Prozac and Doggy Boot Camp: Zeke's Journey to Better Behavior

[chefmeg]

Just an update about our psycho Jack Russell~as I posted some time back, he had started biting and becoming increasingly aggressive....well.....

he comes home tomorrow from 12 days at doggy boot camp! His behavior led us to try Prozac (which he is now off of) and get him enrolled in this most drastic step. The lady that runs the camp has 30 years experience dealing with dogs that have aggression issues. The first few days they lovingly referred to Zeke as "Atilla the Hun" and "Crack Dog" (as in crack/cocaine)...but he has improved enough in his training to come home! I take myself and the other dog (you know, the 13 year old that wants NOTHING to do with Zeke) and train for an hour and a half and then bring him home. The pet behavioralist comes for a visit after 2 weeks to see how he/we are doing.

Ya'll just pray that this works for my little psycho baby dog~we love & miss him, and know that the next step is JRT rescue or euthanasia if he can't calm down and be nice...and none of us want that.

I am trying to attach a picture so you all can see just how cute he really is!!!(which is why DH has not killed him!) CLICK ON THE THUMBNAIL FOR THE PICTURE TO GET BIGGER!

 

[KellyTheChef]

Awww....he IS cute!

I pray that all of the time/effort/money you are putting into him pays off and you can keep him! He better know how much he is loved!!

 

[pampered.chris]

My friend had a Rott named Zeke...he was hit by a car a few years ago...he was an extremely loving dog and not mean at all...maybe your Zeke "channelled" his Rotty mean ways!!

I wish you the best of luck tomorrow!! Hopefully your baby will be a perfect angel when you get him home!!

 

[Kitchen Diva]

Meg I just know this is gonna work and Zeke will now be nicknamed Zeke the peaceful!!!

Let us know how it goes!

 

[chefmeg]

I picked up the little dingbat yesterday afternoon! He was thrilled to see me, not so thrilled to see the old dog! They had a "moment" right in front of the trainer, so that helped her see I hadn't lost my mind. It seems Zeke has some OCD (imagine!) and gets very posessive of objects he sees as his. Yesterday it was a bottle cap....Scrapper moved in a little too close and Zeke went off!
He did learn alot at doggy boot camp, so our answer to the situation now is to let Scrapper live upstairs and Zeke live downstairs. Scrapper won't be around as long as Zeke will (Scrapper is almost 14 and Zeke is only 2), so we want his senior years to be stress free~this means keeping the psycho dog away from him!
This has been the most peaceful day I have ever had with the JRT...he knows when to lay down and stay that way without following me all over the house and jumping all over my furniture......now, if I could just get the kids to do that, we would be in business!

 

[chefsteph07]

Jack Russells have a history of being too rambunctious. I hope this works for you. My mom is a professional dog handler, she had a JR for a while but ended up giving him back to the breeder because he was too much for even her to deal with...and she deals with ALOT!

I don't know how "Frasier"'s dog did it, they must have had him on tranquilizers. No joke.

 

[chefsteph07]

And PLEASE do not put the dog down..it's not his fault that he is hard to handle.

 

[chefmeg]

And PLEASE do not put the dog down..it's not his fault that he is hard to handle.

the trainer has 2 theories about our freaky dog:
he has poor breeding (that is the genetic part) and he is too smart (the learned part)
His Mom and Dad were realted~what the trainer called "West Virginia breeding" which can lead to neurological problems that the dog can't help. As for the learned~he is very smart and has learned, since boot camp, that all of the fun has been taken out of his world and that all good comes only when he acts like a perfect gentleman!
Euthanasia was a consideration before boot camp because the dog could not be controlled....he would bite anyone that came near him. We tried Prozac which made him shake and act even worse, so he is off of that! Before this training JRT rescue would not have taken him. Now, he seems to be doing pretty well as long as the other dog isn't near him. As long as he behaves with my kids, he is welcome in my home. If there is any indication that he is going to harm them, JRT rescue will have to get involved and find him a home that can handle him.
Today, he has been very calm with me~it was actually the first time I can remember that I would put him in the down position and he stayed rather than following me all over the house. He isn't shaking anymore and when the kids came home, he was happy to see them but did not jump all over them. So far, so good! I am taking an optomistic attitude because I love this little fella with all my heart!