Dog Community

Chevy's story

Posted : 7/20/2006 8:34:15 PM

As I read through the messages on this forum, some of them remind me of my chevy. I want to post our story just to put the information out there.

I got Chevy from a backyard breeder February 14, 2000, he was 4 month's old. He seemed kind of shy till I got him home, but once he was here & in the company of my other dog.   Well, that's when it all began.

He was agressive to the point of visciousness, I had to keep gate's up so the two were alway's separated.   I took chevy to my vet & it was decided he would be neutered right away, thinking this would help with the aggression.   I dropped him off in the morning for his operation & was told I could pick him up after 5 that evening.
11:00 in the morning, I got a call from the Vet. The surgery was done & they needed me to come & get him.   I went there, & they would'nt even bring him out to me. They led me to the back room where they had him & I had to get him myself, & was then told that their office did'nt deal with his kind of problems'..
He was loud, he was on his back kicking & snapping at anything within reach.

4 1/2 month's.   We enrolled in Petsmart puppy preschool.   chevy & I repeated the course twice because of his behavior,. He was biting & attacking his classmate's.
After the third round of pre-school, we passed, & went on to the basic class.
Chevy was not aloud to walk the floor's of Petsmart unless class was in session, ( he was considered a dangerous dog) & had to ride in the shopping cart.

The Basic course went well as far as his command's but something was very, very wrong still. He constantly bit anyone who touched him.   Seemed, getting on his back & kicking & snapping was his most common position. Also, as soon as we entered the store, he made sure that he defacated. In fact anywhere I took him that he did'nt want to go, he did this.   As I think back, I think it was probably the treat's that made his listen to his command's in class so well.
We graduated Basic & went on to the Advanced class. Chevy did well here too, but still, something was wrong.   I was able to find a new Vet that agreed to take him as a patient as long as I kept him muzzled & under control.

1 year old now & chevy was put on Prozac. It did nothing.   This new Vet, insisted that chevy needed a private trainor.   So we did that for quite a few session's, until the trainor put a prong collar on chevy & jerked him so hard he was up in the air because chevy tried to bite.   That was the end of that.

During this first year, I would be on all four's on the floor beside my other dog, trying to let chevy know that he had to get through me to get to him.   Eventually, chevy did get this message.
He alway's like to sit up high, he would take his toy's & climb up on thing's & look down on the other dog & try to jump on him if I was'nt looking. He would urinate on the other dog's bedding & his toy's also.

I should probably tell you that, the original dog. (Boo Boo A Cocker Spaniel) was at one time paralyzed & had spinal cord surgery to correct the problem. Arthritis set in pretty bad & he was aging fast.   I wanted to get a puppy to keep him company & keep him young.   I ended up ruining his life by getting chevy.

Febuary 5, 2005, I helped Boo Boo to the Rainbow Bridge, due to the arthritis meds' that ruined his liver.    Now it's just Chevy, myself & my husband here.
After searching the health board's online I found a girl who knew what was wrong with chevy, but I had a hard time believing her.
She told me it was Canine Autism & that it was caused by vaccines.   I was desperate for help so I listened to her & followed her instruction's on dosing Homeopathic remedies.    I could'nt believe the result's I was seeing.

Once she took me as far as she could without prescription potencies, I found a Homeopathic Vet. I have been treating chevy Homeopathically now for the last year & a half with amazing result's.

chevy no longer bite's. He no longer scream's at the top of his lung's for no apparant reason.

He is on a raw meat diet & will never be vaccinated again, no flea preventitive no preservative's in his diet, all he get's is heartworm interceptor now. It truly was the Mercury (Thimersol) in the vaccine's that did this to him....

I'm in no way saying this is the same as any of your cases, I just want to put this out here so people know that sometime's the animal is sick & if it is a sickness. Training will not help. The sickness has to be treated. It was a long, expensive road for us, but it worked.
Chevy is now a happy, healthy 6 1/2 year old Cocker Spaniel.    I still see some of the Autism from time to time, but the aggression is gone.

I wish you all luck with your pet's, & if anything I wrote look's familiar to you I will be more than happy to help you in any way I can.

Best of luck to you & your pet 's...
                chevy & karen

agilebasenji

Posted : 7/20/2006 8:56:40 PM

Chevy is now a happy, healthy 6 1/2 year old Cocker Spaniel. I still see some of the Autism from time to time, but the aggression is gone.

I wish you all luck with your pet's, & if anything I wrote look's familiar to you I will be more than happy to help you in any way I can.

Thank goodness for that! And thank you for sharing such an amazing story. I hope you continue to have a rich, long life with Chevy.

dyan

Posted : 7/20/2006 11:02:45 PM

Wow,,,what a story! I have never heard of Autism in dogs...but why not!
Thank you so much for sharing your story.

mrv

Posted : 7/21/2006 6:24:42 AM

I realize this may be offensive, but respectfully I request do not use the word autism. I am a school psychologist and work with autistic children. This is a clinically diagnosed syndrome with specific evaluation techniques and symptomology. There is evidence of inheritability and genetic predisposition at the least. There is NO link between autism and mercury that has been established consistently in tests. I do not doubt your dog had problems nor that you have made considerable progress. It is the use of term that typically carries significant pain and heartache for the families it touches that bothers me.

Karen

Posted : 7/21/2006 5:10:22 PM

MRV, it's not offensive to me at all. & I did edit the title' of my post. However. Chevy has been treated by symptomology ( that is how Homeopathy work's)
By a Qualified Homeopathic Vet.    The link "for Chevy" was the vaccine's.   He was treated with Prescription doses of the Homeopathic remedies ( Thuja, Arsenicum Album & Thimersol)   & now take's Nosode's in place of Vaccines.

Once he was into his treatment, because I thought I was doing the right thing at the time & because I did'nt understand Homeopathy, I let an Allopath Vaccinate Chevy.   Not more than a day later, his original symptom's returned.
We had to start over again.

whether you believe me or not. make's no difference to me.   I posted this incase another pet owner saw the same symptom's in their own pet & might need help.
I have deleted the word that bothered you in the title. I hope this helps.
                    chevy
P.S.     Recently, I have met another pet owner with a dog very much like Chevy, so I know that they are out there.   He too is in treatment & making great progress....
Again, for this one also,    Different Vet, but still, no vaccine's.

mrv

Posted : 7/21/2006 6:15:12 PM

Thank you for that consideration. As to your dog and the improvement, BIG unqualified YEAH, what ever you are doing is working. You are to be commended for working so hard to support your dog.

dyan

Posted : 7/21/2006 9:35:52 PM

And thank you for telling Chevys story! We should all be aware of it!

Karinac

Posted : 5/25/2009 11:58:46 PM

I have a female dog who I also am starting to suspect is autistic. She is now just over 4 months old and although the others dogs from the litter are all happy and socialize well, she doesn't. All the other pups clamour for cuddles, she doesn't. I guess I gave more attention to the other pups as they were demanding, she was always pretty quiet in comparison. I've noticed lately that she never ever comes for cuddles. She doesn't seem to look in my eyes or ever engage with me. She gets incredibly aggressive if the other dogs come near her at certain times, although at other times she does seem to play with them. The other pups enjoying sleeping in the same bed to keep warm together, she gets incredibly grumpy and growly if they come near her bed.

I've been putting a lot more attention into her in the last couple of weeks and picking her up a lot and cuddling her. In the past day she seems to have made some improvements in that when she's cold she is coming to me and asking to be picked up to keep warm.

So is it true that thimersol (mercury) is in the canine vaccinations? She has now had all her vaccinations.

I've done quite a bit of research about autism in humans and know that generally they think that autism in humans, with the exception of Fragile-X which is genetic, it seems to be caused by a defect in the methylation pathway (detox pathway if you like) which means they're not able to process or eliminate any heavy metals from their system. By boosting this pathway human children can recover if it's done early in their lives, ie. within the first 2-3 years.

So my dilemma is what do I do. I believe she is probably suffering from heavy metal exposure. I have some very good liquid EDTA for chelation. Would it be safe to put one drop in a very large bowl of water and let her have a tiny bit? Should I boost her methylation pathway? If so, is it safe to give a dog a mixed vitamin B tablet in her food (obviously broken down to a weight and size appropriate size)?

I'd also appreciate any other tips anyone has.

Many thanks.

mrv

Posted : 5/26/2009 5:30:58 PM

Folks with autism actually have different brain construction that typically developing brains. There a specific types of neurological cells that are in short supply which explains part of the disconnect between folks on the spectrum and typicals (words folks with autism will use to refer to the general population).

At this time, autism is a human condition. I do not believe there is current research about the spectrum occurring in other species. There are some mice studies looking at memory and learning but that is it. I am not saying there are dogs who do not have neurological glitches (I owned one, returned her to the breeder and she was euthanized). Until we better know both the human and canine brain, I do not feel people should use the term for animals. I am just saying this condition is extremely devestating to the families who experience it with their human children. I do not wish them to see such posts and feel that folks are trivalizing the condition by applying the label to dogs when there is not research or foundation to do so.

Karinac

Posted : 5/26/2009 10:02:50 PM

I realize time is of the essence in getting my dog treated due to the issue of brain plasticity and each day that passes this window will decrease. I am really wanting to avoid the long-term damage that is not treatable after a certain time. I'd be very interested in corresponding with Chevy's owner on this as she seems to have had some success with her dog with autistic symptoms.

stardog85

Posted : 5/26/2009 10:58:31 PM

If I were you, I'd be talking to a holistic vet and specifically about "vaccinosis" rather than trying to locate info on an autism-like disorder in dogs that appears to be based on almost pure speculation and anecdotal evidence. Vaccinosis, while still controversial, is treatable and a good holistic vet should def be able to shed some light on the issues you're seeing.

Karen

Posted : 5/27/2009 7:46:58 AM

Hi Karina, I have'nt been around for awhile but got your pm... I will tell you what we (Holistic Vet, Homeopath, Student of Homeopathy and myself) believe. I also have an Allopath vet (took me year's to find one) for chevy and she will not admit or deny this but respect's the condition and treat's it accordingly in regard's to vaccine's and the way she handle's chevy....

Please don't ever let anyone tell you there is no such a thing. If it can happen to human baby's it can happen to puppies. Brain's are Brain's and Vaccine's are Vaccine's..

chevy is now 9 years old and although he will never be like a normal dog he has come very close, but you must keep in mind he was 5 year's old till I finally found help and not knowing what was wrong and trusting my allopath vet, he was being vaccinated for those first 5 years... And no he is not the only one, I have found one other (German Shepherd) who exhibit's the same symptom's..

Anyway, this is how we believe chevy's (Autism) happened. He is a cocker and when they docked his tail they botched it, there is nothing there, no nub, nothing. It is all but gouged out. Then they vaccinated him... chevy's little body was so traumatized by the hacking of his tail that the vaccine's must have damaged his brain right then and there.

Karina, I will pm you my email addy and we can talk about this privately.. I'm not going to argue on this subject or try to convince anyone. It is what it is. It would be more well known about if these poor pup's were'nt just PTS because something was wrong with them and if the Allopath community would and or could recognize it and then admit that it is the vaccine's, but they won't.. Shooting our pet's up with vaccine's is their business. Can you imagine the loss of income without all the vaccine's???

God Bless you for trying to help this pup of your's.....

Karen

Posted : 5/27/2009 7:55:03 AM

PS... MRV. you are so wrong. You let one be euthanized so how would you know???? I respected your request when I first posted this thread by not using the word Autism but you need to open your mind up a little and your heart.. God Bless that little pup you returned and was PTS..

And by the way.. My pup is my family and this condition was devastating to me also.

sl2crmeg

Posted : 5/27/2009 8:16:00 AM

stardog85
If I were you, I'd be talking to a holistic vet and specifically about "vaccinosis" rather than trying to locate info on an autism-like disorder in dogs that appears to be based on almost pure speculation and anecdotal evidence. Vaccinosis, while still controversial, is treatable and a good holistic vet should def be able to shed some light on the issues you're seeing.

Agreed.

I've worked with families of autistic children before (probably not to the extent that MRV has) and I can only imagine how they would feel if people were comparing their CHILD'S condition to a neuro defect in dogs.

A question for you - you have an aggressive dog, and you don't vaccinate...not even for rabies? What would happen if your dog bit a person outside of your family? Do you perform titers yearly? Do you have a rabies vaccine waiver?

I'm not trying to 'pick' on you, I'm just curious how you would handle the situation.

mrv

Posted : 5/27/2009 10:40:50 AM

Vaccines can not cause autism. Vaccines occur after birth. Cell development happens in utero. Maturation, specialization and pruning occur during post natal development.

As to my choice to return a dog with neurological problems, it was based on multiple behaviors including balance, coordination and movement. I spent considerable time money and effort in treating her symptoms and attempting to diagnose the condition. The next step would have been an MRI. I came to a difficult decision which I believe was the correct one for my family. While in the breeder's care, her condition deteriorated significantly. The breeder made a choice, which I support. I choose to err on the side of one day too early rather than one day too late.

I do truly understand dogs being part of the family. However, I also understand that regardless the situation, they are not equal to human children.

Edited to add: The breeder had a necrospy done at UC Davis Vet Hospital. There were considerable resources allocated to identify the cause, which is still a mystery. However the results are available and have become part of the data base.