Page 8 - Autumn 25

“Eider" suffering from Severe Anxiety of Fireworks by Stefan Kohlrausch, Spain
Case taking October 2024
History
The pregnant mother of Eider, a 32kg spayed Mix breed
Mastin [español] & German Shepherd was abandoned
during late pregnancy and rescued right at the time to give
birth in 2018. Labour was normal.
First, he was adopted by another family but as he bit the
lady in the chest they returned him.
6
Mind
Eider has various emotional problems. They started when
he was 2- or 3 months old and slowly got worse. His first
fear is to be left alone. He immediately starts to cry and
scratch the walls. Every loud and sudden noise even music
causes fright, especially horrible are fireworks and
thunderstorms. Immediately he tries to run away,
scratches the walls and if escaping is not possible, he hides
himself. He dislikes loud and crowded parties even if in
general he desires company. He does not react before the
noises appear and when it is over he relaxes quickly.
Chewing his ball helps him to calm down.
With humans he is very gentle, loving, docile and obedient
to both owners. He likes to sleep with his head at the neck
of his owners and generally likes attention a lot.
Wherever the owner goes – even in the house – the dog
accompanies him.
Eider is overwhelmingly cheerful and excited when saying
hello to returning owner or visitors.
He is easy to train and would never growl or attack a
human. Jealous with the owner’s cats inside the house but
has accepted them. He is completely different with cats
outside the house. He obsessively chases them and kills
them if he gets hold of them. When he meets dogs he
weeps, especially females it is difficult to keep him away as
he seeks contact. If big dogs growl at him, he can enter into
a fight without any fear. Small dogs can do whatever they
want with him without him getting aggressive. Generally,
the aggression is never initiated by him.
The owner describes him as a “piece of soft bread”.
General symptoms
Food & Drink
Desire: especially human food, raw meat, wet food,
bananas and potatoes. Chews
Aversion: salad, vegetables and fruits in general.
Thirst: big, drinks about 1,5 litres of water a day. After
drinking he has strong salivation.
Faeces are normal twice a day, but he urinates frequently,
about 15 times a day.