Attention Drugs Help Discipline or ADHD

We once had a dog that barked to much, this bloody thing would spend its days running back and forth along the fence that surrounded our yard yapping at everything that moved. It was annoying if you let it get to you so I got into the habit of tuning it out and after a while it was just another minor annoyance in life. But one that was manageable, I used to wonder if the dog could be broken of its constant running along the fence.

When the Ed Sullivan show was on television there was some kind of an animal act came out sometime during every show. Ed would grasp his elbow in one of his palms, place his free hand on his chin and in his distinctive showmanship drawl announce " and now----for all you kids out there---the amazing Parazelli Puppies". and out would scamper a guy in silk pants, his assisstant in a rockettes uniform and a bunch of prancing bright eyed doglettes. They performed amazing tricks, walked on their hands, did backflips, bark on command, walked on a tightrope or drove a mini-motorcycle. I would think, man those dogs must be smart to learn all that stuff, and the discipline, they kept in rows eveyone of them taking their turn at the right time and doing their special trick.

I was very impressed. What I didn't realize was that these dogs weren't all that smart, they were a product of a very patient owner who took the time to work with them and train them to behave in a certain manner.

Now my training of dogs record isn't good, when I was growing up on the farm there was really only one trick we would try to teach our dogs and we failed miserably. The trick - don't chase cars, the evidence of failure, Duke ain't coming home to dinner tonite and a new puppy is on the way. I think the lesson is, it takes work to manage the behaviour of a dog. My wife told me that and I think she is right. I did some research on the Internet and after reading the information on a number of sites feel I can summarize it with this statement, "Dog training is for every dog, regardless of breed or size and let me be so bold as to say, I think that applies to kids as well"

Now back to the barking dog, I think we could have lived with it but we had a neighbour who wanted to sleep in the afternoon and our dog was disturbing him. Now we had a number of options and each was considered.

1. Have the dog put down because of its behaviour.
2. Give the dog to the SPCA
3. Give it to someone who was deaf.
4. Train the dog
5. Seek advice from a vet.

Options one and two were quickly dismissed, option three, we didn't know anyone who was deaf, four, we didn't have the time or discipline to train the dog so five became the preferred solution. The dog was dutifully dragged off to the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown for a clinical analysis and recommendations to solve the barking problem. TaDa--- a solution, there is a little white pill about 1/4 the size of an Aspirin tablet called "phenabarbitol" Use: Phenobarbital is used to control seizures in animals with epilepsy. Because it also causes drowsiness, it has sometimes been used as a tranquilizer/sedative in animals.

So armed with a bottle of these pills we began to dutifully administer about 1/2 a pill every morning and a miracle took place. This dog that would spend her days running around her yard suddenly became a slug, spending her days sleeping and going through the motions of being a dog. The days we would forget to give her a fix she would return to her usual exuberant and happy dog self. Eventually we thought this is wrong, lets find a more suitable home with less stimulation at hand. (Like a car going by every few minutes) a placement was done and last we heard dog and owner were doing fine.

Some time later I had a terrible toothache start on the weekend. I tried everything, aspirin, aspergum, tooth drops, but nothing seemed to work. Then I remembered the bottle of "phenabarbitol" I was desperate so I popped one of those little white pills in my mouth, nothing seemed to be happening so I took another one, after a bit I felt that maybe the pain was dulling a bit so I went to the well one more time. Hallelujah it was working and life was becoming liveable again. The next thing I remember it was 5 o.clock in the morning and I was laying flat out in the kitchen floor with my face pressed against the floor. I don't have much experience with drugs but that was a definite lesson for me, drugs can have a dramatic influence on how your mind and body operates that separates you from reality. It was a real eye opener and I remember the drift towards unreality as the pain and my mind numbed. S

o what is this all about anyway.

Well its about the behaviour buzzword of the the last ten years. ADHD or in the clinical jargon of the day "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Syndrome" and in my jargon ATTENTION DRUGS HELP DISCIPLINE.

It takes a lot of work and dedication to successfully manage a childs development and if they bother you because of their wild behaviour your options don't include having them put down, or giving them to the SPCA, its fairly difficult to give a child away privately and there are not that many deaf people around so that leaves, spend the time to train them about what is appropriate behaviour, or drug them. Modern parenting is tough because of the time demands on most working parents, not that parents of 40 years ago didn't work, of course they did. Believe it or not before TV, families did things together and when you do things together its like a giant training sesion. I watch a lot of travel television and have seen many programs about jungle tribes and you know what strikes me the most. No crying whining little princes and princesses, just kids participating with adults in learning how to successfully live and survive with the tribe. If you don't belive me watch a documentary about a tribe, the contrast with our modern children and the super stimulated lives they live is incredible.

I don't blame the modern parent, its just the environment we are in and everyone is trying to do the best they can. But seeing as how people have a tendency to be like water, and problem solving flows to the easiest solution, so because time and lifestyle are under such pressure off the child is trucked to the doctor ADHD raises its ugly head and the child is put into a drug induced state. If you don't forget the medicine your parenting life enters a blissfull state as glassy eyed little Johnny or Jill wanders around in a perpetual state of numbness and ceases causing you any grief.

Trouble is, its no different than getting a pass in school when nothing is being learned, at some point the rubber hits the road and when they leave your control and the pill popping stops life can get brutally tough. Way to go Squibb