Better Living Through Medicine

Lucy and I have had a VERY busy past couple of weeks. I've been working on the ethics proposal for my thesis, while Lucy has been mastering Sit, Down, Stay, Crawl, Leave it, Find Lamby, Watch me, and Come for a cuddle! We've made huge progress, and I think before I can get to all the recent good stuff, I have to take a step back and report on how we got here:

• Time
• Patience
• Exposure
• Practice 
• Love 
• Good treats 
• Prozac... 

Luc and I made several trips to the vet within our first two weeks together. The adoption agency recommended a visit within the first month, but as a ridiculously anxious Dog Mom, I took Lucy for her first visit 2 days after adopting her. To be fair to me/rationalize my anxiety, she still had worms and flea bites and was scratching ALL THE TIME. Her paw was infected and she wouldn't stop chewing it. In fact, she was constantly chewing/aggressively biting her paws and her tail and back. We got meds to fight the foot infection and itching and car sickness and worms, and I thought I'd see them for our next annual checkup. But then the anxiety started...

That was when I started this blog--when Lucy's overwhelming hatred of noises in my apartment left her howling for hours every night. Her panic was contagious, and I didn't know what to do. Short of barricading her in my room while BLASTING nature sounds and classical music and a fan, nothing seemed to keep her calm. So back to the vet we went! Luckily, Elemental Vet Services, where I take her, is UH-MAY-ZING. Lucy and I both absolutely love them. 

Even getting a shot can be fun when you
get special attention!

Lots to explore! 

Our second appointment was half consultation about the actual issues and half mini-therapy session for me. Our awesome vet let me process everything that was happening and express ALL of my concerns. At the end, she looked at Lucy and diagnosed her with a "noise phobia" and "dog OCD." When she recommended a combination of behavior training and medication, I was hesitant. This, too, we processed while Lucy ran around and gave everyone in the room tons of affection.

Waiting for the appointment to start, Luc lays down and
holds my foot 

The vet made a very convincing case: 

1. Lucy was clearly in a LOT of distress. And I would be too, the vet explained, if every evening I KNEW (like Lucy "knows") that people were breaking into my house and threatening me and my owner and my owner wasn't doing anything about it!! Her panic and response was a result of her interpretation of the situation: she was hyper-vigilant and detected threat where there wasn't actually threat. Her anxiety and distress was SO high, that my behavior interventions were ineffective. 
2. There is no evidence that taking dogs taking antidepressants does any physical harm. Living in chronic stress, on the other hand? A LOT of evidence that living in terror is a pretty awful thing for your mental AND physical health. 
3. The longer I let her fear continue, the harder it would be to change/the more negative associations she would have with my apartment. 
4. When I asked about other "natural" treatments, the vet pointed out that just because a treatment is "natural" or "organic" doesn't actually make it safe or mean it's been rigorously tested. 

In the end, Luc and I left with prescriptions for Prozac (intended to help lower anxiety and OCD symptoms, but would take about 2-3 weeks to kick in) and Trazadone (intended to provide anxiety relief in the short term). O M G. 

The impact of the Trazadone was immediate. It definitely made her a little tired at first, but not terribly so (and she quickly adjusted). The vet explained that the meds would probably change her behavior from "THERE IS A SOUND IN THE APARTMENT AND SOMEONE IS COMING TO HURT US!" to "Oh, huh, there's a sound in the apartment" which was the perfect description. 

When I took her to my parents' house for our summer vacation, I discontinued the Trazadone (there were no signs of people attempting to break into our house in the evenings, so Luc was nice and calm), but kept her on the Prozac. Something amazing happened.... she stopped itching and scratching and biting herself all the time. I thought maybe it was an environmental allergen to something in Ohio not in Maryland, but when we returned to Columbus and she remained on her Prozac, the itching stayed away. And so did the anxiety (even without the added Trazadone). 

NOT STAGED. 

In general, Lucy seems INFINITELY happier these days. She is calmer on walks, with other dogs and people, when I leave, and when there are noises. We had a 3 week period where the guys upstairs moved out, so she was SUPER relaxed, but even with new upstairs tenants, she is so much calmer. And I am too! 

Better living through medicine! ;)

Evenings in the living room = no problem anymore!

Enjoying the evening at the park!

Napping with my running shoe ;) 

 

Camp Plaze!

Luc and I made our first Maryland visit shortly after her adoption, so I could attend a wedding. There was no doubt in my mind that I would bring Lucy home with me, but I was anxious about finding someone to watch her for the night I would be with my parents at the wedding on the Eastern Shore. When her Aunt Laura volunteered to host her for the weekend, I was SUPER relieved and grateful, and yet still quite anxious. It was our first period of separation, and I had no idea how Lucy would handle it or, uh, how I would handle it....

Snuggles at my parents' house

Snuggles on the way to Camp Plaze (Laura
and Bob's house)

Happily exploring the AMAZING yard!

And enjoying a good game of fetch 

We instructed Lucy to get out of this plant...

Laura is a MASTER gardener and their yard is gorgeous. We had to keep telling Lucy to come out of various bushes and plants. At some point, Laura gestured to this one particular plant and said, "This is the dog bed plant. Baxter [their dog] and other visiting dogs are allowed to lay in it." As if Lucy perfectly understood what had just been said, she plopped down in the middle of the plant.

"Aunt Laura said I could lay in this bush!"

Any nerves I had about leaving Lucy disappeared when I saw how calm and happy she was with Laura

 But I was THRILLED to receive photo updates throughout the weekend. I definitely was experiencing more separation anxiety than Lucy was!

Apparently Lucy carried around her Lamby (originally given to her by Aunt Laura) and Baxter's bone. 

I should mention poor cousin Baxter, who used to have to put up with visits from my childhood dog, Mickey. Mickey was a difficult house guest for Baxter.... he would take his toys, usurp his bed, and steal LOTS of attention. Now Baxter has to deal with cousin Lucy! But he did so very graciously. 

Lucy was certainly happy to see me when I picked her up on Sunday morning, but had clearly thoroughly enjoyed herself at Camp Plaze. Despite her noise phobia and other anxiety, she really is a very well adjusted dog. Both she and I agree that at the end of the day, nothing matters more than fresh air, good food, and--above all else--people you love and who love you. 

So many snuggles!

Lucy and I recently took a trip back to my parents' house in Maryland--the second one we've made this summer. Luc LOVES these visits home because there are tons of people around for her to snuggle with, chase, and sleep on top of. She really is such a pack animal.

Morning snuggles with Grandma Dina

As the perfect Jewish dog-grandma, Grandma Tru's 
first words were, "She's too skinny! Are you eating enough?"

Meeting Hannah and Sam! I observed that if Hannah and Sam produced a dog child, it would look like Lucy

Distracting Grandpa Richard from his work

Proudly brining Lamby to show grandpa

Whenever someone took a seat, Lucy was there!

Love fest with Julia

She LOVED Bairy's calming presence

Danish Grandpa!!!

Surprise attack as Helle has morning coffee

This recent trip allowed me to easily see so many signs of the progress she/we have made in the last 2.5 months together. We made our first Maryland visit only about 2 weeks after Lucy's adoption, and we were both on edge through much of the trip: I was anxious about Lucy being anxious, and in the end, I was deeply troubled by how much happier she seemed at my parents' house. This time, neither the transition to my parents' place or the transition back to Ohio felt like some dramatic leap. Lucy seemed perfectly happy and relaxed in both places. We're making it work! 

Observing her kingdom