Anxiety Medicine

hellybelly

Hi there

Need advice from people!
Would you put your dog in anxiety medicine?
I have a male border collie who is 5 now, he is so so so anxious its ridiculose. He bits my husband when he is leaving for work, he follows me everywhere i mean just standing up he follows,he screams blue murder in the car and when we let him out of the car he bites the other dogs when they get out. he has to be first and is obsessed with his routine.
He growls if the other dogs come near me, he follows the other female dog about all day long ( if hes not following me ), if she has a toy he follows her and wont leave her alone.
He just seems to anxious and to be honest he drives me totally mad!
He gets enough exercise ( two walks a day in the woods), we have an acre of garden for him to play in ( but he wont). I try doing confidence building with him, but he just wont give me the attention ( he follows me - but if i call him, try to play with him, cuddle him he sits and stares at the female dog next to me).
I really dont know what to do. He doesnt seem to be happy, the only time he is happy is when he is walking
advice please! Any ideas - hes such a lovely dog!!
thanks

kazza90210

there is a good anxiety medicine called Kalm Aid I havent used it myself but know a few people who have and they say its great. Usually vets will have it although you dont need a prescription to buy it.

Have you tried maybe some training classes as well? Its a good environment to meet other dogs and build confidence

igglou

Hi there,

My dog was put on a course of Anti-anxiety meds recently as she became quite high strung and never being able to relax. She also started loosing a lot of weight whihc is not good for her as she is a light enough dog as is. I also used Rescue Remedy in her drinking water. The meds helped for the initial treatment then our vet suggests I try a DAP diffuser. Its a scent that female dogs give off to calm their puppies:

https://www.brendaspets.ie/products/371/dog-appeasemant-pheromone-(d..p)-diffuser

I have to say it's great. All three of my dogs are very relaxed when its on.

Though I do make sure to get them out for a good bit of running about to burn off excess energy every day.

This is especially important with collie types as they are very intelligent and love to 'work'. Could you try getting involved with agility classes maybe to help also?

Call me Socket

I think your dog is anxious cos he has assumed the responsibility of your protector. You need to stop paying him so much attention, don't fuss over him, don't rub him when he comes looking for it. Be consistent in your discipline- don't let him on the couch, don't allow him to walk through a doorway ahead of you.
Apologies in advance if you are already doing those things....

Sigma Force

The DAP might help, however it's a behaviour problem so medicating it is only going to put the problem off for a while. Would you consider trying a dog behaviourist to help build up the dogs confidence and it would help start you off with training from scratch.

Collies can be very nervous and anxious they need to be almost pulled out of their shells sometimes, I find one way is distraction if he doesn't like playing ball trying to get him interested in it, it will give him a focus and a job to do by returning it to you. When we got out collie she was terribly nervous and had no interest in chasing the ball it took a while but now she's hooked and loves it.

Some collies act really scared or down when at home but when they are brought outside or into a big field it's like they change personality. Perhaps while he's on his walks and feeling relaxed would be a time to start training him out in the open with no pressure. Clicker training works great with dogs and collies are so clever, if he likes his food using food as a reward works wonders as well.