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10-20-2023, 05:33 PM | #1 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
Posts: 139
| Prozac Hi, I have a 12 year old Yorkie male. I adopted him when he was 3. His previous owner was a male. He went to jail for drug and gun possession and I guess whomever he was left with got permission to put him up for adoption. He's about 14 pounds. Over the years he has become aggressive. When I first brought him home, I had a female poodle mix and they got along pretty well. The only time he would get nasty with her was if I was walking the two of them and we encountered another dog. When he couldn't get at the other dog, he would turn on my poodle-mix. I had to let her go due to kidney disease 4 years ago. At that time he began to redirect his aggression towards me. Stupid;y thinking he missed having another dog in the house, I adopted a female terrier mix just prior to Covid. His behavior since has gotten worse and worse. He has extreme anxiety when it rains. He can sense it prior and goes crazy. Nothing can calm him down. He has turned into a biter. I finally could no longer let him sleep on the bed with me because if I moved, he would react and it was not safe. I put him in the living room at night over the summer, having to hold him at arms length while he thrased around snarling, just so I could get some sleep. The last straw was when he somehow climbed over the baby gate and showed up in the bedroom. I finally took him to the vet for a full checkup and advice. He is now on Prozac. He has been on it for 6 weeks and I actually thought things were improving. Now in the past two days it appears he is immune to it and we are back to square one. He gave me a nasty bite on the finger yesterday when I wanted to move him from the chair I sit on to watch TV.. It ooks like he is going to have to have his dosage increased, which was discussed at his last vist. My question is, does anyone else have a Yorkie on Prozac? How high of a dose can they tolerate? My vet said he wouldn't tolerate a biter. Thanks for any responses. |
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10-21-2023, 04:38 AM | #2 |
Resident Yorkie Nut Donating YT 20K Club Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Texas
Posts: 27,451
| Have you ever had him evaluated by a behaviorist? Before putting a dog on a med like Prozac, a full medical eval should be done and ideally a behavioral eval. Medication alone is not going to change his behavior (in my opinion). The only "trigger" I see mentioned is the dog walking issue. Sounds like he gets over stimulated and just bites whoever is there. Of course, there could be other triggers. Note: I am suggesting a behaviorist, not trainer!! You want to figure out his triggers and work with them. While looking for a behaviorist, you might want to start working with him on basic commands, if you have not already. Take him in a quiet room or in back yard and work with sit to begin with, giving him treats when he gets it . After that, you can work with shake and down. Real basic commands that he will enjoy. As for night time, for now I would put a soft muzzle on him so he cannot bite you. He needs to know you are in control, not him. You want to do that in a way that is not threatening to him. When he is behaving well, give him a treat and praise him for being so good! There is a couple of books that may help. They are written by Tamar Gellar.... One is "The Loved Dog" and the other is "30 Days to a Well-Mannered Dog". She is very much into positive Her website is: www.theloveddog.com I have worked with biters over the years and what I found was that the respond well to positive reinforcement. It takes baby steps but in the end it is so worth it to have a happy pup. Please keep us posted. I wish you good luck with him!
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10-21-2023, 03:12 PM | #3 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
Posts: 139
| Thank you. One of his triggers is rain. Another is now touching his front legs. As I mentioned, he is 12 years old. Today he would not let me put his halter on. We walked with his leash attached to his collar. As I told the vet, he may have arthritis but I will not put him on meds for that as I almost lost my previous Yorkie to that. I have tried Cosequin with him but he won't always take it. I also think he may be a little senile. He gets his teeth cleaned next month. My groomer mentioned the muzzle. I will look into that. Also some kind of a coat I can get on him for the winter and different kind of halter. I am tired of being bitten. Thanks, again. |
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