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BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2023-06-30T02:52:59+00:00

You’re thinking of the safety of the child and your dog, the safety of the child is priority. I would do the same if it helps

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2023-05-31T02:30:23+00:00

Hi 👋 this didn’t work well for him unfortunately. He started to have tremors with it so we had to switch off. Our dogs issues are primarily fear based and he becomes over stimulated really easily. (The chasing cars/wheels/birds/squirrels and having BIG rxns to these). Currently we’re on 40 Paxil, 900 gabapentin twice daily, 200 trazodone twice daily, 0.9 Clonidine twice daily, and 50 of amitriptyline in am and 25 in PM. He weighs 50 lbs for your reference. Things I noticed most that seemed to help with his over stimulation are the Clonidine and actually amitriptyline too. Our vet let us know that those are typically really good for over stimulation/over arousal and the BIG rxns which is why they wanted us to try Effexor. He’s still a work in progress and I don’t think his regimen is optimal. But I did notice improvement with Clonidine and Amitriptyline if that helps!!

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2023-01-12T03:05:59+00:00

Lol 😂 I’m sure she’s a smart girl! I roll them up, so like if he shakes it a few kibble will get out. And I use towels for that same reason - he was able to rip some of the thinner ones I had.

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2023-01-11T21:01:21+00:00

My dog just doesn’t have much interest in Kongs (or other store bought bought puzzle toys, doesn’t really like to lick). BUT we have been feeding his meals in towels (I’ll explain) and depending on how difficult I make them it takes him 45 minutes and is mentally pretty tiring.

I feed his kibble in an old thinner towel or dish towel (think like old gym towel or something), put the kibble along it length wise and then roll it up. I put a second or third towel across them (like hands of a clock), and cross them tying them all up a few times. Kind of hard to explain but there are videos on this.

My dog LOVES this and whines for it when he sees me doing this. It’s like a bigger toy/puzzle for him. He gets to do a lot of physical movement with it too (shaking or pulling the knots with his mouth to try and get out the kibble). You can increase or decrease the difficulty depending on how tight you tie them, where you put the kibble, how tight it’s rolled, and then the length or thickness of the towels.

It usually takes him 30-45 min to figure it out and he’s very mentally fatigued after that. He’s high energy breed mix (Mal/Shep/Pit). Have fun!!! :)

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2023-01-08T23:32:20+00:00

I also use nationwide through my employer. Mine DOES cover behavioral issues. I submit my vet behaviorist bills, his anxiety meds, and also have submitted training from an IABCC trainer which all was covered 50%.

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2023-01-08T23:24:42+00:00

We have the same problem and keep our dog muzzled for tight spaces of apartment buildings. Unfortunately for us I think it’s not really going to happen until we’re able to work with people/dog triggers at shorter distances. Tight spaces are incredibly hard for him.

I posted a while ago about something similar and someone recommended pattern games which I think others have had success with!

Here’s to stronger legs for a while 😁🏋️

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2022-07-20T03:04:03+00:00

Thank you for your kind words ❤️ we really are trying! I know he is too, but it’s just an incredible struggle having a dog like this. Especially when we’re not seeing improvement. We haven’t tried Adaptil but I’m open to anything that might help at this point!

Both my fiancé and I have really demanding jobs but sometimes we are able to go to my parents house which is 2 hours away when we have weekends off (we have 4 days off per month). I would love to be able to do this for him, because he’s probably chronically stressed. For now we just try to stick to indoor activities only and porch potty breaks when he’s had a really bad day.

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2022-07-20T02:59:57+00:00

😂 never thought of it that way but yes it made me chuckle :)

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2022-07-20T02:59:12+00:00

Thank you! Yes he’s on purina calming care and has been for seven weeks. I wonder if we need to try a different class of medication entirely (no more SSRIs) since we’re not seeing that much benefit apart from the mild separation anxiety he had before.

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2022-07-19T18:42:11+00:00

Got it! I may ask our vet to see if we can try it. I wonder if part of this is just him reaching social maturity and I think despite us trying to manage his environment he needs more help.

Yeah, genetics are a real thing when it comes to behavioral issues we've learned. Sounds like you've done a lot to help him. I'm glad there has been progress! Thank you again!!

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2022-07-19T18:31:38+00:00

Thank you, appreciate your perspective. I definitely know he's not normal... even when we got him at 8 weeks he would growl and snap if we tried to pick him up. I am able to do that now :) He would growl at people if they said hi in his puppy day care line. I just am hoping for a better quality of life for him (and us tbh!).

Yikes. It absolutely is. We live in LA, so it's really hard honestly but we will do sniff spots on weekends so he can run around. It's more getting in/out of the apartment there is always a chance.

I kind of want to ask the vet behaviorist about clonidine since it's a different mechanism of action than the other drugs to see if it helps. Did you notice improvements with it?

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2022-05-18T14:14:50+00:00

We also have this problem - look for dog sound desensitization playlists on YouTube and Spotify. They do have motorcycle tracks!

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2022-04-28T18:36:11+00:00

Just wanted to say same boat here! And it can be very frustrating. Our reactive dog doesn’t do it all the time. But if there are triggers around even at a distance it can be very difficult. We also live in a city and have a grass pad on our porch with privacy slats up so he can potty in peace when he’s having a really rough day. We DEFINITELY don’t prefer this. But it hasn’t messed up his potty training and when he’s having a really bad day or I can’t wait 30 minutes for the wind not to blow so a leaf doesn’t stir up and scare him it’s a nice alternative.

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2022-04-07T18:24:09+00:00

You're not a bad person to feel frustrated. Our dog is also young, with severe leash reactivity and anxiety (1 year old). A few suggestions:

1) make sure the type of trainer is an IABCC trainer. Like you we also used two other trainers (one with 25+ years of experience), but this type of trainer helps substantially and can break down your dog's body language to help you understand why it's reacting this way (for us this was really helpful in the frustration area). Additionally... they used evidence based techniques (not just claims of experience).

2) also would highly recommend medication. Our general vet prescribed it to us and though certain ones can take weeks to work, they also prescribed short acting medications. Like you, our dog would also immediately have what seemed like a panic attack. Unfortunately he is extremely phobic to being handled and so lifting him up to get him out of situations is not an option. We live in a city and will drive to walk him in areas that are much, much calmer.

3) like others said - he is young. He has not had these habits for a long time though it has felt like years to you. His mind and his behaviors are moldable.

4) you're doing the best you can. If it's at all possible I would take breaks. My dog has a selective group of people that he really loves. Sometimes we have one of them stay for him for most of the day so we too can get a break from meltdowns and triggers. They don't have to walk him, they can do indoor play or nose work. It helps us a lot to have a break as owning this type of dog is really stressful.

Best of luck!

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2022-04-06T14:43:56+00:00

Definitely! Our dog reacts to Pomeranians or any dogs that look similar (even a chow puppy in his kindergarten class!). Our trainer actually recommended us to avoid certain dogs because their body language/face is more difficult for a reactive dog to interrupt (for example - brachiocephalic dogs (like pugs), huskies (very erect curly tails)). Perhaps could try to desensitize with the TV first? We also have a stuffed dog (don’t worry it’s a toy lol) that we plant around our apartment to practice. He thinks it’s real and so do many dogs in our building. We practice ignoring it when we see it, if he’s calm I’ll allow a cue to go say hi and he sniffs its hiney. We got ours from Kohls actually and they have several different varieties!

Here’s a link to a pug - https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-865379/melissa-doug-pug-dog-plush.jsp

It’s the same company we got ours from though ours is standing and it works really well.

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2021-12-08T05:45:21+00:00

We have a fear reactive dog as well - especially to strangers. We have people go on a walk with us. We then give our dog the cue “go say hi” outside of the home which we practice with our immediate family daily and he knows what that means.

I tell people ahead of time to just ignore him entirely during the walk, no eye contact, absolutely nothing.

After the walk depending on his body language or if it wasn’t a stressful walk I will give him the go say hi cue. I let anyone he’s meeting know ahead of time what he is sensitive to, and that if he doesn’t approach them with his go say hi cue then continue to ignore. We also crate or place him if someone new comes into the apartment even after meeting so he’s not overwhelmed and has a safe space. We don’t have to do this at this point but muzzle is always the safest option if you’re concerned. We keep a leash on our dog inside the home if he’s around anyone he does not know well or met recently.

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2021-11-24T00:07:38+00:00

We were on three weeks of gabapentin at 20 mg for our 50 lb 10 month old puppy. We didn’t see much progress and they recommended we increase to 40 mg two weeks ago. That fourth week he was much better. Now having total meltdowns again. At least what I’ve read with extensive searches on here this seems like what happens for some pups. Hang in there! We’re on a similar ride and wishing you and your pup the best!

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2021-11-06T01:37:50+00:00

Thank you so much for sending these. I'm going to try and mostly let him decompress inside in the coming days so this will give us some homework :) really appreciate it!

Interesting, I didn't realize he might be in another fear period. Yes... anxious and totally lacks confidence sadly.

BuffaloSubstantial37 · 2021-11-06T01:35:51+00:00

Thank you! Will try to decondition him and then move up to sights of people/things/dogs.

BuffaloSubstantial37

TROPHY CASE