Rescue Rememdy

[Guest dancewkathylee]

Anyone ever use Rescue Remedy? My dog is very anxious during, not only thunderstorms, but,lately, during rainfalls as well. He is already on prozac and I was advised that I could try Rescue Remedy. If anyone has used it, how did it work for you and how much do you use?

Thanks

[racindog]

I LOVE Rescue Remedy. I have found it to be highly effective for a wide variety of needs. It makes a big difference especially in emergency situations. I would encourage you to get one of the official BACH flower essence books and familiarlize yourself with just what a powereful tool BACH flower essences can be. There are actually other BACH essences, perhaps minimus among others, that would probably address your dogs issues even better or more specifically than RR. There are also practioners you can consult that can help you find just the right essence. It is all about energy, which is everything. The most important thing is to make sure they are the BACH ones which are still the original ones Dr. Bach formulated. The copy cats flooding the market are not as effective. They are very safe. The ususal dosage is 4 drops on the tongue as needed. You can also put some in their water and it is completely safe to use as much as you feel you need to. Much safer than the drugs-and no side effects! Oh yea, cheaper too. I don't like the drugs like Prozac and wouldn't use them but thats just me. I don't know if flower essence therapy will be effective in the presence of other drugs. I know some homeopathic remedy's are rendered ineffective in the presence of convention drugs. It wouldn't hurt to try anyway though as RR and the flower essences are safe to use with other meds. Good luck.

[Guest K9Cookies]

We use it too..thunderstorms, events, you name it. We use probably 1/2 a dropper, but it's hard to tell because some of the liquid doesn't make it in their mouth. There's also a spray, but I find that harder to use with the hounds. I don't think you can overdose Rescue Remedy. Hope it helps!

[Guest dancewkathylee]

Oh Good. Bach is what I purchased. I tried weaning the prozac to no avail. We live across the street from metro and too many rumbly noises I guess. He was a nervous quivery thing more often than not. I'll give the rescue remedy a try. Thanks!

[GeorgeofNE]

And on the other side of the coin--I found it 100% useless.

 

I did some research--and the only studies I found that flower essences (in a base of brandy) will do anything for your dog were all published by the manufacturer.

 

However, there are plenty of people who honestly believe it helps--and really, can't HURT, so give it a shot.

[OwnedBySummer]

I was told by a lady who has had numerous greyhounds for years, is into homeopathy, boards greyhounds... so she is someone who should know... that RR is not the most effective one. She has had better results with Animal Rescue by Canadian Forest Tree Essences. So for GIG, I bought the Animal Rescue.

[Hubcitypam]

I've found that it works great on some dogs and not at all on others. I think one reason it doesn't workk is that people don't give enough. Putting it in the water does not work. I use two dropers to start (which is probably 1 total as that funky droper only fills about 1/2 way),

[MerlinsMum]

And on the other side of the coin--I found it 100% useless.

 

I did some research--and the only studies I found that flower essences (in a base of brandy) will do anything for your dog were all published by the manufacturer.

 

 

Yup. Like all homeopathic "remedies" (I use that word very loosely), it's 100% useless. I think that behavior conditioning through positive raining is your best option. I speak from experience... Merlin was a highly anxious dog when we adopted him -- he was a bounce -- and it took a lot of work before he realized he was home. But the training did the trick. He is now one of the most laid-back dogs on the planet

[OwnedBySummer]

Training and desensitizing is all very well and good. We have worked with Summer and have resolved her fear of shiny floors and fires in the fireplace. I walked her through a nursing home yesterday which had construction going on -- she leaped to the end of the 4' leash and froze in place, staring in terror. But she got herself over it quite quickly and was good from then on. She knows Momma won't let anything bad happen to her. But if some of this rescue stuff will help make it easier for her at GIG, where I wouldn't ask her to blithely accept 150 cannon fires and who knows how many other gun sounds, then I'm all for it. It's hard to train and desensitize for something which will only happen for one day, never heard before, hopefully never heard after.

[Guest snakes]

I have two pups (same litter) with different issues (anxiety and aggression). One responds to homeopathy and rescue remedy very well, the other not at all! So it is vastly different dog to dog. Like someone else said it can't hurt to try! To get my boy to take the rescue remedy I would put 6 drops onto a small milk bone and he would chop it all down

[GreytNut]

I've been using the Rescue Remedy pet formula for Riley's separation anxiety but the jury's still out on its effectiveness. I might not be using enough (6 drops on a cookie) and he might also be improving on his own.

[ChiliDog]

Doesn't work on Buffy and her fear of going outside (or even out of the apartment!)

 

Neither does Prozac, clomicalm or melatonin - we're still looking for that "perfect pill"

[Busderpuddle]

Didn't do a thing for Ruby either and I even tried a double dose on a cookie. It does however help her to make some pretty nasty farts. I have tried it in addition to the Colmicalm, Xanax and the Prozac. Nothing.

[Guest dancewkathylee]

The whole anxiety thing is weird anyway. Canon hates lightening, thunder, and now even rain. Fireworks don't seem to bother him. Big loud trucks can drive right by us without him blinking and yet he'll hear something in the house that we can't even begin to hear and be a quivering mess! I've heard you're supposed to ignore them but, it's hard to not try to comfort him. Any advice on that front? By the way, we use the thunder shirt which seems to help a little but, certainly no cure.

Thanks

[Guest sheila]

I used a Bach Rescue Remedy Cream for a hound that had a chronic open wound that would never heal. (skin had been torn past the basal membrane to the point where new skin would never grow back). I resisted it for some time because I thought it looked like 'over priced hippy cream'. Finally a friend of mine bought a tube of it and gave it to me and I found it really did work better than any other product I had ever used, including cutting aloe off of my own plants.

One night my storm phobic girl was really in a state and out of desperation I put a gob of the cream on her tongue and I suppose it could be a coincidence, but she calmed right down a few minutes later.

[maximum]

The whole anxiety thing is weird anyway. Canon hates lightening, thunder, and now even rain. Fireworks don't seem to bother him. Big loud trucks can drive right by us without him blinking and yet he'll hear something in the house that we can't even begin to hear and be a quivering mess! I've heard you're supposed to ignore them but, it's hard to not try to comfort him. Any advice on that front? By the way, we use the thunder shirt which seems to help a little but, certainly no cure.

Thanks

Max is very much the same way. He was at first afraid of thunder, and then as he associated it with lightening and then rain, those things would bring about the panting,pacing, shaking, drooling...the rescue remedy did help. I'd shoot a dropper full into his mouth and 15 minutes later, he would lay down. He'd still be anxious but he would at least lay down and at least relax a bit, eventually sleep.

 

I know it could have been body language from us. But we sent it along to his sitter when we were away once. Just told them to give him the dropper and it "should settle him down". They reported back that it was amazing - during a thunder storm, gave him the dropper and sure enough, 15 minutes later he was down and sleeping a few minutes later...

[JJNg]

Is Canon on Prozac for the storm anxiety, or for other reasons? For milder cases, I believe that holistic/natural remedies may help, but it can take some trial and error to find one that works for each individual dog. In addition to Rescue Remedy and other flower essences and homeopathic remedies, there are a lot of other options - such calming supplements like Harmonease, NutriCalm, and Anxitane. My girl Willow has mild storm anxiety, and for minor storms, I've found that a dose of Harmonease seems to help. For more severe storms, I've tried Anxitane in addition to Harmonease. But her signs are mild, so I don't see a huge difference.

 

For more severe cases of storm phobia, I feel that it's better to go with stronger anxiety meds sooner rather than later. While it can still take some trial and error and dose adjustments, medications like Valium or Xanax tend to be more reliable in reducing anxiety. The fact that Canon is now reacting to rainfall shows that his anxiety is getting worse and generalizing to other aspects of storms. In addition to the noise of thunder, dogs can show anxiety toward other signs associated with storms. Some dogs will react to wind, waving tree limbs, flashes of light, changes in barometric pressure, static electricity. Some of these factors that are beyond our senses may explain why dogs' reactions sometimes seem difficult to predict or understand.

 

This article by veterinary behaviorist Karen Overall on Storm Phobias illustrates why it can be very important address the anxiety before it gets worse. While this was an extreme case, even if not life-threatening, a dog who panics during storms is suffering from true psychological distress.

 

Hope you're able to find something that works for you boy.

[Guest dancewkathylee]

jjng Thanks for the reading suggestion. I will get a copy. Canon is on prozac for general anxiety. He first went on it because of excessive licking of some small sore area. His licking prevented healing. He is sensitive to flashing lights as you mentioned and things that go bump in the night. The rain and storm thing seems to be getting worse however and I'm hoping to help him feel more comfortable and for me to get some sleep while we wait to discuss it with his vet on our next visit. He is going to see a new greyhound savvy vet later this month. ( new to us that is ). Our girl grey is just the opposite from him. She sees rainy days as her opportunity to stay in and practice her roaching!! They make quite the pair!!

[Guest Smiley]

We love and use Rescue Remedy-mostly for Oliver's SA, but also for Gus's thunderphobia. We also just purchased a Thundershirt and have been able to use it twice during storms. It has really helped. We notice he pants much less, paces much less and just seems much more settled with it on. Our holistic vet had recommended it and it has a money back guarantee if it doesn't work for your dog. I believe there is a group who is even doing a Thundershirt fundraiser right now . . .