The matter with Max

Max is a bit of a problem.  He's gorgeous, good with decent sized dogs, but he's two years old, high-strung, and possibly a bit mental.  I think the pack life may be over stimulating for him.  He chases his tail and screams when he gets excited unless someone is directing him to do something else.  When he's running in the pasture with Maya on him, he's fine; she keeps him moving forward.  If she goes off to do something else, he's on his own and doesn't know what to do.

Today we went to visit Erika for her assessment.  He was somewhat better running around her open field particularly after she gave him a stuffed toy to carry.  Notably, he was the only dog around so the excitement level wasn't quite as high as it is around here. 

She put a head halter on him and walked him on a very short lead and he eventually responded pretty well to that.  I think the key was that the decision making was taken away from him. 

Tomorrow I'm going to start him on Prozac.  He's unadoptable in his current condition, in spite of his looks.  I have to do something to change that or I'll have to return him to the shelter.  There's too many other dogs knocking at my door, another shepherd in addition to Lily, and a young rottie.  I do now have a prospect for Natalie at least; we'll be meeting them (prior adopters) on Sunday.