From the Styx by Peggy 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 1: Tale of Two Dogs

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!

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