand. It freaked us out.

Up to that point – about 3 months – we’d been doing the following:

• working with a great trainer,
• had gone with Jasper through an obedience training course
• had enrolled him in a great play care facility for three hours a day, so he could socialize with dogs and get used to meeting strangers
• put him on Anxitane, a homeopathic anti-anxiety product that releases L-Theanine into the system which promotes relaxation
• started him on a Bach Flower remedy formulated especially for him by a Bach Flower expert
• began muzzle training

If you’re out of breath at this point, so were we! It literally is taking a village with Jas. But, despite all of these efforts (all of which we’re still doing with the exception of the obedience class, which he finished), Jasper had plateaued. Have you experienced this with your dog?

Once he bit my daughter, we knew we had to try something stronger to see if it would make the kind of difference we were looking for. What was that, exactly? I guess to take the edge off of his anxiety enough to make him less reactive.

Prozac is doing that. It’s still early days (we started him on it three and a half weeks ago), but already we see how Jasper is softer in the eyes, in his behavior. I worry that he’s “drugged.” But, Jas still plays with Sophie with gusto and is invigorated and charging down the street on his morning walk. His appetite has been affected. He was always a real chow hound; couldn’t get enough of everything. Now, his appetite has decreased by about a third. He wags his tail more and sleeps a bit more, too.

Of course, we’re doing this under the supervision of a good veterinary behaviorist. We have another appointment with her December 3rd, so we’ll see how things go. I’m open. We just want to give Jasper the tools to be a happy little dog and a good canine citizen. I think all of us want that for our pups.

I’ll keep you posted, and would love to hear from you, too!

Please share your stories with me about the challenges you’re facing with your own dogs. Maybe we can help each other.

Up for Adoption:

Now, on to these beautiful shelter babies who need forever homes. Please share these and let’s get them adopted!

Felipe

ID#A1020574

Felipe is a neutered male, black and white Chihuahua – Smooth Coated mix. The shelter staff think he’s about 11 years old and  weighs 11 pounds.
He has been at the shelter since Nov 13, 2014. Animal Care and Control of New York City – Manhattan

Stella

ID#A1020567

Stella is a beautiful, spayed female, black and brown Rottweiler and Labrador Retriever. The shelter staff thinks she is about 8 years old, and weighs 56 pounds. She has been at the shelter since Nov 13, 2014. Animal Care and Control of New York City – Brooklyn

Si Si

ID#A1020681

Si Si is an unaltered female, tan and white Pit Bull Terrier mix. The shelter staff thinks she is about 8 years old. She weighs 68 pounds. She’s been at the shelter since Nov 14, 2014. Animal Care and Control of New York City – Brooklyn

Si Si looks like a sad girl, who has probably seen a lot she shouldn’t have. The right someone can turn those sad eyes into sparkling happiness.

Alize

Look at this gorgeous dog! Alize is ID#A1019948. She is  a spayed female, white and brown brindle Pit Bull Terrier mix, that the shelter staff thinks is about 7 years old.  She weighs 49 pounds. She’s been at the shelter since Nov 07, 2014.

Please share these with everyone you know. Thank you!

Do you have a shelter rescue? Please share your stories with me about the challenges you’re facing with your own dogs. Maybe we can help each other.