Setbacks With S.a.?

[Guest cheltzey]

Lando had been on medication for S.A. since the middle of July (first Reconcile, then the generic version of Prozac), and we had been making significant progress. So much that I began taking down the baby gates and trying him without the muzzle or belly band. However, it seems like we've had a setback this week. On Sunday he pooped on our carpet upstairs and tore down the screen door--muzzle back on and baby gates back up! And today (Wednesday) when I left for about 2 hours he peed, but luckily he had his belly band on, so I didn't have a mess to clean up. Is regressing like this common? His drug dose has not changed, and I know that the vet was going to start weaning him off after this month's prescription ran out. The only thing that I can think of as far as a change in routines goes is that Katie began school last week, and so she's been gone and our schedule's been shifted slightly, but not much. And Lando never really hangs out with Katie since he's always with me. And despite the frustrations of this step back, he is SO much better than he used to be. I used to be dealing with multiple pees and poops every single time I left the house.

 

For those who have dealt with S.A., how long has it taken you before you felt that things were at an acceptable level (I imagine they're never "cured")? Suggestions? Reassurance?

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Well a family member of the house leaving is a big change. Not only that, your hound may be picking up on your emotional changes with your girl in school. Things that you may not notice are neon signs to a hound with anxiety. I would expect to have to take a few steps back in the training to get him back to where he was. And yes, setbacks are common...

[greysmom]

Set backs are very common and can be triggered by what *we* would think of as very minor changes. I might talk with my vet about leaving the meds in place for a little while longer. I believe it takes somewhere between 6-8 weeks for new training and behaviors to really set in, and in a dog with severe SA it may take much longer.

 

They are never really cured, and set backs can occur even years later.

[cleptogrey]

with out seperation anxiety ALL of our dogs, terriers and sight hounds alike always went into a mild depression when my daughter left town. when she went to camp, went to school( public), left for college, returned and left, came in for a visit as an adult. dogs are sensitive and miss the ones they like, even though they may seem aloof. our daughter never was the primary care giver for any of our dogs, none had major issues and they still were bummed out when her schedule changed.

 

be patient and consistant with your distressed pup.

[Guest twhitehouse]

He just started the generic of Prozac in July? If that's the case, that medication will take a month to get into his system enough for you to see results. Therefore, you should just now be seeing a little results. However, now is NOT the time to be changing things! You need to do LOTS and LOTS of training before you can get to that point. Have you been doing alone training? This is where you leave for 1 minute, come back, leave for 2 minutes, come back, leave for 5 minutes, and come back. If at any point he becomes anxious, you ignore it and decrease the time gone back down until he can work his way back up again. You are ultimately showing him that it's okay when he's alone and nothing bad is going to happen. Fluoxetine should be viewed as a tool, not as the solution. It will allow Lando to be a little calmer so that the training you do for SA will sink in and actually work. After you've done lots of training and Lando is no longer showing ANY signs of SA can you start to maybe take the baby gates down. If he does okay with that...try no muzzle. If that's okay too...try weening him off the medication slowly. He will have setbacks even after you think he's been fine. Lexi was doing better so we weened her off the medication. She was good for about 4 months and then had a serious setback...they happen but you just have to work through them and maybe do a refresher on alone training.

 

He should probably be on the Prozac for about 4 months or even more....granted that it's not affecting his liver in any way. Make sure your vet is testing his blood every now and then to check his liver levels. Lexi was on Prozac for about a year, but she also had a very extreme case of separation anxiety. I haven't seen your previous posts about SA (I don't think) so don't really know the situation with your guy.

 

I will recommend that you read "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell. This is a great step by step guide on what you should be doing for training for Lando and you can get it pretty cheap on Amazon. Also, if you need any advice, I'd be happy to help if you just PM me. Like I said...our girl Lexi had some extreme SA and we went through it ALL...trust me!

[Guest cheltzey]

He just started the generic of Prozac in July? If that's the case, that medication will take a month to get into his system enough for you to see results. Therefore, you should just now be seeing a little results. However, now is NOT the time to be changing things! You need to do LOTS and LOTS of training before you can get to that point. Have you been doing alone training? This is where you leave for 1 minute, come back, leave for 2 minutes, come back, leave for 5 minutes, and come back. If at any point he becomes anxious, you ignore it and decrease the time gone back down until he can work his way back up again. You are ultimately showing him that it's okay when he's alone and nothing bad is going to happen. Fluoxetine should be viewed as a tool, not as the solution. It will allow Lando to be a little calmer so that the training you do for SA will sink in and actually work. After you've done lots of training and Lando is no longer showing ANY signs of SA can you start to maybe take the baby gates down. If he does okay with that...try no muzzle. If that's okay too...try weening him off the medication slowly. He will have setbacks even after you think he's been fine. Lexi was doing better so we weened her off the medication. She was good for about 4 months and then had a serious setback...they happen but you just have to work through them and maybe do a refresher on alone training.

 

He should probably be on the Prozac for about 4 months or even more....granted that it's not affecting his liver in any way. Make sure your vet is testing his blood every now and then to check his liver levels. Lexi was on Prozac for about a year, but she also had a very extreme case of separation anxiety. I haven't seen your previous posts about SA (I don't think) so don't really know the situation with your guy.

 

I will recommend that you read "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell. This is a great step by step guide on what you should be doing for training for Lando and you can get it pretty cheap on Amazon. Also, if you need any advice, I'd be happy to help if you just PM me. Like I said...our girl Lexi had some extreme SA and we went through it ALL...trust me!

 

Thanks for this info. I posted several months ago when this all started, and we have been doing behavior modification and alone training as well. The first vet I went to seemed to only want him on it for 2 months, so I'm glad to hear that it's okay to have him on for longer, because he's obviously not ready. We had to go to a different vet than our usual one, so our normal vet will be the one refilling the prescription. We'll definitely be doing the alone training some more since we've had this setback. He's particularly bad in the evening, even with lights and radio, so that's what we'll have to work on the most.

[Guest LindsaySF]

Kids going back to school can be a big trigger for SA.

[Guest 4dogscrazy]

Have to agree with Lindsay, we are going through the same thing here, but a little different. Tempe was on Clomipramine from Jan to July, 2 pills daily, then weaned to one pill a day for another month. It's been three weeks since she has been off them. She is now pooping in the house every time we leave (whereas before the drugs it was only ususally at night when we left). I'm actually calling the vet in the morning to put her back on one pill a day. She is very anxious and upset right now, panting and pacing, just not happy. (Nothing medical we were just at the vets) It's a shame, I was hoping the Clomipramine was not going to be a permanant situation, but now it looks like it is. I should have foreseen the start of school was going to be a change for her, but like you, she didn't seem to have much to do with my daughter and the child wasn't home much the whole summer! But we have all been under enormous stress here, another very long story, and I don't think that helped either. And to answer your original question, yes it does come and go, probably for their entire lives.

[seeh2o]

I completely agree w/Twhitehouse, it takes about 2 weeks or more for the medication to get up to a therapeutic dose in the dog's system. I had Carl on the human version of Clomicalm, he was on it for about 4 months, did very well on it, though, in retrospect, I really wish I'd left him on a month or two longer to help his new coping skills really "take". Yes, any change, even subtle ones can cause regression. Carl regressed a bit when he came off the meds, pulled through that, but when Claire joined us it all came rushing back, just not with the vengeance it had before. When the little lion was here in July, it came back then, too. Regression may just be something you will need to expect from time to time, but it probably will never be as bad as it was in the beginning.

[Guest Lovey_Hounds]

Vegas had pretty bad SA when he came home to us, he has gotten better over time but he still has a set back every so often. when we go on vacation and send him to be baby sat he acts up for a while when he first comes back home, if im home for more then 3 days straight and go back to work he gets all anxious again. pretty much if i change anything in my routine he gets worked up all over again.