Dog Lovers - What is a natural med for calming dog?

[sheryl]

Our 7 year old female yellow lab is a good and loving dog. She's just a little high strung around strangers.

 

We are going on vacation next week and I finally found someone to watch her, but this is a *NEW* dog sitter to her so she may be a little wired.

 

Are there any pills or anything that we can give her....or have the sitter mix in with her food to keep her calm? I know these things exist, but I'd rather not go to the vet for it, but find something that works over the counter.

 

Thanks.

[Parrothead]

Good Scotch? ;)

 

 

Sorry I couldn't resist. :tongue_smilie:

[Lara in Colo]

My SIL gives her high strung lab Pet-EZE, from Petsmart. She says they really help her dog get through the tough times (fireworks).

 

 

Lara

[Crissy]

My mom's vet recommended Calms Forte for her dogs. You can find it at most drug stores.

[sparrow]

Rescue Remedy?

 

 

ETA: I got it at Whole Foods.

[annlaura]

I give my dog benadryl for car trips. Regular, pink, 25mg, people benadryl. I did ask the vet for the dosing for her size. She is somewhere around 35lbs IIRC, and she gets 1 1/2 pills. It doesn't knock her out by any stretch of the imagination, but it does seem to take the edge off. I know a number of people who swear by Bach Rescue Remedy. There is one specifically for pets, but many people give the human version. There is some debate about it due to the alcohol content.

[StephanieZ]

Nope, there are no good drugs on such short order. Not even from the vet. (Dh is a vet & we have a dog like that. Trust me, we've tried everything.) There are some drug options, but you'd need a while to work with the vet to try options, and they don't always work, and are relatively pricey.

 

The only good thing we've found is the thundershirt. They are sold at thundershirt.com or at some retailers, some vets. Call thundershirt and see if there is a retailer near you, or buy one online ASAP and have it fedexed. We LOVE it. Totally safe. Works right away. Very easy. Doesn't work for every dog, but helps most and is miraculous for many.

 

There is also DAP -- in a diffuser and/or spray. It is a pheremone thing and helps SOME dogs, but not all. You can probably find it at petco or similar.

 

HTH

[plansrme]

My SIL gives her high strung lab Pet-EZE, from Petsmart. She says they really help her dog get through the tough times (fireworks).

 

 

Lara

 

YES! THIS! My 14 year old golden has, over the past year or so, developed what we assume is age-related anxiety. He licked himself to the point that his skin was raw (there are no fleas, no underlying skin condition), he would try to dig holes in the rugs, he panted, and he paced at night. He is an inside dog, and it was driving us crazy. A co-worker suggested Pet-EZE. I went right to Petsmart and got some, and it worked. It stopped the licking, "digging" and all of the other weird behaviors.

 

We did not have to use the full dose specified on the bottle. There are several different manufacturers with similar-sounding names. They may all work the same, but the one we have is a liquid that comes in a squirt bottle. It also comes in a liver-flavored tablet.

 

Terri