Page 11 - Winter 24-25

“Eider” – severe anxiaty of fireworks By Stefan Kholrausch, Spain
Casetaking October 2024
The pregnant mother of Eider, a 32kg, castrated Mix breed Mastin & German Sheppard was abandoned during late pregnancy and rescued just in time to give birth in 2018 – labour was normal.
First, he was adopted by another family but seeing as he bit the lady in the chest, they returned him.
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 crying and scratching 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 if 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 his head at the neck of his owners and generally likes attention a lot.
Wherever the owner moves, even in the house, the dog accompanies him.
He 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.
He is jealous of the owners’ 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 cries, especially with females – it is difficult to keep him away as he searches contact.
If other 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 and Drink
Desire: especially human food, raw meat, wet food, bananas and potatoes, chews.
Aversion: salad, vegetables and fruits in general.
9
continued on p6