Neglected Companions
by Katie Scaief
Phil Joyner came home from work to discover potted plants, loose dirt and leaves strewn across his living room floor. His Venetian blinds lay shredded. A wire kennel large enough for an 80-pound mutt sat next to the wall, but Houdini wasn’t in it. The cage door bent upwards at the bottom of the kennel where an anxiety-driven dog had pounded out.
“When I saw that I thought to myself, ‘I don’t know how we can keep him. We have jobs to go to,’” Joyner said.
Americans work more hours per year than any other industrialized nation. When people spend little time at home, their pets might experience an anxiety disorder and destroy human possessions. Some owners surrender misbehaving pets to shelters. As animal shelters run out of space, many unwanted pets are euthanized. New solutions like anti-anxiety medication can change animal behavior, but some veterinarians say lifestyle and environment changes are crucial to ease anxiety disorders in pets.
In 2002, the Whatcom Humane Society euthanized more than 600 cats and nearly 200 dogs, according to the WHS animal intake statistics. The shelter’s records show the number one reason for euthanizing dogs is behavior issues and aggression. The Humane Society of the United States estimates 3 million to 4 million cats and dogs are euthanized each year in the United States.
Janet Hanan is a dog adoption coordinator at the Alternative Humane Society in Bellingham. She said many people want to have a well-behaved pet without putting a lot of effort into behavior modification.
“I think a portion of people only want a pet until it becomes an inconvenience,” Hanan said. “Someone called me last week to tell me they had a lifestyle change and could no longer take care of their 17-month-old dog. I wanted to ask them what they would do if it was a 17-month-old baby.”
Instead of surrendering pets to shelters, owners whose pets display behavior problems can seek help from veterinarians.
Dan Hall has practiced at the Fairhaven Veterinary Hospital in Bellingham since 1979. He said many animal behavior problems arise because animals are living with people rather than in their natural environment. Dogs, as pack animals, develop crucial social skills in their first six to 12 weeks, he said. If dogs don’t learn to spend time alone in this prime period, they might develop separation anxiety disorder later in life.
Distinguishing characteristics of separation anxiety disorder help veterinarians make appropriate diagnoses, Hall said. A dog experiencing separation anxiety will destroy property in the home in an effort to reconnect with a person. He said in one case a dog saw its owner on the other side of a window and jumped through.
Dogs with the disorder will also bark or whine for about the first 15 minutes they are left alone. In many cases, a dog begins to learn its owner’s routine. When the animal observes its owner putting on a jacket or picking up a purse or keys, it will begin to show signs of anxiety.
In extreme cases, veterinarians refer clients to board-certified veterinary behaviorists. Lynne Seibert is one of 32 such behaviorists in the world.
“Behavior problems are probably the most important factor in mortality rates for animals,” Seibert said.
Seibert practices animal therapy at the Animal Emergency and Referral Center in Lynnwood, Wash. She said solving many behavior cases require the owners to spend quality time with their pets. Three key approaches work together to help modify an animal’s anxiety: environmental modification, behavior modification and pharmacology.
Joyner’s wife, Vicki, a social worker, said Houdini’s symptoms of anxiety disorder were obvious. He could not handle being alone, not even for short periods of time. He followed her around the house. She said she could not even go to the garage without him barking. His needs did not match the Joyners’ lifestyle, but they did not want to give up on him.
“Dogs are pack creatures,” said Angela Lenz owner of Tails-A-Wagging Doggie Day Care. “Forcing nonsocial activity causes them to freak out.”
Lenz is a licensed animal health technician and certified small animal behaviorist. In 2001, she and her husband, Jason, started Tails-A-Wagging Doggie Day Care in Bellingham for people who typically have to leave their dogs home while they are at work.
The Joyners decided to send Houdini to Tails-A-Wagging. The staff at the day care practiced putting him in a time-out room for a few minutes at a time to try to decrease his separation anxiety.
“Dogs are just the way they have always been for hundreds of years, but our lifestyles have changed,” Lenz said. “It is unreasonable for us to expect that they can just adapt. We are their whole life.”
She said Americans have changed their lifestyles since the 1970s and 1980s — many families rely on dual incomes just to make ends meet. When people leave their pets at home all day without attention, the animals might show signs of stress, she said. These signs include physical destruction of property, self mutilation and chewing of human possessions like furniture.
“People need to spend time with each other,” Lenz said. “Dogs have to be with each other, too. When they don’t do that, you get destructive behavior.”
Vicki Joyner searched for additional methods of separation anxiety disorder treatment. She learned about Clomicalm, an anti-anxiety medication the Food and Drug Administration approved for canine use in December 1998. Houdini’s veterinarian prescribed the medication and Houdini took it for about five months, Phil Joyner said.
Novartis Animal Health produces Clomicalm for reduction of separation anxiety disorder in dogs older than six months. It inhibits the uptake of serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmitters in the brain. This reduces fear and might increase learning ability in some dogs. The use of drugs in animals for mental purposes is often debated since people cannot directly communicate with an animal.
“My personal perspective is that as a vet it’s my mandate to try to decrease suffering,” Seibert said. “And when I see pets suffering from anxiety I feel I should help. If I suffered then I would want my doctor to prescribe the appropriate medication.”
In combination with behavior modification Clomicalm helps to decrease anxiety disorder in animals, Seibert said.
“Most veterinary behaviorists would say that medication alone almost never solves the problem,” Seibert said.
Hall said he encourages owners to practice confidence-building exercises with their dogs before he prescribes any medication. Obedience training in a classroom environment can be effective, he said. Owners can also practice extending the distance between themselves and their dogs, then increase the time spent apart.
In severe cases, medication might ease transition, Hall said.
The Fairhaven Veterinary Hospital receives canine separation anxiety related cases a few times a month, Hall said. Last year, they put two dogs on medication.
“Here we try to discourage drugs, because our society has a mentality that if you have a problem you should take a pill,” Hall said. “That doesn’t work for a lot of behavior problems.”
Houdini began to mellow out after a month of the combined influences of day care and anti-depressants, Vicki Joyner said. After five months the staff at Tails-A-Wagging got Houdini to spend one hour alone in time out, when previously he could not last a few minutes. Then Houdini got into a fight and was expelled.
Phil and Vicki Joyner had to reevaluate their lives again to make room for Houdini. They decided he needed a companion.
Hannah, a small golden retriever, gets along well with Houdini, Vicki Joyner said, because their personalities are opposite of each other. The Joyners leave the dogs together without supervision. Sometimes they leave the television on the Animal Planet TV Network, or the radio on a talk show for background human conversation.
The Joyners changed their work schedules to accommodate the dogs. Vicki Joyner has mornings and every other Friday off. Sometimes Phil Joyner has days off at the beginning of the week. Because the Joyners stagger their work schedules, Houdini and Hannah don’t spend too much time at home alone. When the Joyners aren’t at work they spend a lot of time outside with their dogs.
“Our society is the most dramatic example of separation from nature, especially in the bigger cities where there is less nature around,” Phil Joyner said. “Pets are a connection to that.”
After about five or six months, the Joyners eased Houdini off of Clomicalm. He still shows signs of anxiety, and he probably always will, Phil Joyner said, but the signs are less dramatic. Houdini and Hannah can stay at home unsupervised for eight to 12 hours at a time, as long as the Tails-A-Wagging pet sitters visit to take them to the bathroom.
To cater to the needs of their dogs, the Joyners completely redid their living room floor with large-square tiles. They don’t work as many overtime hours, they can’t go on as many vacations and have spent a lot on vet bills. These dogs aren’t convenient at all, Vicki Joyner said, but their companionship makes it worthwhile.
“People want the all-American dream,” she said. “Part of that is having a pet and a car. And they treat the car and the pet the same. If it is too much trouble, if there is hair everywhere, they get rid of the animal. It comes from our consumer society; if it doesn’t work, throw it away.”
