AUTHORS
CATEGORIES
- Airsoft (2)
- Austin (8)
- Books (9)
- Cooking For Engineers (20)
- Credit Cards (2)
- Current Events (9)
- Deals (4)
- Dining (37)
- Fanpop (4)
- Food (808)
- Games (5)
- Hairy (6)
- Kitchen Gear (7)
- Life (24)
- Miscellaneous (6)
- Movies (15)
- Orthogonal Thought (6)
- Personal Computers (10)
- Photography (158)
- Rant (9)
- Ruby on Rails (2)
- San Francisco (5)
- Soap Making (5)
- Television (11)
- Texas (1)
- Things We Like (11)
- Travel (11)
- Wear or Not (1)
- Web 2.0 (9)
- What I Ate (861)
- Wikipedia (5)
- Windows 10 (3)
- Windows Mobile (1)
- WordPress (1)
ARCHIVE
- September 2018 (1)
- September 2017 (1)
- March 2017 (1)
- September 2016 (2)
- August 2016 (2)
- September 2015 (1)
- November 2014 (1)
- August 2014 (1)
- January 2014 (1)
- September 2013 (1)
- December 2012 (1)
- November 2012 (3)
- September 2012 (1)
- August 2012 (2)
- June 2012 (2)
- February 2012 (1)
- January 2012 (4)
- December 2011 (4)
- October 2011 (2)
- September 2011 (5)
- August 2011 (1)
- July 2011 (2)
- April 2011 (2)
- February 2011 (5)
- January 2011 (12)
- December 2010 (37)
- November 2010 (30)
- October 2010 (25)
- September 2010 (30)
- August 2010 (32)
- July 2010 (34)
- June 2010 (31)
- May 2010 (35)
- April 2010 (35)
- March 2010 (33)
- February 2010 (34)
- January 2010 (33)
- December 2009 (30)
- November 2009 (31)
- October 2009 (30)
- September 2009 (31)
- August 2009 (34)
- July 2009 (34)
- June 2009 (34)
- May 2009 (33)
- April 2009 (32)
- March 2009 (42)
- February 2009 (38)
- January 2009 (57)
- December 2008 (40)
- November 2008 (30)
- October 2008 (33)
- September 2008 (22)
- August 2008 (5)
- July 2008 (5)
- June 2008 (11)
- May 2008 (13)
- April 2008 (10)
- March 2008 (29)
- February 2008 (18)
- January 2008 (28)
- December 2007 (1)
- November 2007 (4)
- October 2007 (5)
- September 2007 (10)
- August 2007 (14)
- July 2007 (10)
- June 2007 (9)
- May 2007 (21)
- April 2007 (21)
Prozac for Rover
Posted 25 April, 2007 at 10:34pm by Michael Chu(Filed under: Current Events)
At first I thought the idea of Reconcile, a beef flavored prescription medication for dogs that is being referred to as "puppy Prozac", was ludicrous. Reconcile treats "pet separation anxiety" (for the pet, not the owner). I couldn't help thinking that in our world of looking to drugs to fix all our problems (I'm not saying drugs are not useful, I'm just saying that there's a tendency for people to seek a quick solution to a problem and often that's going to be a drug.), now we've got drugs for our pets too. After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that "pet separation anxiety" is a real issue. Growing up, I remember going on vacation for a couple days with my parents and coming home to find out from the neighbors that my dog had whined and cried every night. Would Reconcile be a good option? Maybe. This ABC News article suggests that medication could be the best course of action when accompanied with behavioral training. My hope is that it's not abused and used as a substitute for loving, playing with, and training your dog.
2 comments to Prozac for Rover
Debra, April 27th, 2007 at 7:42 am:
-
This assumes that dogs have emotions similar to ours. They don't. Dogs don't have separation anxiety. They might have pack adjustment issues if their regular "pack" (owner) leaves them with another "pack." The solution is lots of exercise and discipline, so they know their place in the new "pack" and can integrate into it. Dogs live in the moment so its not that difficult to help them adjust to new situations.
The biggest problem with dogs in America today is that we treat them like children and don't respect their "dogness." So they sometimes behave in ways that we interpret in anthropomorphic ways as emotions. BS. As Cesar Millan says, dogs need discipline, exercise and then affection, but often its affection only — and the dog suffers. I love my dog — but I respect his essential "dogness" and treat him like a dog, not like a human.
We already overmedicate humans and its especially offensive how we overmedicate children (ADD — what a joke). Why would we medicate dogs as if they were children? This is just ridiculous.
Michael Chu, April 27th, 2007 at 10:19 am:
-
Having not owned a dog since I was a child (and what did I know about raising animals then?), I hadn't considered this angle. Now that you've brought it up, I think you're right on the money. Dogs are dogs - not furry, cuddly children.