Resq TailsThe trials and triumphs of rescued dogs

I’ve decided that sometimes all you can do is shake your head and laugh when things don’t go as planned. As you know, we started Rogue on fluoxitine and alprazolam 7 weeks ago. Well, I wasn’t seeing much improvement in her reactivity and so I contacted Dr. Overall again to update her and see if we needed to make adjustments in her dosage or in the medication itself, or if this was just typical.

Well, come to find out that the dosage that we’ve been giving her of 1 mg. daily of the fluoxitine was wrong. Turns out that was a typo and we should have been giving her at least 5 mg. daily, if not 10 mg. So, after I found that out, I tried to contact the vet here and he’s out of town till next Tuesday. Ughh! At the prompting of my friends at Sheltie Rescue I called the vet’s office again and asked if one of the other atttending vets would consider changing the dosage of the prescription, so that we don’t have to wait till next week. Fortunately, they were nice enough to do that for us, and we’ve picked up the new dosage today.

I’m trying to look at this as a really long ramp-up time on the meds, instead of just viewing the last 7 weeks as being wasted, but I’m only partly convinced. LOL Hopefully in the coming weeks we will have some progress to report. I hope!!!

It’s one week today that Rogue has been on the Fluoxitine. Overall, I haven’t noticed much difference. But , there have been some small things that I have noticed, it’s just not consistently. Every once in a while, Rogue will be watching me, but it’s not with the hard intense stare, it’s a little softer. I would love to see that expression more often!

The other thing that I’m really happy with is that sometimes she seems to be doing a little better with Zoe. Once my husband even remarked that she had walked up to Zoe and then turned around and walked away. I know that may not sound like much, but for Rogue that’s progress. I really hope that as she feels less anxiety that the tension between them lessens too!

I also tried the Alprazolam this Monday. I was taking Twist and Raven down to Parowan to go herding for the last time this year, and thought that I’d take Rogue along just for the trip, not to herd. I gave her 1/2 a tablet two hours before we got there, but when I got her out of the car, she was just as anxious as she always is. I can think of a couple of reasons for this. In the consult it said that I should repeat the 1/2 tablet again a half an hour before the anticipated event, and I forgot to bring the tablets. (The meds can’t work if you don’t remember to bring them along to give to her.) The other thing could be that the 1/2 tablet was the low dosage, and she said that we may need to experiment with that to see what she needs. So…I got some good information to work with if nothing else. I was hoping to try this again this Thurs. when Raven and Zoe’s agility class is scheduled, but it got cancelled.

So, that’s about it for the first week…

I’ve been really bad about keeping up on posting lately. Alot has been going on, but I’ll try to recap this last week.

I was hoping to hear from our vet in Salt Lake on Tues., after he got back from vacation, but unfortunately, I never did. I called the office again on Wed. and then promptly missed his return call because I my silly phone on vibrate and didn’t hear it! (Could’ve screamed when I figured out what I’d done). LOL Called the office again, hoping that he hadn’t already gotten busy with other clients, but I was too late. I made one more attempt on Wed. to get ahold of him, but he was just getting ready to leave for a housecall and didn’t have time to talk to me then either. Ughh! So, we set up an appointment for 8:00 am on Thurs. Finally, success! We talked about the fax consult for Rogue and he agreed to call in the prescriptions for her! Woohoo!!!

So, we are now two days into the new medication. She is on 1 mg. of fluoxitine a day. I haven’t noticed any changes yet, but I didn’t really expect any this soon anyway, and at least she’s not having any negative reaction to the medication. At the first of next week I’ll try the alprazolam too and moniter her reaction to it. I need to give it to her when I can watch and see how she responds, so that I figure out what dosage will be best for her. For right now we are going to use the fluoxitine daily and the alprazolam as a preventative, (like prior to an anticipated event that might be stressful), or interventional help, (like a storm beginning while we’re not at home).

In the meantime, we are also continuing to work on the Relaxation Protocols that we had been doing before, and we are also working on some other protocols, one being the Protocol for Deference. It is designed to help the dog learn to be calm, learn that they can ask questions of people and learn that they can get guidance about what is expected or what will happen…if they just sit calmly and provide themselves with the ability to take in useful information. This is a huge change from how Rogue has been up to this point. She is definitely seeking information, but I’ve never provided a really clear way for her to get it. I really think that this is something that all my dogs and myself are really going to benefit from.

I also decided that I wanted to try to keep a video diary of how this whole process is going. I decided to video Rogue doing her Relaxation Protocols, (so it may not be the most interesting video for most people to watch) LOL, but I chose it because it should allow me to make a comparison of how she is able to relax in a structure that she is familiar with before and now that she is on medication.

I just wanted to add to that last post, I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was ready to jump off a cliff or something. LOL Everyone’s comments are so kind and I really appreciate the support. That initial negative emotion that I had was I think more a result of being overwhelmed, tired, and anxious about this for so long. It was quickly replaced by a real feeling of hope. I really meant it when I said that Saturday was a good day!I feel like we’re finally on the right track. It’s a huge relief!

Today is a good day! We got our consult from Dr. Overall for Rogue yesterday. Right on schedule with what she said to expect, even though you all know that I’ve been dying to hear from her sooner. LOL

I have to admit, the first thing that she wrote had me in tears. She said, “This is one of the most anxious dogs I have ever seen on video, and she is distressed so much of the time.” Honestly, I felt like a total loser for letting her continue like this for so long. I just kept trying to train through it, hoping it would get better when I should have sought medication for her. After dwelling on that thought, (which wasn’t productive at all) I got through the rest of the consult which outlined her recommendations for the medication and protocols for modifying her behavior. I really think that with the combination of these two things we have a good chance of improving her quality of life.

So, receiving the consult and having a plan to work forward with makes it a good day, but I have another reason too. Something clicked in my brain today, and I thought I’d better write it down so I don’t forget it. I was thinking about what I enjoy about working with the dogs. Of course, I love competing with the dogs in their various sports. But when I really get to thinking about it, the times I have the most fun with the dogs is when we are training. I think it’s because it’s a learning process not just for the dogs, but more often for me. I really enjoy that. I love to learn new things, and I got to thinking what an opportunity Rogue is giving me to learn. The last thing that Dr. Overall said in the consultation was that “these are the dogs who show you the type of person you can–but never expected–to become”. I’m sure that even though I’m beginning to see the trueness of that statement that it will take on even more meaning as time goes by.

It’s been almost a month since we went to the Control Unleashed Seminar and came home with a recommendation from Leslie McDevitt to look into getting Rogue on some anti-anxiety meds.

In the meantime, we’ve contacted Dr. Karen Overall to do a fax consult with the vet here. She agreed. So, we had to fill out a pretty extensive history form for Rogue and then we also did our best to get video of her behavior to send along with it.

The video did not go smoothly at all. First of all, it’s nearly impossible for me to video by myself, so I was waiting around alot for my husband to have time off work, then the weather was cooperating, then when I was sure that I could predict a certain reaction from Rogue in a certain place, she seemed determined to prove me a liar. LOL Eventually, we got some video, although how helpful it will be…I don’t know.

Then the vet’s office temporarily lost Rogue’s records. Come to find out a few days later they had simply mixed her records back into the huge Sheltie Rescue of Utah file, under her previous name, “Bonnie Jean”. Anyway, that’s all straightened out, and I got the history form and video in the mail on the 21st. Supposedly the vet’s office faxed her records at the same time. So, I figure that it should have gotten to Dr. Overall no later than the 24th of Oct.

It normally takes a week to two weeks after it gets to her for her to actually do the consult. So…now I’m waiting. Last Friday would have been a week. I wish I could say that I’m more patient than I am, but instead I feel like I’m counting the minutes, and it’s making the days past awefully slow. LOL I am obsessively checking my email to see if there is any news. I’ll post as soon as I hear anything, and let’s all hope it’s soon!

Brrr…I’m freezing. O.K. I’m a huge wimp, but the weather really got cold yesterday. We even got our first snow. It’ almost all melted this morning, and there was only enough to leave a little bit of a white cover on everything. Have I mentioned that I hate winter?!

I was out trying to get video of Rogue yesterday to show her behaviors with new people, familiar people, etc. but it wasn’t exactly the most ideal weather conditions to be playing in. My husband was supposed to help me too, but he got called back into work in the afternoon, and didn’t get home till almost 6. So, the only video that I managed to get was some at a friends’ yard that teaches agility and obedience. She had a beginning class and only two dog/handler teams came out yesterday, so it was a nice size to show Rogue interacting with them.

Maybe later today if it warms up a bit and my husband has time we can get some more footage of her. Then again, even if it doesn’t warm up today, the dogs won’t mind so we’ll probably go out for more video as long as he doesn’t have to work. LOL

It was a busy weekend for Rogue, and I’m still trying to process everything. Posting about everything will probably come in bits and pieces as I sort it all out.

I know that I’ve posted some about the holistic remedies that we’ve been trying for Rogue’s anxiety, but none have had any effect that I could see, and her anxiety if anything seems to be progressively getting worse to me. So…I decided that I needed to try something else. I can’t remember if I posted about our failed attempt to get bloodwork done at one of the local vets here. I don’t think I did, but the visit was pointless because they said they couldn’t find a vein to draw blood unless they sedated her, and I was unwilling to sedate her just for that. I decided to go to the veterinary hospital that Sheltie Rescue of Utah uses in Salt Lake, since I know that they have been happy with them and the vets there are also familiar with Shelties in general.

So, Friday we had an appt. at noon to have an exam and bloodwork done, and during the exam we decided to have x-rays done as well. I was really happy with the exam, I felt like he was very thorough, and by Monday we had the results back and they were normal. Nothing to explain the sensitivity to touch and anxiety increasing. So, in a way that’s a relief…

On Monday Rogue was also scheduled to have her private lesson with Leslie McDevitt. I really didn’t know what to expect from Rogue, since her threshold for handling pressure in new situations has decreased lately. It wasn’t a suprise for me when she pretty much was overwhelmed as soon as we entered the building. Leslie didn’t even try to do any training with us, just sat and talked to us for the hour instead. She said that in her opinion, Rogue has generalized anxiety disorder that requires medication.

Fortunately, she said that with meds she thought that Rogue’s ability to deal with anxiety should improve alot, and that we’ll be able to get past this place where we’re so stuck. She recommended getting a fax consult with Karen Overall to assist our vet in finding the right meds. I have to admit, I came home not really thinking that Karen would have time to take on our case, since she’s involved in a research study right now, but on Tuesday, I had a reply from her stating that she would be happy to take Rogue’s case.

For parts of the last two days I’ve been trying to fill out the forms that she sent us. After that I’m going to try to get my husband’s help to get video of Rogue in several different situations to send along with the forms so that they get a good picture of what needs to be addressed. I feel kind of like I’m trying to complete a school assignment or something. LOL

So…that’s about it for now.

The seminar was fantastic! The more I think about it, the more I appreciate how much all dogs, not just reactive dogs could benefit from the basic ideas of Control Unleashed. Cynthia and I commented while driving home one of the days that we had expected to see more reactivity in the dogs in the working slots. The thing is that when I thought about it more…the whole purpose of Control Unleashed is to give you and your dogs the skills and tools you need to keep the dogs from ever getting over their threshold where you would have those big reactions!

Leslie McDevitt has a wonderful talent for reading both the dogs and their handlers and keeping them both in a optimal place for learning and working together. There were several things that I think I’ll try to use with Raven and even Twist, although I originally thought it would apply mostly to Rogue. For Raven I think I’ll try the “Gimme a Break” game to build enthusiasm for training with me, and some of the “parallel games” I think might help Twist when he gets so excited about dogs playing and running around. One of the things that I need to work on with both of them first though is mat work.

I’m still pretty wiped out, but I have lots more to write about Rogue and her visit to the vet and the private lesson with Leslie McDevitt on Monday, and what we’re going to do next. I’ll try to get some things done around here so I can write more later on tonight.