We had hoped that Rex would normalize after coming here and stop his obsessive/compulsive tail chasing behavior. He did not. In recent days he seemed to be doing it more and more and I found it impossible to distract him from it.
When he comes to the dog yard with the other fosters, instead of engaging with them in play, he either lays by himself, spins in a circle chasing his tail, or runs back and forth along the fence barking at Gypsy Jr. I couldn't stand it anymore, it just drives me crazy to see him do that. Yesterday I gave him two benedryl, two valium, and another anti-anxiety drug and it finally mellowed him out to the point that he didn't have the focus or the body coordination to chase his tail. 
Today we went to the vet. She thought he seemed to react painfully when his tail was lifted, so we took a couple xrays. They revealed no hip dysplasia and no obvious defects in his tail. I also realized that he was not yet neutered. That is going to happen tomorrow and I also got a prescription for generic Prozac called in to a pharmacy. For tonight I just gave him some more valium to settle him down and he's out in the dog yard with the others. Of course, he's not playing with the others, he's rather half-heartedly running the fence line. We are going to try the neutering and the drugs. I keep coming back to the fact that he's young and should be able to unlearn this habit and take up something new. There are problems we just can't fix, but we are going to give this a try.
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4 comments:
He needs a job and he needs a ton of exercise. Can you get him to a doggie day care after he is healed to run and play all day or can you run him for an hour twice a dog or walk him for an hour three times a day? he needs to get rid of the energy. I know how hard it is to distract the dogs but he needsa job, thats his issue and a huge work out to tire him out.
I think this dog needs a job and a ton of exercise. Is there anyway to run him on a treadmill or outside an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon? If he had work to do, he wouldnt be looking to chase his tail or wouldnt have time to do it. Is there a way to engage him in work with the other dogs to keep him busy?
He is an adorable dog. I wonder if he is just craving attention? It sounds like his previous parent really didn't show him any. I wonder if that is what he is craving?
So hows this guy working out now?
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