Canine Behaviour - Drugs and Dopes
By Ross McCarthy MCFBA
The worrying trend of the prescription of mind altering drugs
to our pets in the name of behaviour reformation is of huge concern
to many dog trainers, behaviour practitioners and pet owners – and
so it should be. Psychotropic drugs in the world of canine behaviour
is a relatively new area that seems to be on the increase. I see
many clients who have been told to give their dog a pill to solve
problem behaviour.
A fine example is Mrs Wendy Naylor. She telephoned the Canine
and Feline Behaviour Centre in a frantic manner and in relation
to her West Highland White Terrier, Fisk.
Wendy began the conversation with a little panic in her voice
and some distrust and confusion was also evident in her tone. By
her description, Fisk was executing all sorts of noisy and aggressive
behaviour and life now, according to Wendy, was a nightmare completely
dominated by the dogs barking which had led to neighbour complaints
and a recent letter from environmental health. She informed me
that she had already been to a behaviour counsellor and now Fisk
was worse than ever.
Wendy had been to see a veterinary behaviourist (A trained veterinary
surgeon now consulting in dog behaviour) in August 2002 and this
man had prescribed her dog ‘Selgian’ (a mind altering
drug that is used to treat cognitive dysfunction and senility in
older animals and Cushing’s disease as well as in ‘behaviour
modification’). Fisk had been on this drug for nine months
and there had been no behavioural changes in the positive throughout
that time. Wendy was unable to obtain contact with her ‘counsellor’ (who
was conveniently unavailable) and was very fretful about whether
she should take Fisk off of the drug or not after this length of
time (her from this counsellor report stated that he should be
on it for four months). When she did manage to contact this man,
he said that the dog could stay on it permanently if required -
which conflicted with his initial advice.
In dogs Selgian (selegiline hydrochloride) is often used for the “treatment” of
separation anxiety, aggression and for elderly dogs who bark at
night. The drug can often have a so called paradoxical effect such
as increased aggression and increased fear etc. Wendy was not informed
of these ill-effects thereby denying her an informed choice.
I spoke at length to Wendy on the telephone that day in order
to gain her trust so that she would bring Fisk to the centre for
a consultation. She felt rather let down by her canine behaviour
counsellor and did not know where to turn or who to believe and
so I had to talk her through some of our methods and discuss all
of her concerns in order that she come to us and thankfully she
booked a consultation the following day.
Immediately and in consultation with her own Veterinarian we stopped
Fisk taking this mind altering drug for the reasons stated above.
As a member of the Canine and Feline Behaviour Association of Great
Britain (CFBA) we do not use nor condone mind altering drugs for
behaviour training. I and the other members work full time with
severe canine behaviour problems and we use knowledge of canine
psychology, dog training and skill to alter behaviour – not
drugs.
The following day, Wendy arrived at the centre, she was noticeably
nervous and little Fisk was very excited by the day out and very,
very noisy. Wendy was exasperated by her drive to the centre where
Fisk had barked constantly. Wendy brought with her a copy of the
report from her previous counsellor. This was a two page sheet
with little useful information on, but simply told her to clicker
train the dog for quiet behaviour and recall and said that Selgian
was very safe. Interestingly Wendy had been using cheese to clicker
train Fisk, but apparently, a side effect of the drug that she
was not informed about that in combination with aged cheese, Selgian
can cause severe high blood pressure or death.
Another point worth mentioning is the patient information sheet
on Selgian clearly states ‘Do not use this medication for
the treatment of aggression’ and so it seems bizarre that
this was recommended in the same report commenting on Fisk’s
aggressive behaviour with other dogs. The other side effects of
the drug worth noting are: loss of appetite, drooling, vomiting,
lethargy, restlessness, repetitive behaviours, loss of hearing,
blurred vision, itching and shaking – Wendy was made aware
of none of these possible side-effects by her counsellor nor was
there any test conducted on the dog to check his suitability to
take it (it should not be prescribed to dogs with kidney problems).
I spent nearly four hours in consultation with Wendy (twice the
usual consult time) conducting temperament tests with trained centre
dogs – Wendy was extremely nervous initially fearing that
her dog would attack one of ours, but within twenty minutes Fisk
was playing in the grounds with a German Shepherd, much to Wendy’s
initial surprise and enjoyment. Wendy was pleased that Fisk was
not the aggressive little terrier that she feared he was. He has
a mild fear of dogs, but this could simply be due to the fact that
Wendy has been avoiding all contact with other dogs for the past
few months. She was also pleased to be present with professional
dog handlers and trained dogs for the tests and put her trust in
us to control the situation.
I then sat with Wendy over a coffee and went through many of the
areas in which Fisk was a problem and countered her dogs’ problems
with my practical advice. We went through some retraining techniques
which Fisk and Wendy enjoyed and by this time Wendy was much more
relaxed.
Because Wendy was very upset by her treatment at the hands of
the veterinary behaviourist I decided to give her extra time free
of charge to clarify in detail all of Fisk’s problems and
to verbally explain the course of action from here on in. This
was then followed up with a report of 35 pages detailing our discussions
and programmes for Wendy to follow through with Fisk.
Another piece of bizarre advice that Wendy was given was to cover
her windows with greaseproof paper so that Fisk could not see out
hence he would not bark. She was very relieved when I informed
her that this could be removed after nine months already spent
with it blocking her views.
Wendy left the centre feeling much happier and with a clearer
understanding of the problems. She telephoned me when she got home
and informed me that Fisk had been silent all the way home in the
car which she simply could not believe. She reported further good
results within a few days and also attended an eight week dog training
course with me commencing ten days later.
Wendy was nervous of large dogs and this was compounding Fisk’s
reaction. I chose carefully the course for her to join bearing
in mind her fear and Fisk’s reaction to other dogs. Lesson
one, Fisk was a little fearful, but by week two he had come out
of his shell and thoroughly enjoyed the training sessions. Wendy
found the course a little stressful due to the presence of some
large breed dogs, but she coped well and needed frequent encouragement
and reassurance that all was well and that she was doing great.
On completion of the course, Fisk was a very obedient, gregarious
and quiet little chap. Wendy informed me that he was now becoming
a real part of her family and that her stressful home life was
a memory.
Eighteen months after the completion of the training course I
spoke to Wendy to assess her progress. Wendy reported that Fisk’s
anxiety behaviours had gone – he appears to actually enjoy
her leaving the house now. His barking at people and dogs has stopped
and he enjoys his daily romps in the park with other dogs. He barks
at the front door bell when guests arrive still and on occasion
has a sneaky bite at the ironing board. Overall Fisk is a happy
little family companion and Wendy is much more relaxed with him.
Most importantly there have been no neighbour complaints since
our consultation and moreover Fisk is a drug free zone!
Fisk of course, is just one example of this misuse of drugs. Psychotropic
drugs used in humans is a growing concern for many, but people
can make choices, explain how they feel and stop taking the drug
if they experience nasty side effects – our poor canine chums
can not. As dog owners who take these remarkable animals into our
home and our hearts, it is up to us to control what happens to
our dogs and to keep them safe and in good mental and physical
health. The drug pushers are in the minority and I would urge people
seeking canine behaviour practitioners and trainers should ensure
that they are not prescribed these psychotropic drugs – find
a practitioner with experience and skill to help. The majority
of Fisk’s many behaviour problems were compounded by not
tackling them as each appeared, but left to become worse. Simply
because Wendy followed the advice of a man who clearly new little
about training or behaviour, but used his veterinary credentials
to sell his newly acquired occupation.
I went to see Ross when I was feeling quite desperate about Fisk's
behaviour and whether I would be able to keep him. I was amazed
at the difference in his behaviour after one session. I also discovered
that the root of the problem was something quite different to what
I had thought. I learnt a lot from the training course and I wish
I had seen Ross earlier.
Wendy Naylor
