Dandy goes to the vet

When Dandy first came to us back in October he was pretty much a psychological mess all fear & anxiety based. He was unable to come near us for a number of days, he would stand in the corner shaking and would submissive pee when he was over his threshold. Eye contact was not possible for a month or so and then it was hit or miss depending on his worry. For Dandy all his fear and anxiety he directs internally at himself and then his body betrays him by playing out what is upsetting him. It was heartbreaking to watch and what he needed was space, time and acceptance for where he was that hour in the world. Some days were better than others but the great news was that as time went on he had way more good days than bad.  We were in awe of him and the progress he made in foster care, it was amazing how far he had come in a pretty short amount of time.  When Dandy was adopted in February he did struggle initally in his new home but, everyone knew this would happen based on how sensitive he is to change and the history of his first 3 yrs of life.  When Dandy came back to us last month, he hadn't backslid too much which was great for him.  Hoever, it was clear that his worry & anxiety was still causing him a lot of daily discomfort. In wanting to do whatever we can for Dandy, we took him to a vet who has a lot of experience with anxiety in dogs to see if we could find some relief for Dandy. We started him on Fluoxetine and we will check back in with the vet in a month to see if notice any changes for our sweet foster boy. I'm also talking to a T-Touch specialist so stay tuned for how that sorts out.

This is Dandy when he came to us in October 2011

This is Dandy today - sweet, sweet boy!