ANTIDEPRESSANT STOPPED THE CO

Vet rebecca Hughes, 42, owns Vets4pets in Wrexham plas Coch, Wales, and lives nearby with her husband richard, 45, a painter-decorator, daughter emily, five, and dachshund cross Doris, 21 months.

LOOKING back, Doris had anxiety issues when we got her as a puppy — but at the time I didn’t know. It was only when she didn’t grow out of chewing things that I realised.

In fact, that behaviour became more manic as she got older. She also started leaping over the garden fence, which is very high, to get to cats. It became an obsession.

So about a year ago, I called in a dog trainer I trust. She agreed Doris’s behaviour was odd — she’d fly around the house, on and off the furniture, jumping on chairs and tables. If she was at home alone, she wouldn’t chew anything; but if you were in the room, she’d constantly gnaw on everything.

The trainer had never seen anything like it and neither had I. I felt I’d let her down, like I wasn’t giving her the time she needed.

I put her on pain relief for two weeks — two-thirds of behavioural problems in dogs are linked to pain — but it made no difference. Neither did natural calming aids that are supposed to help make them happier.

Then I found a drug on a shelf at work we rarely use called Selgian. It’s an antidepressant for dogs which promotes dopamine and is for emotional disorders like depression or

chewing anxiety. this drug Remarkably, stopped she’d calmed and within she down. wasn’t a week The trying of manic taking to get out of the garden all the time. I'd never have thought it would be that simple. In fact, I’m a bit fearful of taking her off the drug, which costs about £30 a month, because if I forget it for a couple of days, I see the old behaviour creeping back. But now she’s a lovely dog to be around! EMMA MILNE’S VERDICT: Rebecca makes an excellent point here about pain. There are many cases of behaviour problems Related to pain, something long-backed breeds such as dachshunds can be very prone to.