Case Study from the British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons www.bahvs.com

Helping Django – The Dog that Hardly Ever Slept

1st August 2011



Nothing could have prepared experienced dog owner Marie Cook for Django, a Bearded Collie puppy. Despite owning and showing dogs all her life, from the first day this little bundle of joy arrived home with Marie and her partner Stewart she knew he was different. Django was a very special dog.

The couple had spent some months deciding what breed they would like to own. The decision was made when they went on a trip to Lyme Regis and saw a man walking a Bearded Collie on the sea front. Their attraction to the breed was endorsed by the owner’s description of the loving and affectionate nature of the dog.  Several months later they found Django.

They picked him out of the litter but the breeder wanted him to go to a show home as he was such a stunning example of the breed. Although Marie and Stewart had just been looking for a family pet they had already fallen for Django so Marie agreed she would show him.

They returned to the breeder when Django was eight weeks old and took him home, very excited about their new family member.  Marie couldn’t believe how much energy this tiny puppy had.  He would spend the whole day playing and then at night Marie could hear him running around and playing almost constantly. He just never seemed to sleep!  Marie started to worry about his behaviour as although he was very loving he seemed over-stimulated by everything and was hyperactive for such long periods of time.

They tried everything to keep him calm but his behaviour only got worse and he became very accident prone.  As promised, Marie had started to show Django but it turned out to be a nightmare.  He was very naughty in the ring, barking and jumping around whilst the other puppies in the class stood like statues.  Despite this though, he still managed to win most of his classes as he always caught the judge’s eye.

However, there was always a niggle in the back of Marie’s mind that Django was more than just a boisterous puppy and that something wasn’t right. The final straw was a two and a half hour drive to a dog show in Wales where Django barked constantly for the whole journey. On arriving at the show Marie burst into tears and confided in her friends and fellow Bearded Collie owners that she was finding some aspects of her beloved puppy’s behaviour very difficult to deal with.

Django’s breeder was at the show and offered to take him in the class to give Marie a break. His behaviour was even worse with a new handler and on returning home Marie decided to contact her local vets. Django was declared healthy and the vet thought as he got older he would calm down.

Marie and Stewart often use homeopathic treatment on themselves with much success so they then decided to do some research on homeopathy for dogs. This is when they got in contact with homeopathic vet Nick Thompson. After filling out an extensive questionnaire about Django they took him for a consultation.

When they arrived at his practice in Bath, holistic vet Nick asked Marie to let Django off the lead and true to form the dog explored the room in a very excited and hyperactive way.  Marie explained he was very intelligent and she only had to show him something once before he picked it up.

Nick suspected a canine autism-type syndrome and explained he had only ever seen two other cases of it in dogs before, both of which had improved with treatment. Marie was shocked but felt relieved that someone had recognised that Django was different, having struggled for so long to understand him. After further discussion Nick prescribed homeopathic sulphur for his behaviour and told Marie he needed to be fed a raw food only diet to eliminate all artificial ingredients.

They took Django home with his homeopathic remedy and food plan hoping for even a minor change. Marie was due to go and visit family that day so left Stewart to give Django his sulphur doses over the next two days until she returned. On arriving back home Marie couldn’t believe her eyes! Django wasn’t barking and jumping all over the house and she was so shocked that she initially thought he was ill. They kept a close eye on him and although he wasn’t prescribed any further doses of sulphur they kept him on his raw food diet.

His behaviour continued to improve and Marie and Stewart were amazed when they went to visit Nick again, who confirmed Django was in good health and that the homeopathy and diet change had obviously worked. Several months on Django is still a bouncy and loving puppy but is sleeping more, calms down much faster and is easier to walk.

Said Marie: “Looking back I can’t believe how stressful Django’s behaviour was and how exhausted Stewart and I were. Although he was such hard work we loved him so much and just wanted the best for him. The change in him is amazing.”

Django now only has a homeopathic sulphur dose occasionally if he becomes very hyperactive as it helps to calm him down again. Marie and Stewart now have so much fun with Django and can really enjoy spending time with him knowing he will be fast asleep at bedtime!

The British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons (BAHVS) offer a service to animal owners seeking homeopathic help and can supply names and addresses of veterinary surgeons with homeopathic qualifications.

For further information please visit www.bahvs.com