Lenora….In mid-December, my Mike (female, proper name Micah, but she likes Mike better) and I had just crossed the street to begin our walk, when a neighbor's dog got out their door when the resident teens were unloading musical instruments. Neither Mike nor I heard or saw the dog, a female blue of a considerably larger breed coming at us. The dog hit me on the calf of my right leg and went at Mike with teeth bared. I went down on my tail bone--I was almost 69 at that time--on the blacktopped roadway, but I grabbed Mike up into my arms and started yelling for someone to come help me get up and get the dog. Finally the boys who let the dog out came unfrozen and one of them came and got the dog and one helped me up. I hurt like heck but it only took two chiropractic sessions to get me back on track....but Mike was a mess until about two weeks ago. From the time we resumed our walk, she became alpha dog and the protective sentinel guard, leading the way and swiveling her head from side to side to check out the terrain. She was hyper deluxe and psychotic as all get out. Wouldn't sleep and paced constantly. Also refused to let me sleep; just whined and cried and howled 24/7. Walks were done at race speeds. She refused to potty on the walks. I had to take her to the vet and put her on "puppy Prozac"--Clomicalm--at twice the dosage for her weight which just barely slowed her down, but gave me about three hours sleep before she started in again. I looked up panic disorder and found her reaction to the dog's coming at us was common and would take time to overcome. I found feeding advice for feeding brown rice and turkey or chicken which causes relaxation and sleepiness, but the main thing is that about one a.m. a couple of weeks ago, I had a heart-to-heart talk with her. I told her that I would never put her back in a pound, but if she didn't let me get some sleep and rest then I would probably fall or trip from fatique and hurt myself badly so, therefore, I would be forced to put her to sleep, put her down, and it would break my heart to not have her with me. She looked me in the eyes--something she had not done since the attack--and the panic was gone. She was back to the wonderful companion she had been since I had picked her up at the Humane Society in Phoenix. Our ordeal with the aftermath lasted from mid-December until mid-March. So if your Abbey is having problems, good luck...be patient and just talk to her. I know Mike understood what I said because the change was a miracle. She hasn't needed the "puppy Prozac" since the talk. She still is more alert on walks than she was before the incident, but not psychotic. As I said, good luck to you both....kansasgirl
