The dogs being cute after a fight where I was bit. You can see the bite on my hand in the photo.

It’s been an eventful few days. Not in any sort of glamorous way, though. 

On Thursday, I was getting the dogs ready for a walk. There had been an incident on the Saturday before (Dec. 2) where Lucy attacked Jojo (I can’t remember why, but for no good reason) and I got bit on my hand in the process. I had to go to the walk-in clinic to update my tetanus shot. When we finally left for Albany—we were going there to celebrate my birthday—I felt so drained of energy and so fatigued after the stress of the bite, separating the dogs and going to the clinic, I asked Spence to turn around. I just wanted to sleep. We turned around and I slept for most of the day. By Sunday I was feeling more like myself and we finally made it to Albany. 

So, back to Thursday. Getting the dogs ready for a walk. They get amped during this process, chewing each other and jumping around. Getting ready for and going on walks is one of the only times they are themselves with each other. We haven’t been having many problems lately—before the Saturday bite, they’d been getting along about 95% of the time. I’m trying to get Jojo’s harness on and I see Lucy sniffing her and a look comes over Lucy’s face…one I recognize. She’s going to snap (I’ve gotten good at recognizing this face). They start fighting and are already so close to each other, it’s all I can do to get them apart. And, I get bit by Lucy. A-fucking-gain. It didn’t break the skin, but it felt like I had slammed my finger in a car door. It hurt like a sombitch. Once we got the dogs separated, I was standing in the living room shaking my hand and squeezing it between my legs (as if that would help), and I just started bawling. I mean, wailing like a toddler who has unexpectedly fallen and hit her head. I’m talking, Charlie Brown cartoon, head back, tears flying in arcs away from my face. Spence immediately embraces and comforts me. He’s great in situations like that…he doesn’t turn away from dramatic (uncomfortable?) displays of emotion. I was in so much pain and so mad and sad about the dogs. I just let it all out.

After a few moments of standing in Spence’s arms in the living room, the waterworks stopped and I felt immediately better and more collected. We decided then that it was time to put Lucy on meds. We had seen a behavioral therapist at our vet’s office and she said the fact that Lucy acts out at Jojo even when Jojo shows signs of deference implies Lucy may have issues with impulse control. Typically dogs only want deference and then they move on, but Lucy doesn’t do that. She recommended putting Lucy on doggy prozac and, in the meantime, giving her a more immediate anti-anxiety medication to help chill her out until the prozac kicks in fully. I fully support and appreciate the fact that there are pharmaceutical options to help people/animals who need help. We left there knowing we had an option for Lucy. But I also hesitated. One of the things I love about Lucy is her high-energy nuttiness. Would these medications dull that? Would she be a different dog? I emailed the vet this question and she said that typically doesn’t happen…it’s such a mild effect, the personality stays the same. It just takes off the edginess. So after getting bit twice in one week, Spence said “this can’t happen again.” And Lucy is now on prozac.

It’s been only a couple of days, but I can see a difference…probably not from the prozac, but from the other anti-anxiety med she’s taking temporarily. She’s a bit more subdued. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but considering the stress she was creating with Jojo and me getting bitten, I don’t think there were any other options left.