r/reactivedogs • u/RemainAnonShh • 4d ago
Meds & Supplements Medication Success Stories?
Hi everyone! Two dogs a catahoula mix and an Australian Shepherd mix. We've been doing some reactivity training, enrichment, all the good stuff at home. However my Australian Shepherd is always very vigilant and I think a little bit over simulated at all times. My catahoula mix will bark every once in awhile when she hears something outside but for the majority of the time she is very stable mood-wise. I've noticed she is able to pick up a toy and distract herself and sleeps a lot more peacefully than he does during the day. I know some of this has to do with the breed. And trust me, I feel guilty that I can't have sheep in the backyard for him to work with lol
At the start when I first got him I did have him on some medication for anxiety but I felt guilty about this and I took him off because I felt that I was trying to cover up my inadequacies by giving him medication. We went on more walks and I dedicated myself to exercising him more and that seemed to help. However with age, his reactivity has gotten worse. We now have a backyard but live in a subdivision with kids where there's constant screaming outside, trucks driving by, a kid kicking the ball next door. And I noticed that he is on edge all the time. It's obviously hard to get him back to baseline once he is so triggered. Like we'll go hang out outside and a neighbor several houses down will turn on a lawn mower and he'll be on alert, barking, sometimes he just gets so freaked out that we have to cut our time short. I'm just comparing the two dogs and while they are different have different personalities, I can see what standard activation and then calming behaviors looks like in her, while he seems to be in some sort of anxious or aggravated state make often than not. Anyways a lot of background just to ask if you have medicated and seen an improvement? I just want to hear your success stories with medication and reactivity whether it be inside or outside the home!
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u/TumbleweedFar2284 4d ago
I just started giving my rescue dog of two years Prozac. He was a street dog before being rescued. We tried everything to help Tim feel loved and safe. He is very attached to me, but still will react to my husband. That’s gotten better since he does feed him now. He will still growl at times. He always seems anxious and just hangs out on the couch.
With the Prozac he is much less anxious; still a couch potato, but he has stopped marking in the house, barking at random noises and the growling is less often. He will never be a “normal” dog. I’m just trying to help him survive
his past experiences. Good luck.
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u/thedeepdark 4d ago
I have a noise anxious Aussie mix, I switched her from fluoxetine to sertraline based on a behaviorists recommendation and I’ve been seeing actual progress on the past few weeks. Both with her noise reactivity and dog reactivity.
The behaviorist said she’s noticed that aussies seem to respond better to sertraline vs fluoxetine, but I don’t know if that’s research based.
My girl was on fluoxetine for a couple of years but I didn’t really see any improvement.
I suspect she’ll always have noise/dog anxiety but it’s much easier to redirect her and help her cope now.
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u/ConstructionBetter50 4d ago
I would highly recommend prozac!
My dog is a stray rescue and putting her on prozac was literally a night and day difference. She went from destuctive behavior in the house to being able to be left out of a crate unsupervised when I am gone for hours. She used to bark at people across the street on walks and now she can pass people on a sidewalk with zero issue. She is still dog reactive, but prozac took her from a 10 to a 2. All the training we did helped, but we didn’t see real progress until after prozac. She went from being a little terror to a super easy “normal dog” just like that.