Reply to Medicate for Separation Anxiety?

Forum Index » Pets

Reply to "Medicate for Separation Anxiety?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=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 [/quote]

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.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics