Taming Maggie
One dog's battle against stress and separation anxiety
As soon as their eyes met, Kate Fodor knew that Maggie was the dog she would be taking home from the Bide-A-Wee animal shelter in Manhattan on that November afternoon. A Great Dane mix with a white snout, a silky coat, and floppy brown ears, the 6-month-old puppy had sweetly licked Kate's hand as soon as it was offered. As Kate happily strolled the 15 blocks home with her new companion, she couldn't imagine how anyone could have given Maggie away.
But that was before the neighbors started complaining about Maggie's incessant barking, before Maggie started relieving herself on the oriental carpets, and before Kate started coming home to a ransacked apartment strewn with torn pillows and chewed-up clothes.
Most dogs view their owner's absence as a welcome chance to catch up on some snoozing. But for others, like Maggie, departure is a time of great angst. Unable to articulate their feelings, these dogs act them out by chronically howling, destroying furniture, and defiling a home they otherwise love. The condition is called separation anxiety. It affects an estimated 14 percent of dogs, and it is often the reason that frustrated owners give their dogs away or put them to sleep.
Although no one doubts that something is amiss with these furry and usually very friendly fellas, how to fix the problem is a matter of considerable debate. Some animal behaviorists say that dogs need to be social and that their owners must spend more time with them. Jeffrey Masson, author of Dogs Never Lie About Love, says unruly behavior is a "completely natural" response to a dog's being left alone. Pet owners who can't bring their dog to work or find appropriate day care, he says, should "think about finding someone who can give it a better home."
But other experts say that a dog with separation anxiety needs to learn how to feel comfortable by itself, if only because practicality dictates it. In these difficult cases, one option is a treatment well accepted in humans. It combines "therapy"--in this case, behavior modification training--and mood-altering drugs. The federal Food and Drug Administration recently approved one such medication for dogs, an antidepressant that increases the serotonin and norepinephrine levels in the brain. In theory, the drug, Clomicalm, can soothe a dog's feelings of anxiety. The drug is controversial; possible side effects include lethargy, diarrhea, and vomiting. But for Kate, who wasn't quite ready for a future with a "wild child" pet, it was worth a try. Here is her story:
Day 1 MAGGIE GOES TO THE VET . . . Gail Zausner, a Manhattan veterinarian, explains to Kate that a dog experiencing separation anxiety doesn't understand that its owner will eventually return. Ripping apart pillows may seem like fun, but it is really an expression of fear. And if the theories are correct, Maggie can't help it. "You don't want to punish Maggie for this," Zausner says. The doctor prescribes 80 milligrams of Clomicalm, made by Novartis, to be given once a day in the dog's food. But Zausner stresses that the drugs are simply an aid for the training, which is the crux of the program. Kate agrees to be Maggie's trainer.
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