duncan41

Thanks, Chris. How many adjustments did you make to the Trazadone dose before finding the right one? How long did you wait before making an adjustment? What was the initial dose and how much did you add or subtract to reach the level that works. I spoke to my Vet on Friday about Trazodone and learned that she has no experience with it. That's the reason for all of the questions.

Jen, would you prefer to communicate directly with my Vet? I can send her info to you by pm.

Your stories about Slim never cease to bring tears to my eyes. He loved you to the moon and back. Hugs.

My Vet would be more than willing to contact anyone who would be able to help Barkley.

I did look into that. The minimum charge for a consultation from the closest Veterinary Behaviorist is $800.00 which does not include mileage or travel time which would be 4 hours each way. It's not within my budget.

Since Barkley cannot/will not travel, the Veterinary Behaviorist is out of the question. Yes, the DAP collar, Composure and L-Theanine were tried without success. Barkley would not allow anyone to put a thundershirt on him. What were Katie's symptoms? Was Prozac the first and only medication that was prescribed? Any side effects? Edited to add: Sorry I did not see the link to the blog about your journey with Katie. I will be reading it with interest!

It has been almost 4 months since asking for help from the GT contributors who have much more experience than I. I thank those who contributed positive, supportive replies. Barkley is doing well. He has been taking short walks once a day for about a month and with each walk, he is becoming less focused on me and treats and more aware of the sights, sounds and smells around him. Using my 45 years of pet ownership experience and years of positive reinforcement based obedience classes with my other dogs and lots of love and patience, that terrified boy is becoming more comfortable in a world outside of the walls of our home. He certainly has a long way to go, but I'll take what he gives every day and be thankful. He is never going to be a normal dog. My goal is to make his "normal" the best it can possibly be. Barkley has had no meltdowns since March. He is becoming more affectionate in his own way, being more open to physical contact such as being brushed, massaged, ear scritches, trimming nails, etc. During his journey of healing, Barkley has made it perfectly clear that he will always be anxious, so we sought help from our holistic Vet who agreed that all natural remedies had been exhausted and she prescribed Xanax. I have been experimenting with doses and timing for the past 10 days but am not satisfied with the results. Barkley's anxiety manifests itself in pacing. He has been known to pace for 6 hours non-stop. A 2mg dose of Xanax twice a day knocks him out for 6 to 8 hours and then the pacing begins. The 2mg pills are scored in 2 places, so giving him two segments or 1.3mg twice a day doesn't knock him out but the pacing begins earlier. Increasing the 1.3mg three times a day renders the same results as the full 2mg dose. Is Xanax a medication that takes longer to provide results than some others? My impression is that Xanax was as much for crisis control as for long standing, predictable anxiety. Yes? No? I am looking for suggestions of other medications currently being used successfully by others for chronic anxiety. What doses, frequency, side effects, etc? Thanking you in advance for your input and for not jumping to conclusions until you have walked a mile in my shoes.

Love Andy's tribute! Think of Seamie often...............miss hearing his stories even more. Hugs.

Of course we all remember Mira! What a Beauty! She will be missed by all, but most of all by you. I am so, so sorry.

3 days post behaviorist. AD (the behaviorist) was pretty incredible. The most impressive part of his visit was when would give instructions to us and then describe how Barkley was going to react. Dead on every time. Three quarters of the session was educating the humans about the grey wolf since our dogs share 98+ percent DNA. Pack dynamics, breeding habits to ensure the future of the pack, etc. We were given specific things to do, modifications in our behavior/reactions to his most annoying attempts to control us and exercises to help him overcome his fear of the leash. Poor boy was so stifled in his first home that when he was surrendered and landed in a foster home where the dad didn't like him and the mom worked long hours, his reaction was to try to be the alpha while dealing with his fear. Two more foster homes welcomed him and added to his confusion before we came along. Our tried and true methods of assimilating a new dog were too relaxed for him, so his fears took over. The falling in the driveway incident with DH sent him over the edge. I am assuming the role of alpha in baby steps. Barkley is going outside for me with minimal effort. He' not asking to go out yet but I'll take it. And after a couple of corrections is actually not nosing or barking at the bedroom door when he wants to eat at 4 am!!! He is wearing 3 feet of a leash (with the loop removed) when someone is in the house with him and he is not afraid of it. AD explained that while Barkley is attempting to get around the house while dragging the strip of leash and stepping on it, he believes we are controlling him. Interestingly, he doesn't pace while wearing it, which he used to do for hours each day. Now he just goes to bed. We are a long way from having a dog that will eagerly go for a walk or for a ride in the car, but we have the tools and the continued support of AD to move toward those goals. If you would like to know more about AD, go to www dot rrre-dog dot com.

During the year and a half that Suze was sick, the application of essential oils was a twice daily ritual. It provided special one-on-one time and left our house smelling wonderful. Suze was a welcome visitor to her Vet's office because not only was she smart and compliant, but everyone described her as a walking air freshener and mood booster. The effect was so powerful that the first thing DH said after returning from our Vet's office without our girl was, "Please put the essential oils away." He was so hurt by her loss that the aroma of the oils would have been too much for him to bear. About 3 days later, I sat down to eat dinner and with each of the first three bites of food, I got an unmistakably strong whiff of lavender essential oil..............not the flowery perfume scent, but the earthy aroma of the particular brand of Lavender essential oil that I had used on Suze from day one. Because I was still numb with grief, it took until that third bite of food to realize what was happening! It was at that second that Fuzz, Suze's litter sister, jumped up and started play bowing all over the place, barking and tail going 90 miles an hour in her signature helicopter movement. Suze's presence was so strong in the room that I felt as if I could reach out and touch her. The experience only last a minute, but left no doubt in my mind that Suze had dropped by to let us know that she was still around.

Rebecca, I'm wondering if there may be something associated with darkness. Barkley was acting as if he wanted to venture outside again last night, but he acted like if he couldn't see, he wasn't "going there". We'll see if the behaviorist believes it has a physical or emotional cause. Until then, I will ask DH to see if he can lure him out in the dark. Barkley made another step toward recovery this morning; he woke up from his breakfast induced coma (DH was long gone to Thursday golf) and immediately indicated that he wanted to go out. Without speaking or looking at him, I opened the back door and walked out onto the porch then into the pool area, opening both doors in order to give him a choice. He followed, went out into the yard, walked to his favorite spot and peed a gallon! Good boy!

I am thrilled to say that the last two days have brought a breakthrough. Barkley is going out to the porch and screen enclosed pool area all on his own. Today he went out in the backyard and peed! Looks like DH is going to be leading the way to Barkley's recovery since he feels most comfortable venturing outside at noon. But, hey! I'll take it. The behaviorist comes on the 23rd. Thank you all for your advice and support and please send healing thoughts to this frightened boy.

The Titanic sank 103 years ago today and GT lost Seamie one year ago. I don't miss the Ttitanic.

How does one go about finding a "qualified" esoteric healer?