Behavior Disorder

Brandy is our family dog and the best hunting dog my husband ever had. In June of 2003, at 6 years old, he was diagnosed with fear related and territorial aggression and aggression towards strangers. We really noticed a huge difference in his behavior when we had to put our older Lab down due to kidney failure. Over a period of a year, our very loving dog grew into a dog that we couldn't trust. He wouldn't go outside at night, and one night came through the screen door to get into the house. Then he began growling at us when we asked him to do something. If we tried to make him do it, he would show his teeth and snap. We couldn't let him out in the front yard with us because he would become very aggressive with anyone walking by our house and would not go back into the house when asked. It got to the point where I couldn't take him for a walk because if another person came by with a dog, Brandy would almost knock me down trying to get at the other dog.

Brandy's behavior became worse and worse. We could hardly leave him at home alone because he would get so depressed that he wouldn't eat. The only time he seemed happy was when he was hunting, but my husband had to be careful around other people and dogs because Brandy would become aggressive. The first words out of our mouth became, "Don't put your hand out!" because Brandy took that as a sign of aggression towards him, especially if he was on a leash or inside the truck with the window open. His response was to growl, show his teeth, lunge and snap. It was getting to the point where we didn't even recognize our own dog. Right before Christmas 2003, we got another dog so that Brandy wouldn't be by himself. He seemed a little better at first, so we figured he was adjusting. As our new dog, Max, got bigger, they played together, but there were times when Brandy seemed a little rough. When Max was 7 months old, Brandy suddenly attacked him. Max was more scared than hurt, but it drastically changed their relationship. Max was afraid to be alone with Brandy, and we could not leave them together in the house or yard because we never knew when Brandy would get angry. We took Brandy to our vet and explained what was going on. Brandy already had to take tranquilizers for vet appointments because he was so unmanageable. The vet recommended a blood test and going to the UC Davis VMTH Small Animal Clinic. At this point, my husband was ready to put him down but I couldn't do it. I made the appointment, and at the same time I got Dr. Beebe's name and number from another veterinarian's office where I had gone with my older dog, so I also made an appointment with Dr. Beebe. After the UC Davis appointment, we came home with a behavior modification program. It was probably the hardest thing my husband and I ever had to do. We weren't perfect with it, but we did see a change in Brandy. The following week we met with Dr. Beebe and gave her all of Brandy's medical records and the report from UC Davis. Our first visit wasn't very encouraging - Brandy wanted nothing to do with her - but she was willing to try. We left with some herbs and instructions to change his diet. My husband was a little skeptical but I was willing to try anything. Brandy was the worst of all because he didn't want to eat the food, but I kept at it and he finally started eating. We went to Dr. Beebe once a month for four months and she adjusted his herbs and diet at each visit. After three months, Brandy was a totally different dog and people who knew him started commenting on the change in his behavior. We started calling him the "Love Me Dog" because he wanted everyone to love on him, even people he didn't know. Then we had to do the desensitization part of his behavior modification, and what better place to do it but at Max's hunting class where there were people coming and going and a minimum of twelve other dogs? By the fifth class, Brandy no longer barked at the other dogs and was very loving to all the people there. The great part was I could walk him around the neighborhood again and he totally ignored all people and dogs. It's been nine months now and we have been able to reduce Brandy's herbs by half. He continues to do well. He is not perfect but then, neither are we. My husband no longer talks about putting him down, and Brandy and Max get along really well. We enjoy our dog again. He continues to surprise us daily with his normal behavior towards others. Best of all, he had the best hunting season ever and he seems to be so much happier than before. ~ Maggie Bame

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