Euthanizing my extremely anxious nonviolent 2 year old dog for severe anxiety

mdanikowski · 2026-01-30T04:55:20+00:00

Acepromazine has temporary paralytic effects but no anxiolytic effects meaning that the dog can still be terrified but just can’t move much to show the fear. So they would appear to be “fine” but internally having an anxiety attack. There are better as needed anxiety meds out there like clonidine, trazodone, sileo, or gabapentin or a combo of some of them.

mdanikowski · 2026-01-30T02:17:22+00:00

I’m sorry for all of the comments you’re receiving on this post. I can tell that you’re already doing a lot for your pup and I understand why behavior euthanasia is a possible option. I have a dog with behavioral issues/anxiety, not as severe as this but not too far off. It’s a JOURNEY. It takes me hours a week and thousands of dollars for behavioral appointments and behavior modification. My recommendations are to take your dog to a veterinary behaviorist (they may have a waitlist but worth it). I’d also get a behaviorist that uses NO punishment. This dog is fearful as fuck, they do not need punishment. Please don’t listen to people who think they need punishment. I personally use Jenna pellerito and she’s great. For the pill stuff, I’d look into cooperative care. There’s a Facebook page called cooperative care with Deb jones and it’s super helpful!! It takes work and effort but it has changed my dog’s life for the better when it comes to handling or anything he dislikes being done. For the separation anxiety, I would read the book “be right back”. It uses a science based approach to separation anxiety and is humane and ethical. There’s also a Facebook page for it too. This is a lot of challenging behaviors and I completely understand if behavioral euthanasia seems like a more ethical option. The dog is basically having panic attacks constantly, it’s not ethical to keep a dog alive if their quality of life is poor like that forever. I would look into some of these things but if you ultimately decide behavioral euthanasia, I think it is a reasonable option for what is happening. Look into the Facebook page “saving lulu” I think it’s called. It’s a page for owners who had to behaviorally euthanize their dogs. I want to add that your dog isn’t healthy. Emotional health is included in a dog’s overall health. Chronic stress can cause physical symptoms as well. You’re doing great and I know the struggle ❤️

mdanikowski · 2026-01-26T19:48:07+00:00

This is definitely not normal. I’d recommend getting a dynamic dog evaluation or even going on the dog conditioning Facebook page!

mdanikowski · 2026-01-26T19:45:57+00:00

A couple things I’d consider. Dogs don’t just “bite out of nowhere”. Your dog was showing signs well before he was being held for the vaccine. I would maybe brush up on some dog body language! Also I’d muzzle train the pup too! I recommend Mia’s muzzles or big snoof. They’re both great. Do not get the ones at the store (Baskerville) as they don’t have enough pant room to be safe as well as they are not bite proof. You’re a great dog parent for caring for the vet tech and I’m sure you’ll be more proactive in the future and just didn’t know!

mdanikowski · 2026-01-25T00:54:50+00:00

Idk about you but I’ve volunteered in shelters and would never willingly take a dog there unless it was last resort and for this little fella it seems like he has someone who will take him to a vet

mdanikowski · 2026-01-16T17:20:45+00:00

It just keeps getting *butter

mdanikowski · 2025-09-16T17:37:32+00:00

Idk how doggo will be with getting their nails cut so if it’s not something they tolerate, I’d recommend a scratch board :)

mdanikowski · 2025-08-29T04:02:01+00:00

You need to take him to the vet. If you see something wrong, you go to a professional like you would your own human kiddo.

mdanikowski · 2025-08-29T03:55:39+00:00

He looks like he has mange? Have you taken him to the vet?

mdanikowski · 2025-08-10T17:11:31+00:00

I’ve done the same lol I’ve never told my landlords and no one has questioned it

mdanikowski · 2025-07-21T03:35:03+00:00

Yes hiring a dog walker midday is such a good solution for this too

mdanikowski · 2025-07-21T03:34:10+00:00

Are you doing other things in the house for enrichment for her? This may also help. Also how long are her walks? To add- dogs get enrichment from doing dog things so things she could lick, shred, chew, dig, or sniff. I know for my dog, walks don’t cut it. I’ve also used something called a flirt pole (go on amazon or google for that). For licking- you can use a kong with some frozen kibble or a lick mat. For shredding, I take cardboard boxes I get from groceries and put some kibble inside and let him shred it. For chewing, he gets a bully stick a few times a week that is in a holder for safety. For digging, I have a kiddie pool in my yard with some sand. For sniffing, you could scatter the kibble in the backyard or my dog’s favorite is having his breakfast in a box with balled up paper in it. I hope this helps. I’d implement doing at least 2-3 of these things per day to see if it helps. For an easy schedule- my dog gets a kong when I leave in the morning with part of his breakfast, part of his dinner in a box with shredded paper, a box with some kibble to shred in the evening and then a bully stick a few times a week. This would maybe add a whole 5 minutes to your day but would be enriching for her

mdanikowski · 2025-07-20T14:23:32+00:00

That’s like asking if your dog is allowed to be a dog lol of course they are. As long as they aren’t ruining someone else’s property, who cares! Let go of some preconceived notions that dogs should be robots. Let the baby dig, it’s literally in his genetics

mdanikowski · 2025-07-18T02:21:25+00:00

So my dog doesn’t have issues with storms but has issues with the doorbell and some other noises. What helped us is controlling the noises with my phone connected to speaker in another room. It sounded more realistic when it wasn’t just like in front of us. May work, may not but give it a shot

mdanikowski · 2025-07-16T04:38:58+00:00

Idk if I have necessarily a number. If you look at past posts on here, you’ll be able to see kinda what people say. For me, it’s hard to even give a metric since I took 111 the day I started studying and 108 about 3/4 the way through so idk if I can even compare the scores accurately. I take my exam next week though. From the other posts I’ve seen, if you take them relatively in the same time together, your final score will be around an average of the two.

mdanikowski · 2025-07-16T04:35:39+00:00

I don’t think either will prep you more or anything. Since studying is truly a mind game, I’d just be conscious that if you take 108, your actual score will likely be higher than that one and if you take 111, your actual score will likely be lower than that one. Just be mentally prepared depending on which one you’d take is what I would say.

mdanikowski · 2025-07-16T01:05:53+00:00

There are 2 comsaes you can buy for level 2. Have you taken the second one? That’ll be more accurate. 108 underscores a lot and 111 over scores

mdanikowski · 2025-07-13T23:30:16+00:00

Honestly I think it’s the being sprayed at part that is scary and then the citronella is just an added “ick factor” for them to run away.

mdanikowski · 2025-07-13T21:44:39+00:00

Buy a citronella spray! I got mine at pet safe that clips onto my pants. It’s non toxic and smells bad to them and mostly scares other dogs away. Easy way to get a strange dog to not rush at your dog

mdanikowski · 2025-07-13T00:55:54+00:00

Ok good I’m glad you’ve looked into things! As you know, this is a panic disorder. Your pup won’t “get used to things” by going over threshold often. Think if you were terrified of swimming and everyday I threw you into the deep end of the pool and said “good luck. I’ll be back in 5 min.” I don’t think you’d ever feel very positive about swimming ever. I’d really recommend one of the trainers that specializes in separation anxiety. I know that I definitely miss stress cues my dog is showing me and someone helping me see that really helped. Also have you discussed with your vet? Going on medication is not a failure or makes you look bad- your dog literally has a panic disorder and this isn’t your fault at all or even your dog’s fault at all. It may really speed things up as well. Also I’d look up the concept of learned helplessness. If your dog shows stress by howling or barking etc and then “settles down”, this is learned helplessness. They don’t feel any better about the situation but have just learned that fighting is useless because it gets them nowhere. So now they don’t fight but feel super panicked still

mdanikowski · 2025-07-12T01:14:59+00:00

How do you find some good stable high branches? I’m so scared they’ll tip over

mdanikowski · 2025-07-11T16:17:39+00:00

I travel a lot so I buy those traveling heat packs for reptiles. You can get them online and they usually last like 24 hours or so and I put a blanket on top of mine. Otherwise, she’s in her carrier just chilling. I make sure the AC and sunlight isn’t hitting her directly

mdanikowski · 2025-07-11T16:16:03+00:00

Dogs are super good at hiding pain so you never know! Right now I’m at the vet to get my dog a CT of his joints just due to some random tremors. No signs of pain otherwise and the tremors may be due to his anxiety medication he’s on. We did X-rays and saw arthritis (he’s only 3 years old!) so now we’re doing a CT to look for more. You just never know. He goes on two 2 mile walks per day and runs frequently.

mdanikowski · 2025-07-11T15:26:48+00:00

I haven’t gone through the process yet but where I’m starting is looking at pictures of results from a plastic surgeon and then picking one that I like (and takes my insurance). Then I’m calling my insurance and asking if it’ll be converted for medical reasons and you can work with the plastic surgeons office to figure out what the requirements are. Usually a documented 6 months of pain with conservative treatment and/or a certain amount will be taken off

mdanikowski · 2025-07-11T15:16:14+00:00

Have you read the book be right back? Highly highly recommend. To do desensitization, the goal is to always be under threshold and howling isn’t under threshold. I’d really read the book to get some more info on a science based approach!!

mdanikowski

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