Filed under: Akbash, CCD, aggression, canine compulsive disorder, clomipramine, crazy bitch, dog story, dogland, dogs, obsession, peggy tibbetts, pet adoption, river park
This is Part 4 in the Crazy Bitch series about our Akbash/Lab mix Venus. She has Canine Compulsive Disorder (CCD) with aggression.
Previous episodes:
Part 2: Dog BombPart 3: Sick Puppy
Torn Between Two Dogs
With 2 dogs it’s easy to slip into the 2-headed dog syndrome. They go everywhere and do everything together. That’s how it was with Zeus and Venus for two years.
Then after Venus’s meltdown, Zeus didn’t want to have anything to do with that crazy bitch anymore. Who could blame him? He was 5 years old when we adopted Venus. He has always been his own dog. By ignoring her, he declared his independence.
However Tod and I could not maintain the Chinese-fire-drill-with-dogs lifestyle. We had to find a way to gradually bring them together, while respecting Zeus’s demand for his own personal space. Maybe if we helped him define that space, then Venus would respect it, too.
That’s where we were at on Saturday, November 8. After only 4 days on Clomipramine, Venus had calmed down – a little. It was time to move forward – in baby steps.
But how?
Dogland had always been a neutral zone for them. Since Venus had to be on the leash, she would be completely under control. Plus their neighborhood leash walks were going well.
We had a wire barrier for the back of Jeep to separate the back seat from the rear section but we hadn’t used it in two years so it was stored away. Venus and Zeus always rode in the rear section together. Tod found the barrier and put it up. I laid a dog rug in the back seat for Venus. We loaded her first.
Then came Zeus. He checked out the new arrangement. He knew we were going to Dogland and Venus was coming along. He also knew the barrier would keep them apart. He signaled his approval by climbing in the rear section. As we hoped, Dogland was just a walk in the park for them. The healing began.
We kept Venus on the leash at all times because she was still anxious and unpredictable around other dogs. During those first few visits to the park with her after the attack, I realized that her anxiety around other dogs made me nervous. I knew I needed to get over it.
The following Tuesday (November 11) while walking the dogs by myself at Dogland I thought about why Venus made me nervous. It was simple. Her unpredictability. How she could morph from happy-slappy dog into crazy bitch in a split second.
Venus stopped and sniffed a patch of weeds. Zeus walked over to her and sniffed, too. Then she sniffed his neck. I tensed up. That’s when it hit me. Whenever she attacked Zeus, she always went for the same spot on his neck, behind his right ear. I pulled her away from him and kept walking.
If only I could put body armor on him. Doggie Kevlar. The universe responded with a vision of a studded leather dog collar. Eureka!
Tod just happened to be in Grand Junction that morning so I called him and told him about my vision. He said he’d pick one up at Petsmart. When he came home for lunch with the extra large spiked collar, I had to laugh.
“That is so not Zeus,” I said. “I guess I’m doing this more for me. So I know he’s safe.”
“Well if Venus tries to sink her teeth into that, she’s going to get a mouthful of metal,” Tod said.
I showed Zeus the shiny new collar and let him sniff it. Then he stuck his nose through it and slipped it on, all by himself. The look he gave me could only be described as satisfaction. Maybe the vision had come from him. Sort of like a Malamute mind meld. Who can say?
I noticed the fur was matted on his neck where Venus had bit him. I had been pouring colloidal silver onto the wound area but otherwise had left it alone to heal. I took off the collar and removed the dead fur from this neck, exposing bare skin. About a dozen tiny cuts were all that remained. Not a single puncture wound. It looked as though Venus had chewed on his neck, much like she had chewed on her leg. Likewise my wounds were healing and weren’t punctures either. Her teeth had only grazed my leg.
The discovery of the chewing wounds on Zeus’s neck was significant to us. It meant that out of sheer anxiety she had pinned Zeus down and chewed on his neck. More proof that she didn’t want to kill him. Her aggression was a manifestation of her anxiety. She chewed up dog toys. She chewed on herself. She chewed on Zeus. More puzzle pieces.
As I mentioned, I had talked to some of my Dogland friends about Venus’s illness. Later that same afternoon one of those fine and gifted friends came to the rescue. Becky called and said she’d like to come over and do a crystal healing on Venus.
Becky arrived with her suitcase full of powerful BioGenesis crystals. Zeus stayed outside. Indoors I played new age music on the radio. Venus danced around Becky and me as I explained how the dance ritual was all part of her anxiety.
Becky and I sat on the carpet. She took out the colored wheels and laid them out. I tried to get Venus to sit down near them but she ignored me. Becky held up the flame crystal and waved it around Venus several times. Within seconds, Venus slumped to the floor and lay on the wheels. She rolled over on her back between us as Becky waved the flame crystal over her. Soon after she began sneezing – over and over. It was comical. She must have sneezed a couple dozen times at least, as though the negative energy was releasing through her nose. Fascinating. Within 15 minutes, she became completely relaxed, even serene. Serene and Venus were not two words I would normally use in the same sentence. But I liked the serene Venus.
Next we ventured out to the front porch. Zeus adores Becky. She had used the crystals to heal his back injury in September 2007. He sat up and stretched to absorb the healing energy of the flame crystal.
Becky laughed. “His energy seems just fine.”
That’s how it is with Zeus. Good energy.
Becky told me, “Email me a recent photo of Venus and I’ll keep it in the case to send her positive energy.
The next day a big screw up happened. When I gave Venus her morning pill, Tod said, “I already gave her a pill.”
OOPS!
That meant we had given her 100 mg of Clomipramine instead of 50 mg. A double dose. I panicked. But she was due to go up to 75 mg the next week. So I knew it wouldn’t kill her. She went to the office with Tod as usual, and slept most of the day. At Dogland she was totally lethargic.
“Well the 100 milligram dose doesn’t really calm her down. She just acts drugged,” I told Tod. “But she still has too much anxiety on the 50 milligram dose. Maybe 75 milligrams will be the magic number.”
Another Dogland friend, Karen S had advised me to get some pepper spray. She had worked with rescued dogs and aggressive dogs and said it works to break up a dog fight. So I bought some pepper spray, knowing full well that buying it was an admission that I might have to use it. Almost like I was expecting the worst.
But that wasn’t how I felt. In order to help Venus I had to stop feeling tense about her unpredictability. In order to lose the tension, I needed to take control. I looked on the spiked collar and the pepper spray as tools to help me control her aggression if she snapped again.
The rest of that week we saw some promising signs that Becky’s crystal healing and the Clomipramine had helped Venus. When she played with dog toys she didn’t destroy them like she usually did. When she played fetch she didn’t clamp down on the toy and refuse to give it up. She let go on command and sat and waited for me to toss it. On walks, Venus used any excuse to get close to Zeus and check out the new collar, then backed off respectfully.
We even started relaxing the separation rules indoors. After dinner we opened the gate. The problem was when she came upstairs, Zeus went downstairs. If she walked in a room, Zeus left the room. If she went outside, he came inside.
I took my signals from Zeus. He still didn’t trust her. So neither did we. Even though she was calmer at home, on walks her anxiety returned, especially with dogs she didn’t know. We were relieved that she had stopped attacking Zeus. But if we hadn’t controlled her on the leash at Dogland she would have attacked other dogs. The bomb was still ticking inside her.
I used positive affirmations and healing touch on her. I counted the days to November 18 when I could increase the dosage of Clomipramine from 50 mg to 75 mg. I still didn’t have a handle on the type of behavior modification needed to rehabilitate her. Everything I read recommended exercise. Okay. Venus was getting 4 walks a day. Obedience training was also recommended. But she was trained. When she wasn’t feeling anxious, she was obedient. I didn’t think taking her to obedience class so she could beat up on other dogs was much of a plan. Her issues were anxiety and aggression – not obedience.
And my greatest challenge was yet to come. The week of November 18, Tod would be in Chicago. Every month he spends a week in Chicago and I have always handled the dogs just fine without him. It was never an issue. That time felt much different. He was about to leave me alone with two dogs that didn’t really seem to like each other anymore.
Stay tuned for Part 5
Pause for 5 minutes of Serenity by my friend Ann Ramsey. The music is “Lament for Ron” from Linda Hickman’s The Windy Day CD.
In loving memory of our dear sweet Lucy (aka Mrs. Magoo). We miss you already.
April 15, 1991 – January 28, 2009
Filed under: Akbash, CCD, Divide Creek Animal Hospital, Silt, animal shelter, canine compulsive disorder, clomipramine, crazy bitch, dog fight, dog story, dogs, obsession, peggy tibbetts, pet adoption, river park, tibbetts
This is Part 3 in the Crazy Bitch series about our Akbash/Lab mix Venus. She has Canine Compulsive Disorder (CCD) with aggression.
Part 2: The Dog BombSick Puppy
The day after the big dog fight was November 4 – Election Day. I called Divide Creek Animal Hospital and explained my emergency. I got right in to see Dr. Pearce.
Dr. Pearce was as surprised and puzzled with Venus as we were. She said that when she sees an aggressive dog – especially an aggressive BIG dog – the problem is usually with the owner. A big dog is so cute as a puppy but then it gets big, the owner becomes insecure and fearful of the dog, or the dog is caged or tied up, and aggression develops.
“But clearly that’s not how you treat your dogs. I’ve seen you with both of them,” she said. “And I’m watching you now handling Venus and you are in complete control. Look at you. Your legs have teeth and claw marks on them. You just described a horrific ordeal. You broke up a fight by yourself. Yet you show absolutely no fear of this dog.” She shook her head. “This is something else.”
Dr. Pearce explained that there have been studies about Canine Compulsive Disorder. It can appear suddenly in 3-year old dogs (very often rescue dogs) as they progress into adulthood. Anxiety gradually takes over the brain and one day they snap. Because Venus is an adopted – or rescue – dog, we don’t know what happened to her in the first 10 months of her life. She was probably abused. Abused puppies are very likely to develop anxiety and aggression as adult dogs.
After consulting with our other vet Dr. Langegger, Dr. Pearce prescribed the antidepressant Clomipramine. Treatment began with 50 mg twice a day. Dr. Pearce explained that the dosing had to begin gradually, and we shouldn’t expect the drug to take effect for up to 2 weeks. Then after two weeks we would need to add 25 mg to each dose for a total of 75 mg twice a day. She said she wanted to see Venus and me again in four weeks.
I am not a big fan of pharmaceuticals. I prefer holistic naturopathic treatment with vitamins, herbs, and homeopathic remedies. But we had been using those and they weren’t working. We had no choice. We had to stop the violence.
We also muzzled Venus and Dr. Pearce did a blood draw to run some tests and make sure we weren’t dealing with any other health issues. The muzzle freaked her out a little but I was able to slip it on her without too much fuss. Her blood work checked out fine.
I kept pointing out to Dr. Pearce, “See? Look at how Venus is behaving right now. She’s calm. You cannot imagine the difference from last night. If I hadn’t been right there in the middle of it, I would never believe she was capable of exploding like that.”
Dr. Pearce nodded. “I understand what you’re saying. That’s why I’m so convinced that this is a mental disorder.”
She recommended that we see a dog behaviorist. “Rehabilitating Venus is going to take a lot of work. You could use some help. You need to learn how to look for triggers. Anxious dogs tend to fixate, then it escalates. You can start by separating their food dishes.”
“But they don’t have food issues,” I replied.
She nodded. “They do. You just haven’t seen it. It’s subtle.”
“Okay. That’s interesting,” I said. “Because during lunch yesterday before Venus attacked Zeus, I noticed she was chewing on her leg. I thought she had scratched it on something at the park. But perhaps it was red and sore because she was chewing on it obsessively. Like a fixation.”
“That could have been a trigger that her anxiety was escalating,” she said. “A dog behaviorist can help you figure out what sets her off. The problem is the dog behaviorist I recommend doesn’t live in the valley and she won’t be back to see clients until mid-December.”
December. What were supposed to do until December? I took the information anyway.
Finally – and a tad ominously – Dr. Pearce said, “The fact is you’re leaving here with a dangerous dog and that’s how you need to handle her. But I trust that you can do that. If anything changes you need to call me immediately.”
I felt discouraged when I left with Venus that day. But that wasn’t Dr. Pearce’s fault. Her diagnosis was a key part of the puzzle. She understood Venus’s condition and she didn’t sugar coat it for me. She made it very clear that the drug was only a tool that we would use as part of Venus’s rehabilitation.
I had never owned an aggressive dog before. A “dangerous dog”. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. But it’s not like I had any real choice.
Back home we kept the dogs separated. If Zeus came in the house, Venus went outside, and vice versa. If they both wanted to be outside, I tied Zeus in the front yard which is not fenced. The fenced yard has 4 gates which can be helpful for separating dogs, but it can also be tricky. Sometimes a gate got left open and one or the other of the dogs wandered around the neighborhood until one of us realized the mistake. Sort of a like a Chinese fire drill with dogs. Organized chaos.
In the evenings we always walk them around the neighborhood on leashes, so keeping them separated on those walks wasn’t a problem. Zeus ignored Venus and she fixated on him.
Indoors we have a wooden gate at the top of the stairs which made the separation slightly more manageable. We put a bowl of water and Venus’s food bowl in the downstairs bathroom. She had an irrational fear of bathrooms. We always assumed her previous owners had shut her in the bathroom while they were at work. Bad move.
“Maybe this will get her over her bathroom phobia,” I said.
Venus became the downstairs dog, and Zeus the upstairs dog. Sometimes they switched. Zeus wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. He either ignored and/or avoided her. They weren’t allowed near each other. I took Zeus to Dogland. Tod took Venus to Dogland.
After 2 days of that I said, “We can’t live like this.” Venus was anxious and Zeus was completely stressed out.
We discussed all our options. We consulted and commiserated with some of our Dogland friends, especially Karen J, Karen S, and Becky.
Should we try to find another home for her? One without other dogs. Or kids. Or people. That didn’t even make sense.
But the homeopathics hadn’t worked. What if the Clomapramine didn’t work either? What if her aggression continues? Will we have to put her down?
And what about Zeus? She was dangerous. It wasn’t fair to make him live like this.
Tod has his own office 5 blocks away and it’s huge. He decided to take Venus to the office with him to give Zeus and me a break. Since he walks back and forth, it also gave him more opportunities to work with her on the leash, and more exercise for her.
Once I got Venus out of the house I realized that I needed to get rid of the negative energy that still lingered from the attack. Every time I walked upstairs I flashed back to the trauma of that night. I burned sage and sat down on the bottom step by the front door.
The orange embers and green smoke of the burning sage ignited all my frustration and rage. I resented Venus. No – I hated her for what she had done to Zeus. And to me. I felt angry at the violence she had brought into my home. I had no clue how to fix her. I wished that Zeus had fought back and killed her. He easily could have. But he didn’t want that bad karma all over him any more than I did. Smart dog. Smarter than me. I let it all out until there was nothing left. Then the anger disappeared with the smoke. What I really needed was some answers.
Even though Dr. Pearce had said we shouldn’t expect the Clomipramine to take effect right away, by the following Saturday, November 8, we were seeing a calmer, less anxious Venus. She even seemed a little less fixated on Zeus. She had begun slowly accepting her new limitations and life on the leash.
Maybe it was all that post-election hope in the air. Or maybe Tod and I were just resigned to our fate.
I told him, “The thing is, Zeus is hypothyroid and will be on medication for the rest of his life. Venus could have cancer, or diabetes, or epilepsy, and we would deal with it. This really isn’t any different.”
I had learned from my online research into CCD that Venus’s rehabilitation would take 4-6 months. Daunting. The reality was Venus was sick. We had to find a way to fix her.
The problem was Zeus wouldn’t even look at her.
Stay tuned for Part 4
Footnote:
Divide Creek Animal Hospital recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Town of Silt which will allow DCAH to take over the kenneling and impounding of dogs seized by the Silt Police Department. In essence, they will serve as the town’s animal shelter. We are so grateful to Dr. Peter Langegger and his wife Emily, Dr. Cheryl Pearce, and all the staff at DCAH for their cooperation and much needed assistance in dealing with lost and abandoned pets. Thank you!
Filed under: Akbash, CCD, Silt, aggression, canine compulsive disorder, crazy bitch, dog fight, dog story, dogs, tibbetts
This is Part 2 in the Crazy Bitch series about our Akbash/Lab mix Venus. She has Canine Compulsive Disorder (CCD) with aggression.
To further illustrate how rapidly Venus changed, in mid-August (2008), I stood by the pond at Dogland and talked for a half hour with Karen J, Jody, and Kim. Between the 4 of us we had 6 dogs, including my own Zeus and Venus. All the dogs were off leash. The 4 of us weren’t paying any attention to them because they were all getting along together and playing, including Venus. Yet within 2 months, Venus had forgotten how to play and was attacking other dogs at the park. She was losing control right in front of our eyes.
The Dog Bomb
During lunch on November 3, I noticed that Venus was chewing on her leg. I examined the spot she was chewing. It looked red and irritated so I put some calendula ointment on it. I wondered if she had snagged a branch or something at Dogland earlier and scratched it.
After supper Tod headed out the door to go to a meeting. Our kitchen and living room are on the second floor of our home. The front door is at the bottom of the stairway, on the first floor. Zeus was standing at the top of the stairs. About 2 minutes after Tod left, Venus walked up to Zeus, sniffed his neck and attacked him. I grabbed a bowl of water and threw it on her head. Zeus made one quick evasive move, but Venus struck again and pinned him against the wall.
Then Lucy, our 17-year old senile Himalayan cat, appeared. Clueless, she wandered through the melee. Venus just ignored her. But I scooped her up and set her on the couch. Lucy’s new nickname became Mrs. Magoo.
After I refilled the water bowl, I straddled Venus’s hind quarters and nudged her with my legs, then dumped the water on her head. Zeus slid out from underneath her. I grabbed her collar, but she snapped at me and got away. She lunged at Zeus and pushed him down the stairway.
Alone, with 200 lbs of snarling dog bomb tumbling down the stairs, I panicked and started screaming. Of course I instantly realized that no one was going to help me.
I ran to the kitchen and filled a bigger bowl (with a handle that time) with water. Zeus howled and Venus snarled at the bottom of the stairs. I had no clue whether they had been injured in the fall. I only knew that Venus was still attacking Zeus and had probably pinned him down again.
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and glanced across the kitchen counter at the knives. What if the third bowl of water didn’t work? Would I have to kill her?
I had the scene at the bottom of the stairs about right. Venus had Zeus pinned on the floor. I straddled her again, grabbed her collar and pulled up as I dumped 2 quarts of water on her head. She gasped and let go of Zeus.
“Run, Zeus! Run!” I screamed.
He scrambled to his feet and stumbled into my office. I held Venus with 2 hands and both legs, as she snapped and snarled. Slowly I moved her toward the door to the garage, 90 lbs of sheer madness fighting me every inch of the way.
“Calm down. Calm down …” I repeated like a mantra.
I needed one hand to open the door so I had to wait until she stopped snapping at me. She took a breath. Then I grabbed the door knob, opened the door and used my whole body to shove her into the garage.
I shut the door and leaned against it, exhausted. Then I saw it. Blood. Everywhere. Mixed with water of course.
Panicked again I ran into my office and knelt down to see how badly Zeus was injured. He was sitting against the door, shaking. When I touched his neck to remove his collar he snapped at me.
I totally lost it. I fell back on the carpet and wept. Venus was turning my gentle giant into a monster. My dogs were a mess. Eventually Zeus lay down next to me and shoved his nose in my neck. I removed his collar and checked his wound. It wasn’t horribly bloody, just really raw. I treated it with colloidal silver. He stopped shaking.
“What’re we gonna do about Venus?” I asked him.
He just groaned.
So where did all that blood come from? Venus?
I took a deep breath and headed out to the front porch. We have a dog door into the yard from our garage, so I knew exactly where she was. I opened the front gate and sat down on the chair. Venus’s glassy eyes seemed unable to focus as she bounced up and down whimpering. Not a whiny whimper. More like a crazed yelping whimper. She had blood smeared on the right side of her head. I went back inside to get some baby wipes. (Helpful hint: Baby wipes work great for getting blood, dirt, even cow poop, off white dog fur.)
I cleaned off the blood but I could only find one small scratch on her nose. I observed her for a little while. She was anxious as hell – still bouncing around nervously, panting and whimpering. I thought maybe I could calm her down if I just sat there silently. I thought about how bizarre it was that while she was viciously attacking Zeus, she didn’t touch Lucy. I thought about how different she was than the Venus who played in the park with the other dogs in August. Nothing made any sense.
I was soon distracted by the fact that my right foot felt wet. I was wearing flip-flops. I looked down and there was blood all over my foot. Uh-oh. My leg was bleeding.
I retreated inside to the bathroom and cleaned myself up. I had two bites on my right leg and a red paw print and toenail hole on my left ankle. The paw print matched Zeus’s back foot exactly. The teeth marks matched Venus. None of the wounds were serious.
It’s important to pause here for an explanation. When I say the bite wounds were not serious, that doesn’t mean I don’t take aggression seriously. It just means what it says, the wounds were not serious. Venus’s aggression was and is totally unacceptable. However when any human or dog has been bitten by her, the wounds have not been serious. That is a significant aspect to her breakdown. In other words Venus wasn’t out to kill me or Zeus or anybody. I don’t believe she knew what she was doing. She lost her mind. She went postal. She turned into a dog bomb.
Many experts will say you should never break up a dog fight. But I don’t know how else you stop them. I’ve had dogs all my life. I know what I’m doing when I step in. It’s always best if two people step in. One for each dog. And of course, I prefer not to step in alone. I didn’t have any choice. What saved me was that Zeus didn’t fight back. Water helps. If you have access to a hose and/or a broom, that’s even better. If you have to step in, stand over the dog, straddling the hind quarters with your legs if you can. Grab hold of the dog’s harness or collar and pull up as you dump water, just as I described. Keep your hands away from the dog’s mouth or you will get bit. There is a way to release a clamped jaw by sticking your hand in the side of the jaw toward the throat, but I don’t recommend that with the big dogs. Above all it’s important to move quickly with authority.
After a fight, never give affection to the dogs. That’s like rewarding bad behavior. Aggression can’t be cured with love. I didn’t even give Zeus affection after the attack. I simply cleaned up both dogs, observed them and then cleaned up the mess they made in the house.
Needless to say we kept the dogs separated that night after the attack. Neither Tod or I slept very well. We had shut Venus in the garage so naturally she yelped and barked when she wasn’t sleeping. Images of the attack haunted me. And the question. The one I didn’t have an answer for.
What’re we gonna do about Venus?
Stay tuned for Part 3
Filed under: Colorado, Garfield County, West Elk Multi-Use, White River National Forest, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, trail, west elk
The West Elk Multi-Use Club has a new interactive blog. Check it out. We invite you to share information and photos. Stay connected with other West Elk trail users.
Filed under: Akbash, CCD, Silt, aggression, canine compulsive disorder, crazy bitch, dog fight, dog story, dogs, pet adoption, tibbetts
Today begins Part 1 of my series about Venus, our Akbash/Lab mix. Two months ago she was diagnosed with CCD (Canine Compulsive Disorder) compounded by aggression. In this series I will document her diagnosis and treatment, along with her history.
While surfing the intertubes to find out more about CCD, I couldn’t find any individual case studies. I decided to publish our experiences in hopes of helping other dog owners facing the same illness. Feel free to send me your questions as our story unfolds.
CCD was identified as an illness in 2000, by Andrew Luescher, director of the Purdue University Animal Behavior Clinic. His report is titled: Compulsive Behavior in Companion Animals
Read additional information in this article: Canine Compulsive Disorders by Margaret Mums, DVM
With CCD there is no beginning and there is no end. Venus has probably always had CCD – we just didn’t know it – and she always will. Researchers believe it is a genetic disorder and it is definitely progressive.
While creating the outline for this series, I realized the best way to tell our story is to begin with the series of incidents that led up to the diagnosis then work backward through the past, which is kind of like how we’re living it.
A Tale of Two Dogs
First came Zeus –
Zeus is 8 years old. He’s a happy, well-adjusted Alaskan Malamute. We got him from a private breeder when he was 7 weeks old. Zeus is a low energy dog, in fact he’s hypothyroid. He has always responded to training, and he’s a good listener. He likes everybody. His hobbies include hiking, camping, skijoring, running around Dogland, chewing on bones, and sleeping. He’s currently involved in a tumultuous relationship with Venus.
Here’s Venus –
Venus is 3 years old. We adopted her when she was 10 months from a family who had to give her up. She’s a high energy, high anxiety Akbash/Lab mix, heavy on the Akbash. She definitely has a “strong independent nature” and “thinks twice upon receiving commands”. Training her has been a challenge. She also enjoys the same hobbies as Zeus.
That photo of Venus was taken on a camping trip at Meadow Lake the weekend of August 16, 2008, almost 5 months ago. Coincidentally during that weekend Venus snapped and snarled at Zeus over something – a dish of food or water, a stick – I can’t remember precisely what triggered her aggressive behavior. We stepped in before her behavior accelerated and separated the 2 dogs.
We don’t ever take dog aggression lightly so we were concerned. Until then, for more than 2 years, Venus and Zeus were good friends and got along very well. They ate together, walked together, rode together, boated together, played together – life was good.
Here’s Zeus and Venus acting like a team 2 years ago –
Until everything changed …
Two weeks after the photo of Venus was taken, we traveled to Wisconsin over Labor Day weekend to visit my family. We have a pickup camper, so we took the dogs with us.
On Sunday, there were six of us sitting on my sister Donna’s porch talking. There were no other dogs around except Venus and Zeus. They were lying down about 20 feet away from each other, looking cool and calm. My brother-in-law Tom walked outside with a bowl of grapes. Zeus stood up to move out of the way. As he did so he sniffed the bowl. Venus jumped to her feet in an instant. She bolted like lightning across the porch, grabbed Zeus by the neck and clamped her jaws. No one saw it coming.
We could’ve had a full blown dog fight on our hands at that moment. Except Zeus is not a fighter. He outweighed her by 40 lbs at the time yet he stood firm and didn’t go into aggression mode.
Tod, my daughter Ema, Donna, and I tried to get Venus to release him but she held on like a pit bull. Finally Tom grabbed a pail of water nearby and dumped it on her head. She released, still snapping and snarling. We separated the dogs. Ema had a single bite on her arm that was bleeding. Zeus had a bite on his neck that was also bleeding. Neither of the wounds required stitches.
To say we were surprised at Venus’s sudden aggression is putting it mildly. We were shocked by how quickly she morphed from calm to red zone in a split second. Because of the incident at Meadow Lake 2 weeks earlier, I had brought with me the homeopathic remedy Aggression Formula. I started dosing her with it and she calmed down.
We left Wisconsin for Colorado on Monday morning. I kept Venus on Aggression Formula and she didn’t show any further aggression toward Zeus on the 2-day drive home. On Tuesday however, when we stopped for gas in Denver, a woman that Venus didn’t know tried to pet her and she started growling and barking and lunged at her on the leash. That was not typical behavior.
Tuesday evening after we arrived home, Tod was eating a bowl of popcorn in the kitchen. He tossed some to Venus, then Zeus and POW! She attacked Zeus again. She clamped down on his sore neck. Tod grabbed her. Zeus bit him on the arm. I dumped a bowl of water on her head. She released and Zeus fled. We separated the dogs again.
The next day I ordered another homeopathic remedy PetCalm to add to the Aggression Formula. I also made an appointment for Venus to see our vet. We kept the dogs separated for 2 days and gradually Venus’s behavior returned to normal. She hated being separated from Zeus.
By the time we got in to see Dr. Cheryl Pearce the following week, Venus was on PetCalm and Aggression Formula and acting normally. I also give her a 1000 mg capsule of fish oil once a day. Dr. Pearce was new to Divide Creek Animal Hospital so that was our first meeting. I reported on Venus’s aggressive behavior. Dr. Pearce and I went over her whole history from the moment we adopted her. When we talked about exercise, I explained that Venus is leash trained but most of the time we walk the dogs at Dogland, our local off-leash dog park. Dr. Pearce advised that we put Venus back on the leash and work on behavior modification. She also recommended keeping her on the homeopathic remedies since they seemed to be working.
For 3 weeks we worked with Venus on the leash. She acted normally toward Zeus. She seemed fine again. Then in mid-October there were 2 separate incidents where she attacked 2 different dogs at Dogland. We were able to stop her aggression easily and no dogs were injured. But we put her back on the leash.
By then however we were both really frustrated. Venus just didn’t seem to be responding to the homeopathic treatment or the behavior modification. I had been dosing her with PetCalm and Aggression Formula twice a day. I upped it to 3 times a day.
Then all hell broke loose …
Stay tuned for Part 2
