Another year has come and gone. It was a year packed with lots of memories. Some I’ll cherish forever, and some I wish I could forget. LOL Looking back though, I can honestly say that I’ve learned something from all the experiences, both good and the not so good.

So, that means that I’ll have my hands full keeping her occupied without allowing her to zip around everywhere like she usually does. I’m sure that neither of us will find it very enjoyable. It will be worth it though if it helps.

Of course, when I’m more rational, and my own nerves and emotions are less raw I had already considered that we may just not have found the correct medication for Rogue. We talked briefly about that. We also talked about the fact that sometimes the changes that these meds bring about are small enough that on a day to day basis I may not be noticing them, but that they may be accumulating more than I think. Also very possible.

I have some concerns about whether our home environment is adding to Rogue’s anxieties, so we talked about that. We talked about whether she might thrive in a home with more stable routine. Having the boarding kennel here means that some days I’m in and out of the house dealing with clients quite a bit, and that seems to stress her out.

Then another possibility was presented. I have to say that I was pretty unsure about it at first, but the idea is growing on me. They mentioned letting Rogue come stay with them for a time to give us a break from the situation and to give them some time to evaluate Rogue. After talking this possibility over with my husband, we both agree that this may be just what all of us need. A little break.

So, once they get back from the Sheltie Nationals in a couple of weeks, Rogue may get to for a short stay at the SRU house. That is, unless there is some radical development with this latest dosage change in her meds. In the meantime I want to express my gratitude for both Barbara and Jim giving of their time, (of which they have none to spare), and their continuing offer of support and help for Rogue and for us.

I think the roots are bigger than Layla is. LOL The next picture is of the two canines that we had pulled today beside a lower molar that she lost a few weeks ago.

Anyway, the good news is that the vet here let me be with her during the whole procedure, and it didn’t take long at all. In fact, our appointment was at 3:00 and that was less than a couple hours ago, and she’s already up and walking around and she was even barking at me a minute ago to let her outside to potty. She’s a tough little cookie!

I have a little ranting to do…and a little raving too. Bear with me. LOL I got ahold of Dr. Overall and she agreed that it would be appropriate to add amitriptyline to Rogue’s daily meds at this point since we haven’t seen progress with the fluoxitine alone. I spoke with the vet here in Salt Lake today shared her recommendations, and he agreed to call in the prescription.

Here is my rave. The vet in Salt Lake asked me if I’d considered working with a trainer to help Rogue. I’m grateful that I have a vet who obviously realizes that Rogue’s issues need to be addressed by not only medication, but also through training. I wholeheartedly agree that behavior modification is vital. I would never think that medication alone is the answer. I feel very privileged that we found Dr. Overall through Leslie McDevitt and that she has given us protocols of behavioral modification to work through in addition to her recommendations for medication.

However, here’s my rant. I think I literally bristled a little when he made that comment. Long before I decided to go down this avenue of seeking anti-anxiety medication for Rogue, I had been working with her to modify her behavior. I thought that I’d explained what we’ve done with Rogue prior to coming to him. In fact, I think that anyone who knows Rogue…knows the amount of time and effort we’ve put into training. Granted, in hindsight not all the training that we did was helpful. In fact I think some backfired, but I did what I hoped would help. Bleh, I don’t know, it just struck me like he thought that I hadn’t tried any training before. Whatever, that’s my rant for the day!

So…here’s the latest. We’ll start her out adding 10 mg. of Amitriptyline once a day for 10 days and then go to 10 mg. twice daily. I’ll keep everyone posted if we see any changes. Keep hoping for the best…

Frustration and impatience. Those two words would describe how I’ve felt about this process with Rogue lately. Well, and then guilt. Probably those three would sum it up. They usually come in that order too. I’ve been reading and re-reading the consult and protocols that we got from Dr. Overall, and this phrase always gets me, “these are the dogs who show you the type of person you can – but never expected – to become.”

When I first read that statement I thought, “yep, living with Rogue will reveal good qualities about us that we didn’t know we had.” How egotistical! LOL What I overlooked was that it was going to reveal many more negative qualities about myself than positive ones as her stress and anxiety wears on me. As we work through this process, I’m beginning to think that it’s more about being willing to see the flaws in your character and being willing to work to overcome them, to become a better person. Just my thoughts for today….

With the warmer temperatures the last week or so, the snow is melting on the ATV trails that we hike on, so it’s a muddy mess now. Not fun to walk in, or to try to brush out of 7 long haired dogs. I hope it either dries out soon, or freezes back up so we can get back into our routine.
I don’t like snow, but at least it’s still easy enough to walk in. On the bright side…the snow is gone in the yard, and we’re back down to the grass, so we can play in the yard a bit now! Woohoo!

I am battling with my impatience to see progress vs. what I know is a long process to find appropriate medication and dosage and be able to work through the behavioral modification protocols that we’ve been given. Sometimes I worry that my impatience will taint my observations, but when my husband asked me to call the vet to discuss this, I decided that it wasn’t just me seeing negative changes in Rogue.

I contacted the vet in SL today and voiced my concerns and we both agreed that we should back the dosage down to 5 mg. per day and observe her behavior at that level. I also emailed Dr. Overall to get her opinion of what we’re seeing. I’m sure that with her experience she’ll be able to tell me if this was the right decision. Wish us well!

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.