Page 38 of Love in Training
“I basically did when I was at his facility the other day. He tried to take Rufus. And when I wouldn’t let him, he told me to give up. I can’t give him the satisfaction of watching me crawl back begging for help.”
“But you wouldn’t?—”
Behind us, the rubber Kong hits the floor with a heavy bounce. Rufus jumps down from his throne and nudges the now-empty toy with his nose, glances at us, and starts whining and pacing again.
Lydia’s voice softens. “He needs help, Caprice.”
“What does he need?” I snap. “He has a home. I feed him. I walk him. I don’t use my vacuum for him!”
She raises her shoulders. “If I could tell you, I’d be opening a new branch of my business. But this is what Drew Forbes does, and by all accounts he does it well. There’s this dalmatian that comes to The Pooch Park. The owners couldn’t leave him home either—they couldn’t even walk him. But after working with Drew, the dog transformed. They swear he changed their lives.”
“Sounds nice.” I slide off my stool. “But I have a policy against working with douchebags.”
“I just don’t know what else to suggest.”
I shake my head, grabbing Rufus’s leash for the fiftieth time today. “There’s got to be another way. I’m taking him to the vet tomorrow. It could be his diet... or something. Maybe they’ll prescribe him CBD oil.”
Lydia looks doubtful as she gathers her things and follows us to the elevator, but she doesn’t argue. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
“Dietary issues can affect lots of things,” I say, running with this solution. “You think you’re having a crisis—but it could totally be indigestion.”
“Dogs aren’t much different from people,” Lydia concedes, giving Rufus a pat goodbye on the sidewalk before folding me into a hug. “Just try to remember...he’shaving a hard time too.”
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
I ambleary-eyed when I stumble through the door for Rufus’s vet appointment the next morning. He literally whined until two a.m., when I finally put him in the crate and turned up the white noise app on my phone. I wasn’t sorry to skip a Zoom meeting about anObserverpotluck to take the vet’s one and only opening. I was half joking when I mentioned CBD oil to Lydia, but I’m ready to try pretty much anything a doctor suggests.
And we get off to a good start. The vet asks at least a hundred questions starting the moment we walk in. How long have I had him? What’s his background? What are his habits? She performs a physical exam, weighs him, listens to his heart, looks in his ears. They even draw blood to rule out any kind of imbalance.
But by the end of the appointment, we run into the same wall.
“Overall, he’s really healthy,” she says, draping her stethoscope around her neck. “But since he was a military dog and you don’t really know what he was exposed to, it’s hard to pin down what’s causing him to be so anxious now. I’m kind of limited to what he’s experiencing physically,” she admits. “Unless something weird comes back in his bloodwork, this sounds like it’s more behavioral.”
“Okay, sure...” I say, grasping at straws. “But what can Ido? Can you give him Prozac or something? Are there like, CBD edibles for dogs?”
She looks at Rufus, who sits against my calf, panting and covering my leggings with dog hair. Gross.
“There isn’t much actual data on CBD for canine anxiety. But yeah, we could try fluoxetine,” she says thoughtfully. “It’s been shown to improve separation anxiety, among other things, though it’s a gradual process. It’s usually four to six weeks before you see a result.”
My stomach drops at the timeframe, but I need something. “Let’s try it.”
“I’ll put in the prescription.” She makes a note on her computer. “In the meantime, you could also consult a behaviorist. There’s a guy locally who?—”
“Please—if you’re going to recommend Drew Forbes?” I frown. “I know him, and I’m not a fan.”
She pauses, chuckling. “Okay... hecanbe a bit prickly. But he’s amazing with dogs.”
“So I keep hearing,” I mutter. “You mentioned some kind of drops earlier that I could put on the dog food?”
“Rescue Remedy, yeah,” she says mildly. “It’s homeopathic, but we have clients who swear by it. I can email you an estimate for acupuncture too.”
“Sure,” I say. Because woo-woo alternative medicine for dogs is exactly how desperate I am.
“Okay. You can order the Rescue Remedy online or pick it up at a Pets ’N Co. I’ll let you know how his bloodwork looks in a day or two.” She pauses, giving Rufus a scratch before she heads out the door. “He does seem like a really nice boy. He might just need time. But give me a call next month and let me know how the fluoxetine is working.”
I look at Rufus, who wags his tail and tries to lick my hand before I pull it back.
