Pet Naturals Calming Chews?

[Guest driser]

Has anyone used Pet Naturals Calming Chews with their GH for separation anxiety? Help a little? Safe? Worth trying?

 

Because our guy really prefers it when he, my husband, and I are all together he has pretty serious SA. Wecrate him when we aren't home. Thank heavens he does not mind his crate and prefers to nap in it (open) in the evening before and after dinner before we all go up to bed. Additionally thankful that even when crated for upwards of 7 hours (very very seldom) he does not claw or chew in his crate. Outside the crate is another story.

 

We will be moving in 8-9 months and I will no longer have the luxury of working from home so we would like to start the slow and deliberate process of desensitizing him to the cues that we are fixing to leave the house and to being alone because we don't want to have to crate him for 10 hours a day after we move. We know energy draining walks before we leave in the morning will be a must though that may be as early at 5:45am. We will hire a professional dog walker regardless, to walk him in the afternoon as well, but we feel it would be such a better quality of life if he got to the place where he can handle being left out of his crate.

 

We are rearranging our home a bit and investing in a mounted tall/wide baby gate to keep him out of the front of the house. He'll still have access to open family room/breakfast area where he has a bed and his crate and access to stairs to go to our bedroom where his largest bed is located and where he loves to consolidate all his squeaky toys throughout the day. We are going to start slowly; five minute increments. He has chewed up books and kleenex boxes when I've been outside (within ear/nose range) talking to a neighbor for more than 15 mins. So, I do sense he may need a homeopathic calming agent when we get to ten minutes and beyond, so I appreciate any input on such products.

 

Also, what are your thoughts on crating all day for his comfort and safety if he does have a walk in morning, a dog walker in afternoon, and a walk at night?

 

[a_daerr]

Yep, they work a little bit. It sounds like his SA is pretty severe though, so you might consider a "real" anti-anxiety medication.

[Guest HeatherLee]

I've used rescue remedy with my guy and it works pretty well (it's natural and you can get it for pets (alcohol free) at most health food stores.. and you can take it too!) The natural chews work really well but i've found they sedate him way too much, not to mention he hates the taste and I had to bury in some canned food.. Do you leave the radio or tv on for him when you're gone? Can you get another dog or animal to keep him company ? Give him a dirty shirt with your scent on it in his crate that he can snuggle up to? Or give him a kong toy with peanut butter or some other treat before you leave so he looks forward to when you leave?

[AEB]

Honest Kitchen now makes a calming tea. We've only used it once so far but it seems to work! We paid $11 for a container, which has many, many servings. I think the chews are much more expensive because big dogs need a lot of them to work.

[Guest driser]

I've used rescue remedy with my guy and it works pretty well (it's natural and you can get it for pets (alcohol free) at most health food stores.. and you can take it too!) The natural chews work really well but i've found they sedate him way too much, not to mention he hates the taste and I had to bury in some canned food.. Do you leave the radio or tv on for him when you're gone? Can you get another dog or animal to keep him company ? Give him a dirty shirt with your scent on it in his crate that he can snuggle up to? Or give him a kong toy with peanut butter or some other treat before you leave so he looks forward to when you leave?

We do leave radio on. We already have a cat, two is our limit, but she doesn't keep him company. I will gladly put one of my husbands tshirts in his kennel! He is so rough with a kong, I'm afraid he'll break a tooth! I gave him a dentistix weeks ago; a XL one and he broke it in three pieces and swallowed the pieces whole. So much for work on that for a bit...

[tydyelady]

I used the calming cookies for Toley - he at 6 of them, but they were pretty small. I also gave him rescue remedy, and used a Thundershirt. The combination worked well for his SA. After a few weeks I started less of the cookies, and doing away with the rescue remedy. Finally after about 4 weeks, took off the shirt and used jammies for a week. Then nothing. He is a good boy now, when he knows we are leaving he jumps up on the bed in the spare room, and sleeps most of the day there.

[GeorgeofNE]

Consider a DAP diffuser, perhaps?

 

I tried some calming remedies on my old dog and none of them did a thing, but I think the DAP might have helped George a bit. I think you have a great plan laid out, and it should work nicely!