Medicate for Separation Anxiety?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had experience with this?

Our girl has some pretty bad anxiety when we leave the house (we have a camera to check it out). We've tried so many things -- training, dog behaviorist, calming treats, etc. Nothing works.

We don't want to medicate her but I am wondering if anyone has experience with this. Can the medication be used as a training tool for a short term time frame? Maybe 30 min before we leave we give her medication so she's calm. The goal would be she eventually "calms herself out" once we wean her off the medication.

Is this the right way to think? I appreciate any suggestions!

Thanks

[Anonymous]

YES! Used with behavioral training, medication is an awesome tool. I suspect that once you find the right dose you will see a new, happier dog in situations beyond when you are leaving the house.

Medication allows the training a foothold to start working. If the dog is so over threshold that it is visibly upset when you leave, it's extremely challenging to see results without medication. Separation anxiety almost always gets better results with medication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had experience with this?

Our girl has some pretty bad anxiety when we leave the house (we have a camera to check it out). We've tried so many things -- training, dog behaviorist, calming treats, etc. Nothing works.

We don't want to medicate her but I am wondering if anyone has experience with this. Can the medication be used as a training tool for a short term time frame? Maybe 30 min before we leave we give her medication so she's calm. The goal would be she eventually "calms herself out" once we wean her off the medication.

Is this the right way to think? I appreciate any suggestions!

Thanks

Did you work with a veterinary behaviorist? If you did, I'm surprised they didn't recommend medication if nothing else has worked. Also, have you done specific separation anxiety training where you start by just opening then door and closing it, gradually building up to walking out the door but not closing it, then leaving for 5 seconds, etc? This is really the only way to "train" dogs out of separation anxiety and being led through that process by a trainer who specializes in SA is helpful. You have to gradually raise the threshold without allowing them to have a panic attack. Once you give them more than they can handle, you have to lower the threshold. It is a slow and tedious process, but it works. While you are working on the training, you can't allow them to have a panic attack, so you cannot leave them alone longer than they can handle. This means doggie daycare, taking your dog with you when you leave, hiring a babysitter, or just not leaving unless it's part of the training. It's possible to work a training program like that, but you have to follow the rules and a lot of people give up because it's slow progress.

Yes, medication can work incredibly well when combined with training. My dog is on maintenance drugs (Reconcile and gabapentin) and then situational meds that are given before departures. They work after lots of trial and error and a couple of years of working on the issue. Most dogs can be weaned off of the meds once they learn how to cope. Find a good board certified veterinary behaviorist. There are only three or four in the area.

[Anonymous]

Why avoid meds? Dog is clearly unhappy. My dog took a low dose SSRI for a while and it did help. She eventually felt safe and calm enough she didn't need it anymore. But it's not like I was drugging to be comatose.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, all! I really appreciate your help. I guess I am not opposed to medication; just wanted to hear some thoughts.


To the PP who mentioned all the great ideas about training, we have tried for months but no luck. She is fine in her crate if we are there (e.g. sleeping, working, etc) but as soon as we leave she has a panic attack

To the PP who mentioned the SSRI, how long did you give the SSRI to your dog? I'm assuming you continued training her while on the SSRI? I know each dog is different but how quickly did you get results?

My research has made me explore an SSRI with our vet, so good to hear you've had great results. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, all! I really appreciate your help. I guess I am not opposed to medication; just wanted to hear some thoughts.


To the PP who mentioned all the great ideas about training, we have tried for months but no luck. She is fine in her crate if we are there (e.g. sleeping, working, etc) but as soon as we leave she has a panic attack

To the PP who mentioned the SSRI, how long did you give the SSRI to your dog? I'm assuming you continued training her while on the SSRI? I know each dog is different but how quickly did you get results?

My research has made me explore an SSRI with our vet, so good to hear you've had great results. Thanks

How is she when not crated? Mine can't tolerate absences in the crate, but can outside of the crate. Luckily, her separation anxiety never manifests in destructive behaviors, so we gave up on the crate pretty early on.

Also, I tried the training sessions without medication and they also didn't work. We got her up to be able to tolerate about 20 minutes, but she just couldn't move beyond that point. Once I started the medication, it made all of the difference. It's trial and error. We've tried Clomicalm, prozac, and finally Reconcile. But it was really the situational pre-departure meds that were a game changer. Trazodone and alprazolam work and we're now down to very low doses that don't make her drowsy, but allow her to relax when we're gone.