When discussing anti anxiety meds for dogs with owners, some may be keen to give it a go, others are a little more wary and some owners absolutely do not want to use it. As a dog owner myself, I completely understand this concern about what we are putting in our dog’s bodies and how it may change them in some way. In this article I’m hoping to provide some general information about long term daily use of anti anxiety medication for dogs (usually recommended by vets for at least 6 months) and clarify some common misunderstandings.
What is anxiety medication?
In this article I am referring to prescription medication that is prescribed for daily use, as opposed to medication that is prescribed for one-off events (such as for fireworks or vet visits) or non-prescription medication such as calming aids or supplements. Calming aids and supplements have their place but most have not been scientifically tested to ensure that they are effective and safe, and those that have been tested are not as effective as prescription medication.
Anti anxiety meds for dogs that can be prescribed for daily use include fluoxetine (Reconcile), imepitoin (Pexion), Trazodone, clomipramine (Clomicalm), selegiline (Selgian) (Cromwell-Davis & Landsberg 2020). Some of these can take a while to become effective – often up to 8 weeks – so they are not a quick fix. But they can be extremely beneficial as a long term treatment when used alongside a behaviour modification plan.
When can anti anxiety meds for dogs be used?
Your behaviourist and vet will consider the following factors:
- Is the trigger that is causing anxiety is unavoidable or unpredictable?
- Is the dog’s response is disproportionate to the trigger?
- Is the dog’s quality of life starting to be affected?
- Is the dog’s bond with the owner started to be affected?
- Will the anxiety medication help with behaviour modification?
As a behaviourist working only on vet referral, (as all good behaviourists should), we are able to discuss anxiety medication with your dog’s vet to see if they think it would be beneficial. We have a detailed knowledge of different behaviour medications and can send vets further information about specific medications if needed. The final decision about whether medications should be used will always rest with your dog’s vet.
What is the purpose?
The purpose of anxiety medication, just as with people, is to help your dog to cope with things that scare them or make them anxious, thus often increasing your dog’s quality of life. The brain chemistry of a dog that finds certain triggers or contexts scary is very different to that of a dog that can walk each day without feeling fear, and anxiety medications can change the brain chemistry to help dogs to feel happier. For instance, if your dog is so scared of people, dogs or traffic on walks that they need to bark and lunge to try to keep them away, and nothing you do can interrupt that behaviour, then anxiety medication could help to lower their anxiety. This, in turn, will lower their arousal and decrease the intensity and frequency of their reaction. They are then more able to listen to you, which means that you will be able to train them much more easily. Similarly, anxiety medication can significantly improve the quality of life of a sound sensitive collie who is constantly anxious about everyday noises, such as collies that live in cities or regularly encounter aircraft or bird scarers. The same applies for dogs that panic when left alone, or spend a lot of their time chasing their tails, chasing shadows or snapping at flies. The medications help to address this panic, calming dogs and making training easier.
It’s important to recognise the difference between severe behaviour problems and those that have training issues, e.g. dogs that jump up strangers when excited, or dogs that won’t recall. These are training issues and anxiety medications are unlikely to help. (Although in some circumstances these things may be caused by an underlying anxiety that a behaviourist can identify).
Can we just work on the behaviour plan?
Just working on the behaviour plan can help. However, if your dog is so over aroused that they can’t focus on anything other than the trigger and they literally can’t hear you because their brain is screaming “danger”, then it is going to be very difficult to make progress.
Behaviour plans can only work if you can find a relaxed starting point for your dog, where they can listen to you and learn. If your dog is panicking, they can’t learn. This may involve getting far enough away from a trigger to reach a relaxed starting point. In many situations this is very difficult, such as when collies live in cities and can hear traffic all around them, or when shadows are present every day. Even if you avoid your dog’s triggers and invest time in training, working on a training plan alone is going to take a lot longer than working on the training plan with your dog on anxiety medication – usually months or years longer, not just a few weeks.
The other point to note is that the more a dog practises a behaviour, the more they will continue to practise the behaviour. It becomes their natural way of responding in specific contexts. So preventing them from practising the behaviour is absolutely crucial, and behaviour medication can help significantly.
Properly used, medication can help in the following ways:
- Keep your dog under threshold for an aggressive or fearful response
- Reduce the frequency and intensity of the behaviour
- Make it easier to distract or redirect your dog if they do react
- Make it easier to prevent them from practising the behaviour
The effect of long term stress
It’s very important to consider not only the side effects of the medication: the potential effects of being subjected to long term stress are much worse. Dogs’ bodies are not built to cope with persistent stress and can lead to the following physical diseases:
- Circulatory disease including high blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Gastrointestinal disease – gastric ulcers
- Appetite changes (increase or decrease)
- A decrease in reproductive fitness
Dogs that are permanently stressed are not happy and often have a poor quality of life. They can easily become depressed, it can cause an increase in other behavioural problems which can cause a breakdown in their relationship with their owner.
Common Concerns
Owners can be very worried about how the medication may change their dog’s personality, or sedate them. Here are some of the questions owners often ask:
Is it safe?
Commonly used anxiety medications have been used for dogs since the 1990’s. There are many scientific studies looking at the use of these medications in dogs and they are very well tolerated. For most owners living with anxious, fearful dogs, they just want their pets to be happy, and if these medications were not safe, vets would not prescribe them.
For example, a paper published in 2015 (Camps et. al., 2015) concluded that “the use of fluoxetine in dogs is safe, and does not seem to change any parameter that could (negatively) affect the behaviour of the animal”.
Will it change my dog’s personality?
Anti anxiety meds for dogs should not change their personality. It will just help them to experience life with less panic and fear. Your dog’s response while on the medication will be monitored and reducing the dose or trying a different medication can be reverse or limit any effects.
What are the side effects?
All medications have side effects. The goal is NOT to sedate the dog. The goal is to make them less fearful and more able to enjoy life. Side effects of the different medications vary, but can include reduction in appetite, nausea or vomiting, which usually resolves within a couple of weeks. Sometimes they can cause sleepiness, but often this is due to dogs being more relaxed and more able to sleep as opposed to being on edge all the time. In very rare cases, they can result in a seizure, or there can be an increase in aggression but this is so rare that most behaviourists have never seen this happen. Remember that if there are any side effects, we can always take the dog off the medication.
This article lists some of the more common side effects.
How long will my dog need to be on it?
This can depend on the individual, but as a rough guide, many of the medications can take up to 8 weeks to take full effect. We would be looking for a maintained improvement in the behaviour, that both the owner and the dog are happy with, for 3-4 months, then could start to wean off. So your dog is likely to be on the medication for a minimum of 6 months, quite often up to a year.
The aim is that we take advantage of the medication to lower the dog’s arousal and use this window of opportunity to teach the dog new behaviours and ways of coping when they encounter their triggers. When they are weaned off, these new behaviours remain and the old behaviours do not re-appear, which is usually the case. A few dogs will relapse every time they are weaned off, so may need to be on fluoxetine for their whole lives, but once owners see what a difference it makes to their dog’s quality of life, they are happy to continue.
What can I expect to see in the first few weeks?
Your dog may be a little more sleepy and in some cases their appetite may be reduced. This usually resolves very quickly. If your dog continues to be sleepy then this could be because they are more relaxed and not as anxious or restless. Other than this, there are usually no other side effects. Most owners start to see an improvement in their dog’s ability to cope within the first week and these improvements continue to develop through the first couple of months.
Anti anxiety meds are not a quick fix!
It’s very important to remember that, despite all their benefits, anti anxiety medication is not a quick fix for your dog’s issues. They need to be accompanied by a good behaviour modification plan from a behaviourist. This plan will use the window of lowered anxiety while your dog is on the meds to start to build new behaviours when your dog encounters the things that make him anxious. The new behaviours will become so well practised that when we start to wean the dog off the medication, the new behaviours remain and the old behaviours are not resumed.
For example, if a dog is aggressive towards other dogs, the aim will be to teach him to look at the another dog and then look back at his owner, rather than barking and lunging. We will teach him that this is a safer and highly rewarding way to interact with other dogs, so that when we start to wean him off the medication, the new behaviour remains and he doesn’t go back to his old ways.
Conclusion:
Anti anxiety meds for dogs are a safe, effective solution for dogs with severe behaviour problems, such as aggression, severe anxiety, phobias, and compulsive behaviours. They can significantly increase a dog’s quality of life and improve your relationship with your dog as well as help to resolve problem behaviours. I have sometimes seen owners refuse to use medication until the relationship had become so bad that they are considering rehoming their dogs, which is heartbreaking for everyone concerned.
Refusing to give your dog anti anxiety meds when they are clearly needed can be doing your dog a disservice. Writing a list of pros and cons can sometimes be helpful, comparing your concerns against the potential benefits for your dog.
Also think about what your dog would choose. Would they want to continue to be fearful or anxious every day with all the risks that long term stress can bring, or would they ask to give anxiety meds a try? Would they want to spend their day getting frustrated and over-aroused by watching shadows or chasing their tail, which can potentially cause physical issues? Or would they prefer to be able to relax and get involved in family activities?
It’s also important to realise that you can always just give the meds a try. If you are not happy with what’s happening then you can always take your dog off them again. Most people that try them continue to use them when they see the improvements.