Medications for reactivity

[Nevaeh's Mom]

I also have a re-active fear agressive dog. Read tons of books, and am presntly takng her to a vet behaviorist (for about 3 months) to help with her behavior. My dog is still a puppy - 8 months old, and she has displayed this behavior since about 2 months old. It is a whole new ballgame from any other dog I've owned, and yes, you are always, on alert, you really can't take any situation for granted. My behavvorist vet has her on Anxitane, which is a supplement, and had her on the DAP collar and we also use the DAP spray (i put it on her bandanna, and then put it around her neck.) These are all non drug items and can be purchased on Amazon, or several other pet sites (i.e. Entirely Pets). I have found the DAP spray is more effective than the collar, it just sorta calms them naturally (it contains pharamones, that mimic their mom, that calms). The Anxitane we have her on 1/2 tab twice a day (I use the M-L dog size)...maybe you can try these along with your medication, ask your vet? My vet behaviorist said down the road we may have to go to the meds, to decrease her anxiety so that we can introduce her to more scenarios...my vet reminds me...it's a journey, not a race, it takes time...Hope that helps, sometimes it just helps to know your not alone...hang in there..

[debbiebrown]

yep, its a journey alright, anyone who has had a dog like this including myself, its a learning experience and you have to find what works..............they are all different, so its a matter of finding the right combo of things...........many people are just not equipped to deal with these issues, some choose to stay with it for the long haul, some rehome, and worst cases PTS.............those who are seriously trying to educate themselves and trying to get help and are willing to put the time and effort deserve a huge applause! its called trying to understand your dog, and help make the world a less threatening place for them.....................it sure makes you appreciate a stable/solid dog once you have had one of these guys!

[rebelsgirl]

I have tried Bach Flowers, it did nothing to help her. I also had her on L-theanine (which is anxitane). I took her off of it a while back thinking the prozac was all she needed. I think I need to keep her on it,she seemed to do better.

She has done obedience 4 times and she is reactive in the building (1800sqft)but usually it takes her around 40 minutes start showing signs of over threshold. She worked up from 10 minutes to 40. She does her obedience very well tho, so she has learned.

I think the trainer thought if she was outside in the open she might do well. But that's not the case, as you said, too much excitement. She is going to credit me for the 5 lessons we're not going to be able to take and I'll be doing 3 privates. We had privates before we started training with her a year ago. They didn't do much good.. redirect is what she says, but HOW? She is NOT food motivated at all. And she does not tolerate another bitch at all.

I've worked on the relaxation protocol. I don't have any stable dogs around here to do BAT with. I have also done clicker training with her.

But at home she is another dog totally. She used to run the fence line to the point of hurting herself. I quit letting her out front.(we live in the country on 1 1/2 acres but have neighbors on each side of us.) Today I let them outside and she'd run the fence but she'd also come back to me. She also ran around the house and the car and back up to the porch. This is a first for her.

She has a mate, Rowdy, our rescue GSD. He's very stable but young. She gets along with him and the Pomeranian well. She's been a lot better since starting the clomipramine, just not at school.

At home when some people come over, we have to crate her. We've been crating her in the living room if it's only a few people so she can get used to it. If it's many people, she has to go in the bedroom. She will react to some people and not to others.
I'd never PTS. She's a good house dog. I'm thinking this is all she'll be. Maybe she'd be happier?

One of the privates we had with the trainer, she took Zoe out to see her dogs in the pen. Zoe didn't react at all. Trainer was surprised. She then brought a beagle to the training building, Zoe didn't react. She said it was because she knew this wasn't "her" place that's why she didn't react. She is called the 'fun police' at class.

I've always been weaned off of anxiety meds, except the time I had a bad reaction to one. It was not fun having to quit cold turkey. That's what I worry about with her. The vet said she was not on a high dose and wasn't on them for that long and it would be safe to start her on the clomipramine without the wean. I was just wondering if any of your dogs were weaned completely before starting a different med?

But yeah, I'd never rehome her, PTS or give up on her. She's a very good dog as long as she's at home. I'm in it for the long haul.

[Runswithdogs]

I have heard good things about Composure liquid as well. We are planning to try that with our new dog.
Regen tried many natural remedies (rescue remedy, calming tablets, valerian, melatonin, etc) before we used medication, and for us it was the right decision. She continued to be in agony daily while we tried different remedies that didn't work, and though it's possible that the right one was out there, we couldn't find it fast enough or keep spending $20-50 every other day on the next try.
We do plan to wean her off medications in the next two months now that she has been calm enough to respond to behavior modification and has a better behavior pattern as a foundation. I don't think being on prescription medications for this period has harmed her in the least, and it has allowed her to respond to training.
We have had success with click to calm, massage, and AVOIDING STRESS. Stress hormones stay in the system for days, so each time you put your dog in a situation where she goes over threshold (reacts), you are increasing her stress levels for the days to come. If you don't want to buy another book, Turid Rugaas has great advice on her site about calming activities for dogs.

[rebelsgirl]

Nevaeh's Mom, the dap sprayed on a bandana seems to help or was it the thing that plugs in the wall? I might try that.

[rebelsgirl]

Runswithdogs, I have the Turid Rugass Book. It's very interesting. I do watch for signals from Zoe. It was interesting that it says just look for one to begin with and you will be amazed at how many times you see it that you've missed before.

I was going to get Click to Calm from Amazon but I read a review that if you didn't have bomb proof dogs to practice with that it was a waste of money. Have you found this to be true? I only have one bomb proof dog, and that's her mate here at the house. She doesn't react to him at all, but I think I need dogs she doesn't know.

My trainer did explain that to me that it takes awhile for her to recover because of the chemicals in her brain. She explained it to me like having a bank account and her spending so much in class and it taking her so much time to save it back up.

She was overwhelmed Tuesday. Due to the change in her meds? It seemed to soon for it to be that. But that's what my trainer thinks happened. It completely wore Zoe out. She came home and fell asleep and slept the rest of the day. She wasn't on alert tho, it was like it mentally exhausted her.

[debbiebrown]

I s she Toy motivated?

[rebelsgirl]

Not really. She has just started to play tug and fetch. We're working on the fetch part. But this is a behavior she never offered before. Interacting with toys. She loves to chew, mostly on peanut butter bones and for some odd reason, toilet paper.

She has never really been treat motivated or toy motivated. If she gets into a situation she is anxious, nothing helps.. treats may as well be placed on the moon.
Not being motivated by treats, that's one problem we're having about trimming her nails. She absolutely will not let us, peanut butter bone or squeeze cheese doesn't help. And they are getting, what looks to me, painfully long. I'm thinking I'm going to have to have her sedated to have them done which I really don't want to do.