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.
Kate finds the doctor's first order heartbreaking: Zausner tells her to start by avoiding contact with Maggie for a half hour before she leaves the house. The idea is that "benign neglect" will take some emotion out of the goodbyes. Instead of hugs, Kate should give Maggie something distracting such as a chew toy stuffed with peanut butter right before she leaves. When she returns from work, Kate should wait until Maggie is calm before interacting with her.
Day 4 LET THE THERAPY BEGIN . . . Yesterday, Maggie ripped open an ankle weight and tossed its black, sooty contents high into the air, leaving a blanket of dirt over Kate's bedroom. But Kate is hopeful. Maggie has been taking her medicine for three days now, and Kate has kicked off the training with a plastic ball that dispenses treats when rolled. Instead of Maggie's whimpering and barking, Kate hears the playful sounds of her dog chasing the ball when she leaves in the morning.
Day 10 THE ALLURE OF TREATS FADES . . . As soon as Kate shuts the door to leave for work, Maggie starts barking loudly despite the food-filled ball beckoning at her feet. Chastised by sideways glances from neighbors waiting for the elevator, Kate returns to the apartment to scold Maggie to get her quiet. "I was too embarrassed to walk out while my dog was rousing the whole building at 8:30 in the morning," Kate says. She plans a trip to the pet store to stock up on chew toys.
Day 15 IF ONLY SHE COULD TALK . . . To a dog with separation anxiety, a master putting on a coat or holding a set of house keys is like a train whistle signaling an upcoming departure. Theoretically, one way to break this association is to put on a coat but not leave. Another is to leave for very short periods of time. In practice, though, these tricks can be confusing. When Kate puts on her coat and doesn't leave, Maggie "gets up and looks at me, walks around in a circle, and then sits down," Kate says. "It's a little hard to read." When Kate leaves the apartment for five or 10 minutes, sometimes Maggie barks and sometimes she doesn't. Kate starts losing faith. "I feel like I'm going through the motions because I've committed to doing the program, but I don't really believe in it. I feel like we're doomed to living this way for the next 15 years." At least Maggie isn't vomiting.
Day 21 A GLIMMER OF HOPE? It used to be that when Kate returned home from a quick trip to the store or a long day at the office, Maggie would celebrate as if the Yankees had just won the pennant. "She'd jump up and push on my shoulders with her paws, almost knock me over, and she'd run around really fast," Kate says. "Now she just trots over to say hi like a normal dog."
Day 27 MAGGIE CALMS DOWN . . . A month into the therapy, Kate is happy to report that for an entire week Maggie has not chewed, ripped, tossed, eaten, or scratched a single object that was not intended for her consumption. She's not as playful as she used to be, and she seems to tire more easily when she runs. But Maggie's progress has been so good that Kate can leave the pillows on the couch when she goes out instead of hiding them in closets. And visitors say she seems "much calmer now." Maggie sometimes still barks when Kate leaves for work and occasionally soils the carpets, but there's no doubt she has come a long way.
It often takes six weeks to see the full effect of the medication and training, says Susan McLellan, a veterinarian who shares a practice with Zausner. But she sees the "small signs" Maggie has shown so far as encouraging. Kate plans to continue the program with Maggie for at least another month. The regimen takes considerable discipline--Kate has to get up a lot earlier, and she says, "It's hard not to hug your dog before you leave." But Kate says it has been worth it to save her sanity and her stuff.
CONVERSATION
When your cat uses the rug as its litter box
Pet care is a hot seller in bookstores these days, with topics ranging from natural healing to the care and feeding of potbellied pigs. Among the experts filling the shelves is Nicholas Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior clinic at Tufts University and the author of The Cat Who Cried for Help and, coming out next week, Dogs Behaving Badly. Dodman recently talked with U.S. News about cat misbehavior and how to correct it.
How common are behavior problems among cats in the United States? Maybe 5 percent have a serious problem. Some are normal for a cat, but they're not suitable for the owner. For example, it's natural for a cat to mark [territory] by scratching furniture. We think the sofa looks best when it's unadulterated, and they think it looks best when it has tatty pieces of thread hanging off of it.
But you're not a fan of declawing. It's painful to recover from. Imagine waking up with the tips of your fingers cut off.
But scratching posts don't always work. People don't manage to make scratching posts work [because] they are unknowledgeable and, to some extent, lazy. You need to acquaint yourself with what is necessary to make a scratching post work.
Other deterrents? Lemon, cats tend not to like. Cats have a superior sense of smell. Something as acrid as citrus is enough to make a cat wince and shake its head and sneeze.
How can pet owners make a trip to the vet less traumatic? Leave the cat carrier out all day long. Put a blanket in it and a few food treats. You can desensitize the cat to the carrier, to the car [by taking the cat on nonvet trips]. Give the cat a few treats on the way.
Is medicating cats right? If it works, you can't knock it. Modern drugs have minimal or no organ toxicity. I take aspirin for a headache, and when necessary I prescribe a drug to an animal. This is actually life-saving medication.
Do behavior problems affect a cat's life span? Failing to use the litter box is one of the most common reasons for a cat to be brought to a shelter. It's amazing what is the final straw for some people. By educating vets better about how to deal with these problems, we can make [pets'] whole existence better.
This story appears in the March 1, 1999 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.