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Maybe you are one of the many dog owners who is at your wit’s end because Frank has issues. By issues, these can be separation anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), incessant barking, or chasing his tail. You have tried everything. You put him in puppy training immediately. But no matter what, for some reason Frank barks from the moment you leave for work until the second he sees your car pull into your driveway. You know because your neighbor who works from home calls you at least three times a week to say, “Frank’s at it again!” Or maybe Frank chases his tail. Or Frank has separation anxiety and when you leave the house you can hear him behind the door whimpering and whining. Even when you leave the room for five minutes to use the restroom he has a fit! And so you do what most dog owners do, you take Frank to the vet. You assume that because your vet has a degree in veterinary medicine, that he knows everything there is to know about dogs. This is a bad assumption. Vets do know a lot about the physiology of Frank. He knows when you come in complaining of excessive scratching to test for allergies. He knows how to palpate for abnormalities in the skin, such as tumors, whether benign or malignant. He knows what the telltale signs of gum disease, demodectic mange or hip dysplasia are. Unfortunately, not all vets know a lot about nutrition and even fewer know about canine psychology. How Vets Arrive at the Decision to Prescribe Antidepressants After you have brought Frank in for the third or forth time with complaints that his barking or chasing his tail or his separation anxiety is getting worse, the doctor ponders all of this. He runs through the checklist. You have taken him to puppy school, you have done all the soothing you can do, you have placed a shock color on him, and you have stopped him while in the act of barking or chasing, just as the trainer suggested. Remembering the representative from the pharmaceutical company was just in his office not three days ago who told him all the signs to look for before prescribing Prozac to dogs, your vet thinks, yes, Frank fits the bill. And on the surface, Frank does. The problem is, the one thing the doctor hasn’t taken into account is Frank’s living environment. What your vet should be asking you is: • How many hours a day is Frank home alone? • How large or small a space is he confined to? • How much exercise does Frank get? • Is Frank chained up outside or just left in the backyard that is only the size of a postage stamp? • How much exercise does Frank really get a day? If you leave your house at 7:00 in the morning to go to work, how long of a walk did you take Frank on before you left? If it’s anything shorter than half an hour, it isn’t sufficient. Remember, Frank is going to be home all day, alone. His world consists of the living room, maybe if he’s lucky and you haven’t put a baby gate between the bedroom and living room, the bedroom as well. But he did tear up your favorite shoes last month, so he lost that privilege. And now he’s confined to a room that is 25 x 25. While this might seem large, to a dog who was bred to run, and run, and run, or herd, or hunt, or retrieve, this is tinier than your cubical. When you come home from work, whether you worked until 5:00 (and how often does that happen?) or you stayed late to get that report done, Frank has been home, all day. And do you know what he did all day in that 25 x 25 room? • He paced back and forth • Over stimulated by the letter carrier, the kids passing in front of your window, the falling leaves, and the truck that delivered your neighbor’s furniture, he ran to the window and barked several times a day • He alternated between those two and pining away for you And when you are home, having been at work all day and drained of every ounce of energy, thanks to a day of meetings or report writing and a long exhaustive commute, are you really interested in taking Frank out for more than his walk around the block? Prozac May Not Be the Answer Ask yourself if you were left in a room that small all day, without a meeting to attend, lunch at a restaurant, outside or in the break room, or a presentation to listen to in another part of the building, would you go nuts? Most assuredly the answer is yes! What Frank is suffering from is acute boredom combined with not enough exercise. Are there cases where dogs really need to be on Prozac? It’s possible. But if you have done all the exercises (and it can take a month or more) to address his separation anxiety, and he is still pining for you, you may have a larger issue, possibly stemming from previous abuse or neglect. But bored and incessant barking can almost always be traced back to Frank not being exercised enough. With no place to channel that energy, he barks. So when your doctor suggests Prozac for your dog, please go home and rethink Frank’s living situation. If you feel you have done everything you possibly can to address his issues, please, then and only then add Prozac to his life. Puppy City has been around for over 50 years, we pride ourselves in being the home for quality puppies for sale in Brooklyn, New York. We also have all of the supplies you will ever need, from dog food, to wee wee pads, to all the treats you will ever need in a lifetime. Visit us at http://www.PuppyCityNY.com
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