Long term management of behavior problems in a Pembroke Welsh Corgi

Abstract

A 4 year old, female spayed, Pembroke Welsh Corgi presented to the Animal Behavior Clinic on June 27, 2003. The patient first began displaying mild signs of aggression at 6 months of age; this had since progressed to where she would lunge and bite the owners and the other household dog, breaking skin and drawing blood several times. Food was a strong trigger, and it was impossible to take away a food item that she had in her possesion. She was also fearful of any moving stimuli that made noise and would aggress towards the source of these stimuli. The patient was diagnosed with competition aggression, food-related aggression, inter-dog aggression, fear-induced aggression and a generalized anxiety disorder. Management recommendations, including psychopharmacological therapies and behavioral modification, the outcome of these therapies over seven years, and complications that arose during the long term management are discussed.