valium for separation anxiey in dogs?

Question

hi, my vet recently prescribed valium for my dog's severe separation anxiety. I wondered if anybody else had experience with valium (diazepam) with their dog. how will she react? i'm a little worried. thanks, adam

hi, thanks all for the quick responses. i should have included some more info first off. by sever I meant she was at risk of injuring herself with destructuve behavior like running into the crate and destroying lots of property. i tried an herbal calming agent, but it didn't make much of a dent. i take her running, sometimes twice a day and she's so amazing when i'm around. i got her from the pound and think she was severely neglected before. i'm wondering how bad the valium will be. i'm staring up with a behaviorist today as well. thanks again, adam

Answer 1

Check out the dog whisperer on National Geographic; www.nationalgeographic.com/channel/dogwhisperer - it is an easy , quick fix on your vet's part to sedate the dog; is that really helping your dog in the long run, or lining his pockets with money with each and every refill. You should want to ease this anxiety and that can come with training; I am not sure how your pet is acting during this time, but with brief intervals and returns , repetitive over and over can ease your dog's anxiety and stress; stimulation toys , treat balls, challenges and rotating the items can distract for a time; also, exercise so a tired dog is a less anxious dog; the dog whisperer has the owner take the dog on long walks with a dog back pack carrying bottle water to give the dog a sense of a job while walking and carrying the bag; can you have someone come and let the dog out during the day; with consistent training and some of these other techniques you can ease anxiety; if you aren't getting the answers from this vet, perhaps you can find one you assists more than pushing pills; your vet's goal in treatment should be to alleviate your dog's stress not simply medication.

If a dog (including boxers and I have 2 and raised several litters) are tearing everything up - they need stimulation and good exercise. Good Luck!

P.S. to the boxer owner , boxers are so very smart as demonstrated; exercise them ; they are a muscular animal and need to be able to run run run like crazy; if you don't have a fenced in yard , take them to a tennis court at a local school , close the gate and let them burn burn burn off steam. Boxers are social animals and need to be a part of a family and like to be included in everything

Answer 2

Valium For Dog Anxiety

Answer 3

Call vet anyways. Even if a vet is closed, doesn't mean that there are no emergency services offered. You need to find the source if the pain so it can be resolved and properly treated. Both aspirin and diazepam have some pretty serious side effects especially when used together. If your dog has liver or kidney issues, using these drugs can easily cause death. You didn't say what dose of diazepam you are using.

Answer 4

Valium is certain to have the same effect on canines that it does on humans - sedation.
Your dog will calm down for sure, but diazapam is addictive, and its probably not good for dogs to go through chemical sedation on a routine basis. See if there isn't a psychotropic alternative which will relieve the stress without deadening the awareness.
Good luck!

Answer 5

1) don't take information from Cesar Milan seriously. He is very controversial and way off in his knowledge of dog behavior and brian functions.

Sepanx is a very serious behavior and greatly impacts quality of life. The only approved pharmacology for dogs is Clomipramine or Clomicalm which is an anti-depressant. It's a hit or miss. It usually take 8-12 weeks before the chemistry changes the dog's neurotransmitters.
Diazepam has been used and with some effect BUT pharmacology should always accompany a behavior modification program developed by a qualified and certifed behaviorist (PhD in behavior) or a certified behavior counselor.

Trainer referrals
www.iaabc.org
Animal Behavior Society: http://www.animalbehavior.org/ABSAppliedBehavior/caab-directory

www.sfspca.org


Dr. Karen Overall offers a lot of information on pharmacology and brain function.
http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00375.htm

http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00376.htm

do a search for separation anxiety: http://www.dvmnewsmagazine.com/dvm/article/siteIndex.jsp

Answer 6

A dog should be trained on how to eat, walk with you, not to bark, potty training and sleep on its place etc. You can teach anything to your puppy, dogs get trained easily with some good instructions. If you want some good training tips visit https://tr.im/xSjHF

If properly trained, they should also understand whistle and gesture equivalents for all the relevant commands, e.g. short whistle or finger raised sit, long whistle or flat hand lay down, and so on.

It's important that they also get gestures and whistles as voice may not be sufficient over long distances and under certain circumstances.

Answer 7

First Debbie, I am hoping you do not own any animals, and if you do, you deserve to do some jail time for cruelty to animals.
I have two Boxers, and the female has wicked seperation anxiety, when we leave, I have to tatally clear everything she can and will chew out of the rooms, and close all the doors, turn the tv on, and hope everything is in one piece, when we get home. We bought a crate, and twice have put her in it, came home both times, to hair all over the crate, her teeth and gums, swollen and bleeding, her nails worn down and jagged, so we scrapped that idea.
So when we go to the vet next, I too am going to ask him for something to help get her thru. We usually try to take the dogs whenever possible, just makes life a whole lot easier for them and us.

Answer 8

My dog was crazy when I first adopted her too. I thought that perhaps because she was found stray/abandoned this led to her severe seperation anxiety - but after consulting with two trainers, I was told that these animals don't have to have been abused to have "ghosts in their head". My dog was crying like someone was stepping on her toes when I put her in the crate. Anytime I was out of her sight for a moment she screamed, I never heard anything like it. Quite litterally yelping for help. She tore up her blankets, pulled her crate cover through the bars and destroyed it, reached over and ate part of my duvet pulling it through the crate bars, even lost a tooth biting the crate itself. When I would return she would be shaking like a leaf almost to the point of making herself sick even if I left the room for 2 minutes. I made the mistake ONCE of enclosing her in my room instead of in her crate, I was gone 2 hours and returned to torn up carpet and destroyed minilblinds. This was 1.5 months ago.

I wrote to Ed Frawley at http://www.leerburg.com because I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to drug my dog. I gave him the sob story about... oh I think someone was mean to her before... he said nope, may just be her disposition, you need to be a pack leader and reinforce that the crate is a good thing. His advice was to LEAVE MY DOG IN THE CRATE 24/7. When I was home, in the crate, when I was gone, in the crate. The only interaction I was to have with my dog was to put her on a leash and take her outside where we could walk/play whatever, but still on the leash (thus teaching her that I control her every move).

It wasn't easy. I would move her crate from the bedroom to the livingroom depending on where I was in the house (bedroom at night, livingroom during the day/evening) and I went about my normal routine. She would cry and yelp and I had to ignore it. I kept a can of treats ontop of her crate and when she wasn't acting like an idiot, I would drop a treat into her crate. She ONLY got these special snacks when in her crate. I also fed her in her crate.

It took 2 weeks for my dog to totally and thoroughly change her behavior 100%. Now she crates on command, she even crates voluntarily when she's had enough of everyone else that's running around here. No longer does she cry when I leave the room, in fact, she's now crated for the duration of my business day (8 hours) without issue (I walk her mid-day) so I don't have to keep her crated when I'm home anymore. This is a 1yo female Jack Russell/Westie mix and she is very opinionated and stubborn.

Before I began this intense training, I also adopted a companion for her from the pound. This animal was never given the opportunity to learn seperation anxiety, she was lucky enough to start in my home the same time the intense training began. She got her own crate and she too learned quite quickly that making noise wasn't going to get her anywhere. She too chooses her crate voluntarily to sleep/rest, get away from the other dog/cats. She's a 3yo female Chihuahua/Italian Greyhound mix.

It can be done, your dog has the ability to change if you do. Good luck!

Answer 9

You should be worried it is addicting.

I would try an herbal product first. Something to calm him but not knock him over. I like rescue remedy. I foster pyrs a lot that have "issues"

Answer 10

Let the dog outside...take it for a walk...get another dog..you pet lovers are rediculous with the money you spend on animals..and also why worry about a spoiled pet having anxiety...if he tears something up...beat his butt.confine the animal to one area where he can't destroy anything..
REPEAT AFTER ME....IT"S ONLY A DOG....IT'S ONLY A DOG.