Question:
I am a retiree whose hobby is backyard landscaping. I work out there much of the time with the "help" of my dear, very playful cocker spaniel, Tanner. Everywhere I go, Tanner bounds alongside pouncing upon toys, toads and everything that moves. When I dig, Tanner digs. When I go in, he just lies on the porch, not eating, not playing, just waiting until I come back out. For a couple of days, my daughter's golden retriever puppy spent the day with me. To protect the small and wobbly puppy from Tanner's exuberant playfulness, I tied Tanner to a tree so the puppy could move about the yard. Now it was the puppy who followed me all about the yard while Tanner was tethered to a tree where he could not join in the play. Every time he escaped, I returned him to his "prison" to protect the puppy. Of course, Tanner cried a lot and refused to eat, even after the puppy left. Then I noticed blood in Tanner's feces. The vet tested and checked him out, but found no physical problem.
W.G., North Richland Hills, TX Aug 15, 2004
Answer:
Your letter is testimony to how we can unwittingly cause our companion animals emotional distress that can result in acute psychosomatic or psychogenic diseases such as acute colitis. Some dogs, because of their temperaments, are more susceptible than others. Many suffer the consequences of being exposed to family stress and violence even when they are not the focus of abuse themselves. Conflicts within groups of dogs (and cats, too) living together can also cause stress and the onset of psychosomatic disease in susceptible individuals, and also increased susceptibility to infectious diseases.
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