Polly’s Mental Health Struggles

Dogs have mental health struggles, too. They are just harder to see and understand.

A few weeks ago Polly randomly attacked Elsie Jane. It was unprovoked and completely out of character for Polly. Luckily Elsie Jane was not hurt. I thought it was an isolated incident. She was fine after that. Laying with Elsie Jane like normal. Then she attacked her again, unprovoked. This time she punctured Elsie Jane’s ear. I was devastated for both Elsie Jane and Polly. We immediately got a muzzle for Polly for safety concerns.

We took Polly to the vet to rule out any medical conditions. The vet said she is fine. However, Polly has severe anxiety. Something we have known for awhile. We currently have trazadone (a sedative) for her for big things like thunderstorms and vet visits. But, a sedative does not treat the underlying issue…anxiety.

A couple of things could have contributed to Polly’s behavior:

1. We brought in the hospice foster for 3 days. With Polly’s anxiety this could have agitated her due to a new dog, new routine, etc. Then, with the foster being gone so quickly, her routine was changed once again in a short period of time.

2. She is getting older and her anxiety could be getting worse due to aging.

Our vet decided to put Polly on Prozac, which honestly she has probably needed for some time. This poor girl is more anxious than any dog I’ve ever seen. While we are waiting for the medicine to take full effect (3-4 weeks) she will have to stay muzzled. I hate this because she is a sweet girl, but it’s for Elsie Jane’s safety. During this time we will also be working with Polly and Elsie Jane to get them more comfortable with each other.

This is going to be a long road, but we are not giving up on Polly. She has been on the medicine for a couple of weeks now and there is a drastic difference in her. She is more calm. She doesn’t get scared when we pick her up anymore. This was much needed for her.