The question today is about my favorite animals. While my favorite animal is, technially, turtles, I’ve got to go with dogs right now. Cats too, but my dogs have been my focus lately. Especially my rescue boy, Ethan. He’s been having some difficulty lately. He is such a gentle soul. Laid back and not as high energy as Millie, our other rescue dog. It didn’t seem to be a problem at first, but we’ve discovered that Ethan has gotten a bit destructive. Our couch cushions have been his favorite target.
As we have tried to figure out why he does this, we made a habit of taking all the cushions off the couch when we leave the house. Recently, I figured out a way to repair the cushions. It involves a wooden dowel and a staple gun since he seems to have destroyed the zipper that closes them. That solution was only temporary apparently as he continued to tear them open, and chew the wood inside.
We finally figured out why he does this. He, like his human mama, has anxiety issues. And Millie, being as high energy as she is, makes him anxious. He will play with her when they’re outside, but inside, he would much rather snuggle with us and nap peacefully. When Millie doesn’t want to do that, she gets in his face and barks. If we’re home when she does that, he runs to us and climbs in our laps to get away from her. The problem is, she seems to do this the most between the time I go back to work after coming home for lunch and then coming home at 5:00. There are no laps to climb in then. So he took his anxiety out on our furniture.
But thankfully, he was due for his annual vaccines a few weeks ago and I mentioned our concerns to the vet. It didn’t take long into his examination of Ethan to confirm that my sweet boy was full of anxiety. So puppy prozac was prescribed.
Reminds me of the intense anxiety I had last week and my impromptu visit to my psychiatrist to get a new anxiety medication. This week, Ethan and I both felt the effects of our anxiety meds. Not only did my doctor give me an “as needed” medicine but she also increased the dose of what I normally take. This week, I had very little anxiety. None of it became bad enough for me to take the “as needed” medicine.
Likewise, Ethan’s medicine began to take effect. It’s one of those medicines that needs a couple of weeks to start working. I finally repaired all of the couch cushions and put them back on the couch. I used a super strong fabric glue this time instead of wood and staples.
The good news is, Ethan seems to be less anxious, as am I, and our living room furniture is fully intact once again.
Leave a Reply