We usually try to post something upbeat on Friday’s like the Mutt Parking photos, but today I want to share my thoughts. It’s been a tough week. In this family, if the dogs are well and happy, we’re happy. The last month or so, Hobbit has become increasingly intolerant to noise in the backyard. Trucks on the street, the neighbor’s air conditioner, even birds in the trees frighten him. He spins in tight circles and heads for the back door with  his tail tucked. Monday, his fear escalated to the point of him refusing to go in the backyard. That night, he woke from a sound sleep while we watched TV. He sprung from the couch spinning, and looked at that ceiling in alarm. It took hours to calm him. By Tuesday morning, he didn’t want to go outside at all. Inside, he ducks and scans the ceilings and doors. The three bedrooms are the only rooms he seems to feel safe in.

We wonder if he has a brain tumor? When we adopted Hobbit two years ago, our vet and a vet tech friend suggested he might have a tumor. They were half joking, but perhaps we should have taken their suggestion more seriously. Hobbit isn’t normal, to be sure. He spins obsessively when anxious. He travels with his right front leg leading, always, and often his back legs aren’t in sync. He’s very bright, which is typical of the Jack Russell breed, but he was difficult to housebreak . He chews compulsively. And he bites. His noise intolerance didn’t become obvious until we’d had him a few months. Loud noises weren’t an issue. He’d sleep through thunderstorms and fireworks, but you couldn’t sit next to him and turn a page in your book. He’d wake from a sound sleep and jump up barking.

Daily walks and trips to the dogpark are a part of his routine. We kept him enrolled in classes the first year and a half. They helped focus his energy and kept his mind busy. His behavior gradually improved, but the noise intolerance never did. We put him on Fluoxetine (dog prozac) for a year. The result was inconclusive. We weaned him off that about six months ago to determine how much of his modified behavior was reliant on the medication.

Wednesday I started him back on the drug. I’m not sure it will help, but I feel guilty for not doing it sooner. I look back and see the steady progression of fear. I’ve been focused on work and I must have been telling myself it was just typical Hobbit behavior. We had seen it before and he always got past it. But not this time. I looked up the symptoms for brain tumors in dogs. Many of them don’t fit Hobbit’s behavior, except the spinning. He’s not lethargic, uncoordinated,  doesn’t have seizures, isn’t vomiting, etc.  Could his symptoms be atypical? The most definitive tests for brain tumors are MRI’s and Cat Scans. I hear they’re expensive.

Yesterday Scott called Jacqueline Munera, the trainer who has worked with Hobbit for the last two years, to ask for her advice. She doesn’t think it’s a tumor. She says Hobbit just has messed up wiring. She suggests medication along with training to address the fear. Tomorrow we meet with Dr. Adler at Ehrlich Animal Hospital to discuss adding tranquilizers to Hobbit’s daily mix. We hope the additional meds will calm him enough for the training to be effective. We hope this because our hearts break thinking of the alternative. Ella came to us as a pup with big fear issues and she’s adjusted. But I admit to feeling defeated by the enormity of Hobbit’s anxiety.