Odin is 2-1/2 yrs old and has had severe anxiety since I got him at 12 weeks. I was hesitant to medicate him but had tried everything else, so we had several appointments with a behaviorist and the staff at the veterinary school at the University of California, Davis. After a lot of trial and error, we found two meds that work well. He metabolizes them very fast and needs doses every 6 hours, but sleeps through the night after his 6 p.m. dose.
Medication has been the only help we could find for him. Without it, I am not sure if anyone could live with him. But, on the meds, he is a super happy, lovable dog. Staff at all-day-play fight over taking him for a walk, because they all love him so much. What a difference the meds have made!
If I get busy and forget his pills, he comes to me and reminds me.
First, he starts by looking at me intently. If I just pet him and tell him to lie down, he looks at me again until we are eye-to-eye and starts barking. It starts out like a grumble, then gets more and more frantic as time goes on. In the beginning, I thought he was just begging for more attention, but if I ask “Cheese?”, he immediately stops barking and sits down to wait (I put his pills in cheese, so that I can get them down him, 9 per dose.).
Once he knows I am preparing the cheese, I think he understands that relief is coming. I believe he senses the anxiety coming back and doesn’t want to feel that way, just as any human would want to prevent impending symptoms.
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from Syroun, California