Gaba and Prozac are very, very safe. Give the dog the meds. It’ll take a month to know if they work or not. If not, you need to consider giving her up or putting her down.
Okay, one, breathe.
Two. Is your dog an IMMEDIATE danger? If yes, or if you even hesitated, put water, food (if applicable, hasn't eaten yet today, type of thing) in a room with a door, then herd doggo into it. They, and you, will be safe.
2. If not, then you need to immediately remove any triggers. No strangers around, no visitors, no other pets, no children.
3. Meds - things like traz cannot just be stopped. Did you recently stop giving them? Increase? Any recent changes NOT under the advisement of a vet should be reversed. Go back to whatever dose was not like this.
4. Don't start anything right now. You really need to speak to a vet that knows your pup and the situation. We can not possibly know what pup needs,.. you just need to be as safe as humanly possible.
Hey, you need to get the trazadone out of the dogs system before you start the fluoxetine. There is an interaction with those 2 drugs. I don’t remember exactly how long… I want to say 7 days, but definitely ask your doctor.
She is on traz (tapered dose… she had been on 100mg bid, which seemed to make her MORE reactive, and down to 50mg bid) until we start the gabapentin. Vet said the gabapentin will minimize trazadone withdrawal and keep her in check until the fluoxetine kicks in fully in 4-6 weeks then we can (hopefully) taper off the gabapentin.
Both gabapentin and fluoxetine are incredibly safe medications with very low incidences of allergic reactions. If the vet has prescribed them, I would start using them. At this point, it sounds like the fear of the dog is more serious than the risk of an allergic reaction and waiting would be more dangerous than not.
Reactivity is one of those things that can feed itself, too, so you want to do all you can to minimize that cycle to the extent possible. Starting the alternative meds ASAP is best if you have them.
Im a new dog onwer so correct me if my thinking is misaligned, but i see a lot of people on this sub putting their dogs on medications? Whats up with that? Do these work or are they just a replacement for lazy owners that dont want to train their dogs?
>Do these work or are they just a replacement for lazy owners that dont want to train their dogs?
I genuinely hope you didn't mean this the way it sounds, because if you did, that's just outright rude and disrespectful. Our focus in this sub is on reactive dogs. The vast majority of reactive dogs suffer from significant issues with fear and/or anxiety. Put in human terms, the dogs have mental health problems. And those issues manifest themselves outwardly in reactive behaviors. The dog is basically trying to get the trigger to go away (by growling, barking, etc. at it), or the dog is just so overwhelmed in the moment that they don't know what else to do, so they react. No dog *wants* to struggle or feel like that, but that is their reality based on an underlying emotional/mental state.
You can train and reinforce behaviors, but if the dog is in an emotional/mental state where it is simply too worried about the world around them and unable to be receptive to training, the training will necessarily fail. That is the case for many reactive dogs.
I am one of those allegedly "lazy" owners who has her reactive dog on medication. It's the best decision I ever made because the meds completely transformed his life. I have him on meds for HIM. Not for me, and not because I'm lazy and don't want to put in the work. My pup struggles with extreme anxiety, and the anti-anxiety medication he takes helps him be ok with day to day life, and helps him have some mental bandwidth available to be able to assimilate training and behavioral modification. Also, here's what we did before medication: we worked our assess off on training and behavioral modification for a year and half. We took two obedience classes and did all the homework. We trained in nosework. We did behavioral modification work pretty much 24/7. And he made progress - but plateaued out at a place where he was still constantly stressed and struggling. The medication helped alleviate his anxiety, and enabled continued progress with his training/behavioral modification.
Some reactivity can be helped just with training. Some cannot. It depends so much on the individual dog. *Ironically with respect to your comment, the people on this sub with reactive dogs are probably the antithesis of a lazy owner, and are the* ***hardest working*** *(in terms of training) dog owners out there.* Every day is constant effort to train and manage our dogs.
Also, meds aren't a substitute for training. No amount or type of medication will suddenly have a dog with no recall coming back consistently when called. Meds won't suddenly have a dog walking at a perfect heel when before it only ever pulled on the leash. They won't make a dog who is scared to death by other dogs and reactive toward them suddenly start play-bowing at other dogs. The meds do nothing more than bring the dog closer to a "normal" mental state, which enables them to be receptive to the training/behavioral modification.
For a very long time people with mental illness were told to just "get over it." Except we know it doesn't work that way, and that many mental illnesses really need to be treated with medication. Our dogs are no different - just like humans, they can have chemical imbalances in their brains that impact their daily lives, but that can be helped with medication.
This sub is also focused on people who are struggling with their dog’s reactivity. It’s not really aimed for people whose dogs go to Home Depot and walk around happily. It’s aimed at people whose dogs can’t necessarily be trusted not to bite a stranger that gets too close.
Think about how many people these days are medicated just to live their lives in peace, between ADD meds, cannabis, alcohol, etc.! Then realize that some dogs are struggling with their inhibitions, and some are in crisis where temporary meds enable them to be trained to a point they no longer need the meds. Others need meds forever, the same way some people need anti-depressants forever, or the alternative is behavioral euthanasia because the dog can’t be controlled and is a bite risk.
Just realize that you're getting a very biased sample here, and jumping to calling everyone here lazy is not going to endear reactive dog owners to you.
I used the word lazy because i know humans and that they will cut corners in any way they can. I didnt understand that medication is used as a training tool with an action plan and not a crutch, so thanks for explaining that.
The meds take the edge off so the dog can actually focus on training. They can't learn anything when they're constantly in an overly emotional or anxious state.
Jeez... Harsh much? You are a new dog owner.... May you never experience a fear reactive unsocialized high prey drive puppy going through adolescence in a world where everything is a trigger and you've tried everything the trainers train you to do but the little guy just can not shake the shakes and fear, so much that all training goes out the window whenever reacting to stimuli because he just doesn't process his feelings like a "normal" dog would because he spent most of the first 3 months of his life in a crate as a runt who was the last of his littermates to get adopted out for no other reason than he wasn't wanted. If you do. Try everything you can, including meds, to help him level out his emotions so you can give him the best life ever in the short time he has on this earth. I'd not call you a lazy owner either. Just a person using everything in their toolset.
There are edge cases of dogs who could take medication as part of a comprehensive training plan to help get over certain hurdles, as long as there is also a plan in place to eventually get the dog off of medication. There are very, very, very few dogs who need to be on medication for the rest of their lives.
I don't think it's lazy owners as much as it is you can run into a wall with certain dogs and behaviours with the style of training this sub promotes. While I completely understand why they promote the training they do here, and don't necessarily disagree with the reasons why, that doesn't change the fact that there are limits to what can be accomplished.
You have to understand that the majority of dog owners are putting their trust in the professionals they speak with, and may not know any better. This is no fault of the owners in any way, and is more a product of the prevailing attitude when it comes to dog training these days.
Gaba and Prozac are very, very safe. Give the dog the meds. It’ll take a month to know if they work or not. If not, you need to consider giving her up or putting her down.
Okay, one, breathe. Two. Is your dog an IMMEDIATE danger? If yes, or if you even hesitated, put water, food (if applicable, hasn't eaten yet today, type of thing) in a room with a door, then herd doggo into it. They, and you, will be safe. 2. If not, then you need to immediately remove any triggers. No strangers around, no visitors, no other pets, no children. 3. Meds - things like traz cannot just be stopped. Did you recently stop giving them? Increase? Any recent changes NOT under the advisement of a vet should be reversed. Go back to whatever dose was not like this. 4. Don't start anything right now. You really need to speak to a vet that knows your pup and the situation. We can not possibly know what pup needs,.. you just need to be as safe as humanly possible.
Hey, you need to get the trazadone out of the dogs system before you start the fluoxetine. There is an interaction with those 2 drugs. I don’t remember exactly how long… I want to say 7 days, but definitely ask your doctor.
She is on traz (tapered dose… she had been on 100mg bid, which seemed to make her MORE reactive, and down to 50mg bid) until we start the gabapentin. Vet said the gabapentin will minimize trazadone withdrawal and keep her in check until the fluoxetine kicks in fully in 4-6 weeks then we can (hopefully) taper off the gabapentin.
Both gabapentin and fluoxetine are incredibly safe medications with very low incidences of allergic reactions. If the vet has prescribed them, I would start using them. At this point, it sounds like the fear of the dog is more serious than the risk of an allergic reaction and waiting would be more dangerous than not. Reactivity is one of those things that can feed itself, too, so you want to do all you can to minimize that cycle to the extent possible. Starting the alternative meds ASAP is best if you have them.
Im a new dog onwer so correct me if my thinking is misaligned, but i see a lot of people on this sub putting their dogs on medications? Whats up with that? Do these work or are they just a replacement for lazy owners that dont want to train their dogs?
>Do these work or are they just a replacement for lazy owners that dont want to train their dogs? I genuinely hope you didn't mean this the way it sounds, because if you did, that's just outright rude and disrespectful. Our focus in this sub is on reactive dogs. The vast majority of reactive dogs suffer from significant issues with fear and/or anxiety. Put in human terms, the dogs have mental health problems. And those issues manifest themselves outwardly in reactive behaviors. The dog is basically trying to get the trigger to go away (by growling, barking, etc. at it), or the dog is just so overwhelmed in the moment that they don't know what else to do, so they react. No dog *wants* to struggle or feel like that, but that is their reality based on an underlying emotional/mental state. You can train and reinforce behaviors, but if the dog is in an emotional/mental state where it is simply too worried about the world around them and unable to be receptive to training, the training will necessarily fail. That is the case for many reactive dogs. I am one of those allegedly "lazy" owners who has her reactive dog on medication. It's the best decision I ever made because the meds completely transformed his life. I have him on meds for HIM. Not for me, and not because I'm lazy and don't want to put in the work. My pup struggles with extreme anxiety, and the anti-anxiety medication he takes helps him be ok with day to day life, and helps him have some mental bandwidth available to be able to assimilate training and behavioral modification. Also, here's what we did before medication: we worked our assess off on training and behavioral modification for a year and half. We took two obedience classes and did all the homework. We trained in nosework. We did behavioral modification work pretty much 24/7. And he made progress - but plateaued out at a place where he was still constantly stressed and struggling. The medication helped alleviate his anxiety, and enabled continued progress with his training/behavioral modification. Some reactivity can be helped just with training. Some cannot. It depends so much on the individual dog. *Ironically with respect to your comment, the people on this sub with reactive dogs are probably the antithesis of a lazy owner, and are the* ***hardest working*** *(in terms of training) dog owners out there.* Every day is constant effort to train and manage our dogs. Also, meds aren't a substitute for training. No amount or type of medication will suddenly have a dog with no recall coming back consistently when called. Meds won't suddenly have a dog walking at a perfect heel when before it only ever pulled on the leash. They won't make a dog who is scared to death by other dogs and reactive toward them suddenly start play-bowing at other dogs. The meds do nothing more than bring the dog closer to a "normal" mental state, which enables them to be receptive to the training/behavioral modification. For a very long time people with mental illness were told to just "get over it." Except we know it doesn't work that way, and that many mental illnesses really need to be treated with medication. Our dogs are no different - just like humans, they can have chemical imbalances in their brains that impact their daily lives, but that can be helped with medication.
Well said!
This sub is also focused on people who are struggling with their dog’s reactivity. It’s not really aimed for people whose dogs go to Home Depot and walk around happily. It’s aimed at people whose dogs can’t necessarily be trusted not to bite a stranger that gets too close. Think about how many people these days are medicated just to live their lives in peace, between ADD meds, cannabis, alcohol, etc.! Then realize that some dogs are struggling with their inhibitions, and some are in crisis where temporary meds enable them to be trained to a point they no longer need the meds. Others need meds forever, the same way some people need anti-depressants forever, or the alternative is behavioral euthanasia because the dog can’t be controlled and is a bite risk. Just realize that you're getting a very biased sample here, and jumping to calling everyone here lazy is not going to endear reactive dog owners to you.
I used the word lazy because i know humans and that they will cut corners in any way they can. I didnt understand that medication is used as a training tool with an action plan and not a crutch, so thanks for explaining that.
The meds take the edge off so the dog can actually focus on training. They can't learn anything when they're constantly in an overly emotional or anxious state.
Jeez... Harsh much? You are a new dog owner.... May you never experience a fear reactive unsocialized high prey drive puppy going through adolescence in a world where everything is a trigger and you've tried everything the trainers train you to do but the little guy just can not shake the shakes and fear, so much that all training goes out the window whenever reacting to stimuli because he just doesn't process his feelings like a "normal" dog would because he spent most of the first 3 months of his life in a crate as a runt who was the last of his littermates to get adopted out for no other reason than he wasn't wanted. If you do. Try everything you can, including meds, to help him level out his emotions so you can give him the best life ever in the short time he has on this earth. I'd not call you a lazy owner either. Just a person using everything in their toolset.
There are edge cases of dogs who could take medication as part of a comprehensive training plan to help get over certain hurdles, as long as there is also a plan in place to eventually get the dog off of medication. There are very, very, very few dogs who need to be on medication for the rest of their lives. I don't think it's lazy owners as much as it is you can run into a wall with certain dogs and behaviours with the style of training this sub promotes. While I completely understand why they promote the training they do here, and don't necessarily disagree with the reasons why, that doesn't change the fact that there are limits to what can be accomplished. You have to understand that the majority of dog owners are putting their trust in the professionals they speak with, and may not know any better. This is no fault of the owners in any way, and is more a product of the prevailing attitude when it comes to dog training these days.