This is a long story to share, but we have found a lot of comfort in this group.
First, a bit (a lot) of background. We adopted M last February, she's a 3yo spayed hound. She was with a foster for 4 months prior to us getting her, and while some of her behavioral issues were present from the get go, most did not fully rear their head until she was physically healthy several months later.
From the beginning, she had separation anxiety, stranger danger, noise phobia, etc. Poor thing has always been terrified of the world so we took everything slow with her desensitization and training. One bright light, we found, is that she gained confidence from our 5yo spayed female hound J. We are over a year in, and M still will have urinary accidents occasionally when she is over threshold emotionally. This used to occur multiple times a day, and these accidents only became under control once she started fluoxetine (this was under the supervision of her vet, who tested for UTI and examined for physical issues, it was determined these are strictly behavioral). She is a dog that has always needed a positive routine, and has melted down when her routine has been thrown out of whack. Even with slow and positive introduction over months (and with the guidance of a trainer), she took far longer to be comfortable in the crate than any dog I have ever had, and even after over a year will likely never be fully comfortable. She has resource guarding issues with food which have been largely managed with the help of training. She is leash reactive, again, something we have worked through with training. TLDR; she has a myriad of behavioral concerns rooted in her anxiety that we have worked on for over a year.
And while this is a lot, and not quite all of her quirks, I cannot stress enough how much PROGRESS she has made. She has gone on so many hikes, gained 15 pounds, made one dog friend, and she now gets a big yard to run around in!
That being said, she has always required a lot of management. And for context, on top of her regular DVM, we also work with a behaviorist and a behavior-focused trainer. Her behaviorist even told us her brain is likely underdeveloped from the malnourishment when she was younger.
After trialing trazodone for several months, we introduced fluoxetine. She was doing WONDERFULLY after 5 months on it, and this combined with continual training we finally felt like she was as "normal" as she was going to be. And then, she wasn't. 3 months ago she started attacking J with no warning signs and no specific trigger. Fine one second (no warning body language), freezing and lunging the next, and then she would often be confused after. These incidents went from once a week and then escalated to nearly every day and were never predictable, so we started keeping the dogs separate altogether at the advice of the behaviorist and trainer (now we are at nearly 3 months of separation). The worst part is how we could not trust M with J, but when they were separate, M searches for J.
She also started having these episodes of glazing over and "Blanking out" where she would seem confused. We adjusted and trialed new meds. After 5 weeks on gaba, we weaned her off, as it got to the point where she was getting worse overall (agitated, constantly over threshold, and unable to settle or rest). She was hitting threshold easier and she was developing new triggers. She started guarding items she had never cared about. Her separation anxiety increased to the point where I could not leave the room without her melting down. She was too nervous to walk on the leash or be in the yard by herself. Her pupils were dilated constantly. After weaning her off the gaba, we are now folding trazodone back into her routine. The past two weeks we have seen a significant improvement with the traz versus the gaba, that being said, we are still having to keep the dogs separate inside the house which has been wearisome. While M is doing mentally better than she was, J is confused and more sullen. It is a full time job making sure they both are getting adequate attention and mental stimulation. Even with the bmod exercises and the slow reintroduction techniques we have used, it feels like we are making very little progress in repairing their relationship. I am grateful we have the time and resources to work with professionals, but truthfully I feel so selfish for being so overwhelmed by this new layer of management on top of M's day-to-day management. At this point we have very few people we trust to watch the dogs because of the management, and I fear M's world is continuing to get smaller.
While this new drug combo seems to be a glimmer of hope, long term, I fear we may still need to rehome her unless there are magic strides with their reintroduction for J's sake. I'm so heartbroken because I keep throwing money and time and love at what feels like an inevitable conclusion. I love this dog. I love how sensitive she is. I love how brave she is. She is sweet and loyal and it's not her fault her brain is so broken.
I also fear rehoming her, and what that means for her. We have a contract with her rescue, and while they have been supportive, they did mention that there is little interest in their behavior cases. We truly feel like we are between a rock and a hard place for what's best for her, our other dog, and us.
First, a bit (a lot) of background. We adopted M last February, she's a 3yo spayed hound. She was with a foster for 4 months prior to us getting her, and while some of her behavioral issues were present from the get go, most did not fully rear their head until she was physically healthy several months later.
From the beginning, she had separation anxiety, stranger danger, noise phobia, etc. Poor thing has always been terrified of the world so we took everything slow with her desensitization and training. One bright light, we found, is that she gained confidence from our 5yo spayed female hound J. We are over a year in, and M still will have urinary accidents occasionally when she is over threshold emotionally. This used to occur multiple times a day, and these accidents only became under control once she started fluoxetine (this was under the supervision of her vet, who tested for UTI and examined for physical issues, it was determined these are strictly behavioral). She is a dog that has always needed a positive routine, and has melted down when her routine has been thrown out of whack. Even with slow and positive introduction over months (and with the guidance of a trainer), she took far longer to be comfortable in the crate than any dog I have ever had, and even after over a year will likely never be fully comfortable. She has resource guarding issues with food which have been largely managed with the help of training. She is leash reactive, again, something we have worked through with training. TLDR; she has a myriad of behavioral concerns rooted in her anxiety that we have worked on for over a year.
And while this is a lot, and not quite all of her quirks, I cannot stress enough how much PROGRESS she has made. She has gone on so many hikes, gained 15 pounds, made one dog friend, and she now gets a big yard to run around in!
That being said, she has always required a lot of management. And for context, on top of her regular DVM, we also work with a behaviorist and a behavior-focused trainer. Her behaviorist even told us her brain is likely underdeveloped from the malnourishment when she was younger.
After trialing trazodone for several months, we introduced fluoxetine. She was doing WONDERFULLY after 5 months on it, and this combined with continual training we finally felt like she was as "normal" as she was going to be. And then, she wasn't. 3 months ago she started attacking J with no warning signs and no specific trigger. Fine one second (no warning body language), freezing and lunging the next, and then she would often be confused after. These incidents went from once a week and then escalated to nearly every day and were never predictable, so we started keeping the dogs separate altogether at the advice of the behaviorist and trainer (now we are at nearly 3 months of separation). The worst part is how we could not trust M with J, but when they were separate, M searches for J.
She also started having these episodes of glazing over and "Blanking out" where she would seem confused. We adjusted and trialed new meds. After 5 weeks on gaba, we weaned her off, as it got to the point where she was getting worse overall (agitated, constantly over threshold, and unable to settle or rest). She was hitting threshold easier and she was developing new triggers. She started guarding items she had never cared about. Her separation anxiety increased to the point where I could not leave the room without her melting down. She was too nervous to walk on the leash or be in the yard by herself. Her pupils were dilated constantly. After weaning her off the gaba, we are now folding trazodone back into her routine. The past two weeks we have seen a significant improvement with the traz versus the gaba, that being said, we are still having to keep the dogs separate inside the house which has been wearisome. While M is doing mentally better than she was, J is confused and more sullen. It is a full time job making sure they both are getting adequate attention and mental stimulation. Even with the bmod exercises and the slow reintroduction techniques we have used, it feels like we are making very little progress in repairing their relationship. I am grateful we have the time and resources to work with professionals, but truthfully I feel so selfish for being so overwhelmed by this new layer of management on top of M's day-to-day management. At this point we have very few people we trust to watch the dogs because of the management, and I fear M's world is continuing to get smaller.
While this new drug combo seems to be a glimmer of hope, long term, I fear we may still need to rehome her unless there are magic strides with their reintroduction for J's sake. I'm so heartbroken because I keep throwing money and time and love at what feels like an inevitable conclusion. I love this dog. I love how sensitive she is. I love how brave she is. She is sweet and loyal and it's not her fault her brain is so broken.
I also fear rehoming her, and what that means for her. We have a contract with her rescue, and while they have been supportive, they did mention that there is little interest in their behavior cases. We truly feel like we are between a rock and a hard place for what's best for her, our other dog, and us.