Wheaton Terrier Lump Surgery Cures Behavior Problem
Hazel leans in for some much-needed emotional support
Hazel, a 6-year-old female spayed blue Wheaton Terrier fidgeted around her mom’s chair in the examination room. She waged her stumpy little tail nervously and tried to stuff herself under the chair.
“I can see you, Hazel,” said Doc Truli.
Different year, same routine.
“She’s different, Doc, watch this,” said her mom,”Come here, Hazel honey.” Hazel slunk out from under the chair and sat in front of her mom’s legs. “Stay, Hazel.”
Then Hazel’s mom looked up at Doc Truli and said, “Go ahead and pet her, I swear she’s a changed dog.”
This is a Wheaton I had to muzzle every visit. A dog that would wag her tail, act excited, and then start jumping up with her teeth bared in terror and nip anyone. A dog that latched onto the mailman’s calf muscle one day and did not let go. A dog I had prescribed Prozac for. And Xanax for thunderstorm phobia, just to keep her from tearing apart the house. A dog her mom had adopted another dog for, in order to try and calm her and keep her company. I’m not even going to mention the professional dog trainer and the relaxation and desensitization therapy.
“Go ahead, she won’t bite you,” said mom. I hear that a lot…
“Run this by me again. Why do you say Hazel is a changed dog?” asked Doc Truli.
“Remember that nasty skin cyst in between her shoulder blades? The one we didn’t remove for years because it was cosmetic? But then it oozed and looked infected, so we finally removed it? (You did such a great job on that surgery by the way…) Well, you’re going to think I’m crazy, but she’s like a new dog since the surgery. You have to write this up,” said Hazel’s mom.
Doc Truli let a hand dangle down by her leg, next to Hazel’s right ear. Hazel looked up and nudged the hand with her soft Wheaton muzzle.
“There!” said mom,”Would the old Hazel have done that?”
Actually, never…
Doc Truli sat down on a chair next to Hazel and she wagged her whole rear end happily. She shoved her head on Doc’s lap for pets. Doc obliged with soft pats and scritches under the chin. Hazel got overstimulated and gently gnawed on Doc’s hand with a soft biting motion. Just a little.
“She’s not perfect, but she’s 90% better, isn’t she?” said mom.
Yes! Hazel was like a new dog!
In the spirit of potentially helping other dogs like Hazel, Doc Truli agreed to report on this result from a cyst surgery. If your dog is edgy, bitey, hyper and not trustworthy, and has a cyst, think twice about whether or not that lump or cyst bothers your dog. Maybe it bothers him or her more than you know….
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