My 4 yr old Rhodesian ridgeback has always had some fear and self confidence issues. With me he has been able to function and does not spend much time stressed. His biggest problem is strange people and we just recently got married so we had a lot of people at our house that he hadn't met before. This was a very stressed time for him. After our wedding he went to my moms house who takes great care of him but this is the first time she has had him since he was full grown without me. She is worried that when walking him he might see a stranger get scared and run away which could end very bad.
She has been taking him to her trainer and vet and they seem like they know what they are doing. They are working with him to put him in new situations and try to get him to relax. The thing that seems off is they have been working with him for a little over a week and think he needs to be on Prozac. I just don't think that's enough time to really know what he needs. Also (/and this is what I told them) I think way before medication is talked about we would all need to talk about his issues and what can be done about them and where we want him to be one day.
So I guess back to my OP I am looking for a good behaviorist in the se Tennessee area to work with us on improving his reaction to strangers and becoming more confident in new situations.
Thanks for any help you can give and even if you just read the whole post,
Adam
She has been taking him to her trainer and vet and they seem like they know what they are doing. They are working with him to put him in new situations and try to get him to relax. The thing that seems off is they have been working with him for a little over a week and think he needs to be on Prozac. I just don't think that's enough time to really know what he needs. Also (/and this is what I told them) I think way before medication is talked about we would all need to talk about his issues and what can be done about them and where we want him to be one day.
So I guess back to my OP I am looking for a good behaviorist in the se Tennessee area to work with us on improving his reaction to strangers and becoming more confident in new situations.
Thanks for any help you can give and even if you just read the whole post,
Adam