Seperation Anxiety: How Long Did You Wait Before Trying Medication?

[incredibletaco]

Yeah I baby gated off the bedroom and he can see out into the main living area. That doesn't seem to please him that much either. He does much better there than in the crate though. I can get about 5 minutes before he barks in there rather than 10 seconds.

 

I can't let him have free roam of the house by himself though. There are way too many harmful things he can get into (muzzle or not) and he is already interested in them. Not to mention I can't really train him without completely leaving and he's still not able to do that without a melt down.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Please... remove everything that is harmful!

Pretend you have a naughty toddler living with your and 'baby-proof' your house.

You may find that your guy does quite well if he is not contained in a crate or room.

Just give it a try for a few days!

[PatricksMom]

You might try Prozac if the Zoloft doesn't work. It wasn't a miracle drug (Leo has some SA but mostly what we'd call Generalized Anxiety Disorder in a human as well as wind/storm phobia) but it took it down several notches to the point that with some lifestyle adjustments he's a much happier dog.

[incredibletaco]

Sounds good.

 

We also started him with a DAP collar on top of the Zoloft. But we still can't leave him alone in another room without him crying and barking. Our behaviorist is baffled and absolutely nothing we have tried with our behaviorist has worked in the slightest. In fact he seems to be getting worse.

 

I'm 3 months in and I still can't leave my apartment.

[greysmom]

Can your partner leave his presence without a reaction?

[incredibletaco]

Can your partner leave his presence without a reaction?

 

When she leaves the apartment and I'm still here he'll sit in front of the door for awhile and whine but will eventually stop. It's the same for me.

[greysmom]

Does he begin to get anxious before you leave - while you're getting ready? Can you pinpoint the action that starts the sequence? If you can, you can do deconditioning beginning with that. If it's picking up your keys or purse, or putting on outdoor shoes, you can do that action over and over until he gets bored. Then add the next thing in the sequence - put on outdoor shoes then comb your hair (or whatever). Keep adding actions to the sequence until he's bored/uninterested with the whole thing.

 

It can take time and determination to do this. Don't quit his meds while you're deconditioning, even if you decide to change meds.

 

IMO, you vet skipped several routine drugs to try before prescribing the Zoloft. As I said before, nearly all anti anxiety meds are off label uses of human drugs, but there is one specifically for dogs called Clomicalm (clomipramine hydrochloride). Most vets will at least *try* this before heading to other human drugs. Also, many of us have had success with a drug called Trazadone. This one can be used both short- and long-term and seems to be quite safe for most dogs.

 

You can also ask for a referral to a canine neurologist if your vet isn't comfortable discussing further anti aniety treatment with you. Your behaviorist should also be able to guide you as to what to try next.

[incredibletaco]

That sounds good. You just gave me a good idea, he's very food motivated so the best way to get him bored or uninterested with departures is food. I think we will try setting up a kibble scavenger hunt for him and then leave to see if he is uninterested.

 

I'll pair that up with his kongs too and give that a try!

[incredibletaco]

Update on progress, we tried the lack of crate and the scavenger hunt idea and.... it's working out!

 

We setup 3 toys before we leave (kong, licky mat, wobbler) and he plays with them and seems to not mind our departure. When he's finished with the toys (and we're gone) he'll roam around a bit and then just lay down (we have a camera to watch him). He made it an hour and a half yesterday and we were actually able to go out and grab dinner and he just chilled in the apartment!

 

More training will be needed but he's making great progress. I have often heard that if they can make it over the 45 minute threshold then they are pretty much set, but I don't want to test too long of alone periods quite yet.

[greysmom]

Awesome update!!!

 

:yay :yay

[NeylasMom]

That's great news!!

[BatterseaBrindl]

[HeyRunDog]

Well done. Great news

 

[Evelynmurray28]

I’m curious to know how your grey is doing now and what the solution ended up being? We are experiencing the same thing with our two-year-old grey who we adopted in December. I was initially very against medications and spent the entirety of the first two months doing alone training, but he did not improve at all. He broke out of a wire crate and chewed through two baby gates, so we’ve now resorted to leaving him to the whole house. He does well for the first 15 minutes while he licks his Kong, but once the Kong is empty, he starts to freak out again - panting, pacing, whining, barking, and soiling the house. He does occasionally get to spend the day with my parent’s two dogs, and can be left alone for up to 4 hours with them with no problem. I am in the same scenario you were in at the start where I can’t get another dog because of space (apartment) and money constraints. The vet has just given us trazodone, but I was wondering if you ended up having to regularly medicate yours? 

[greysmom]

Taco is no longer an active member here, but I believe he and his dog managed to deal with his SA effectively.

An anti anxiety drug is just a tool.  Why do you have an objection to using it??     It doesn't have any moral connections, and your dog certainly won't know.  Would you not use an antibiotic if he had an infection?  Mental health is mental health whether it's human or canine. 

It's also not a miracle.  You have to continue to do the work of active alone training while the rx does the work of changing his brain.  Some dogs respond well in a short amount of time, some take longer, some take a few tries with different drugs, and for some it's simply not a brain chemistry issue and they cannot be solo dogs.

One - if you're not committed to doing the work and seeing this training through, returning the dog is an option.  Any good adoption group should take back a dog when the fit isn't right for all parties involved.  If he's being actively destructive, even after months of alone training, that qualifies, IMO.

Two - If you haven't had any direction in doing the alone training (and even if you have), I would suggest getting the book "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell.  She's a well respected dog behaviorist and this booklet lays out information on separation anxiety and step-by-step instructions in working through SA.  You can also ask your group or your vet for recommendations for certified animal behaviorists who use only positive reinforcement in your area.

Three - if you do a search here for threads on separation anxiety and alone training you will find a MILLION!!!  It's probably the most common behavior we deal with in this forum.  Stick with the more recent ones for up-to-date information as things do change over time.

Good luck!!

[Evelynmurray28]

1 minute ago, greysmom said:

Taco is no longer an active member here, but I believe he and his dog managed to deal with his SA effectively.

An anti anxiety drug is just a tool.  Why do you have an objection to using it??     It doesn't have any moral connections, and your dog certainly won't know.  Would you not use an antibiotic if he had an infection?  Mental health is mental health whether it's human or canine. 

It's also not a miracle.  You have to continue to do the work of active alone training while the rx does the work of changing his brain.  Some dogs respond well in a short amount of time, some take longer, some take a few tries with different drugs, and for some it's simply not a brain chemistry issue and they cannot be solo dogs.

One - if you're not committed to doing the work and seeing this training through, returning the dog is an option.  Any good adoption group should take back a dog when the fit isn't right for all parties involved.  If he's being actively destructive, even after months of alone training, that qualifies, IMO.

Two - If you haven't had any direction in doing the alone training (and even if you have), I would suggest getting the book "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell.  She's a well respected dog behaviorist and this booklet lays out information on separation anxiety and step-by-step instructions in working through SA.  You can also ask your group or your vet for recommendations for certified animal behaviorists who use only positive reinforcement in your area.

Three - if you do a search here for threads on separation anxiety and alone training you will find a MILLION!!!  It's probably the most common behavior we deal with in this forum.  Stick with the more recent ones for up-to-date information as things do change over time.

Good luck!!

Thanks! I guess I was just more worried about medications changing his personality. He is an amazing dog, and this seems to be his only concern. We’ve been working really hard with the alone training, and at the end of the day we are willing to do whatever it takes to help him - if it comes to finding a companion who he gets along well with, then so be it. The destructive behavior stopped when we stopped confining him, but now he’s just very vocal and pees when he gets upset.  I just didn’t want to jump to medicating him too soon before exhausting all other options - but we are starting the Trazodone this week and will continue to work with him on the alone training.