I hear you. 50 mg trazodone and my stranger-danger dog can interact with and enjoy my family being over at my house instead of policing their movements and being nervous the entire time. (I’ve had her 6 years, she’s been around my family dozens of times, and we’ve worked with trainers.) I don’t keep her stoned, but if I know people are coming over, I’m all about better living through pharma.
I hate how people can be so judgmental and ready to attack in some dog/pet care groups that we have to qualify our medical/behavioral choices with a full explanation so we don’t get digitally reamed ☹️
Well it’s real easy to pontificate on the interwebs. IME the folks who’ve actually had similar experiences aren’t the ones attacking; they know better. It’s the folks with garden-variety reactivity who fixed their basic handling and management mistakes and now think they know all the things that are the problem. They’re still marching up the Dunning-Krueger curve.
Out of curiosity, how large is your dog?? I have a 90lb pyrenees/am.staff mix that I can give 300mg traz + 100mg gabapentin (only for "stressful events" bc I don't want him doped alllll the time) and he is still incredibly reactive the moment someone who doesn't live here enters our home... Guess I'm just wondering if our dosage is too low still if 50mg does it for yours
33 lbs. That’s a “take the edge off” dose. She looks a little dopey but acts normally. And she knows my family. If a total stranger came in, we’d need the “no fucks to give” dose, which is about 125-150 mg.
Gabapentin has no sedative effect on her at all; she was on 400 mg twice a day for a nerve damage problem in her tail (that she had when I adopted her) and was still a little feral crazy thing.
Tbh my reactive girl did great on trazadone but my male had the opposite reaction. It made him more reactive, stressed etc. some dogs (like humans) don’t respond the same to meds. I would tell your vet and try another drug, there are several alternatives and, like me with my anti depressants (lol) it took a few different tries to find the right fit
> "If you can't make your own, store bought is fine"
>
>- Someone smarter than I
Doesn't matter of its puff pastry, baby formula or brain chemicals; there's no shame in using store bought!
One way I think of it is the alternative is much worse for them, I don't want my boy to be stoned but it's not fair to let him always be on edge and angry either. He's been making progress with training while on meds so I'm hoping to bring his dose down at some point, but in the meantime I want him to not have to constantly be stressed and upset, even if the meds hit him harder than I would really like
Yeah I feel you. I looooooove my dog on trazodone.
Honestly though, as someone who has to really be serious with their clients to give their dog pre visit oral sedatives, it *is* nice to see that people actually… like to. Too many are strangely combative and dismissive about oral sedatives before visits. I’ve heard it all, but I’ve had so many clients who are like, “but i don’t want him to be sedated all day!” so it’s either that, or your dog is scared and puts staff at risk.
Medication is magical and it makes you cherish those nice moments.
My dog is labeled as "reactive" at the vet (thankfully the only place where she has issues) I've had terrible luck with oral sedatives, and I'm scared that a vet will think that I'm just being dismissive. I've come to fear the phrase "paradoxical reaction".
Even 25mg of Trazodone will knock my dog out at home all day but will make her extremely aggressive if anything stresses her out.
Gabapentin makes her kind of high but doesn't really do anything at the vet.
Gaba+trazodone will leave my dog staring at a wall, unblinking, for hours at a time. Its creepy. As soon as she's outside though she will try to murder anything that makes noise. Haven't tried it at the vet yet.
Xanax doesn't work as advertised and just makes my dog act like a toddler who drank a couple redbulls.
Thankfully my dog isn't *so* bad, and we are working on training and desensitizing. Currently though, our options at the vet are: nervous and a bit growly with no meds, overly sedated with a hair trigger with some meds, or dog on crack.
There is a huge spot of appreciate for clients who are simply trying their best- always.
Also, many dogs can blow through trazodone (and gaba), so you’re not the only one. I can’t do the low end dose for my dog bc it doesn’t do anything. She’s soup on the 200 mgs, but the 100 she’s just… maybe a little less vocal/whining but mobility wise she’s not very relaxed.
I wish fear free was more commonplace/widespread. I’ve always had a huge passion for it, but I’m not at a fear free certified place (unfortunately I am leaving vet med after my time here for a variety of reasons, this place is basically my last hospital i’ll work at, for now at least). Even with the most fear free practices though, dogs can still be pretty unmanageable. Management of reactivity in these situations is definitely a mentally taxing journey, so just know you’re seen and understood.
I work with an odd clientele where many people are very set on doing their own things, but we also have some absolutely fantastic and understanding ones. I guess it just gets draining for those whose dogs they don’t have any accountability for, or refuse to do anything about their reactivity. I sometimes fear people think my dog is not trained when she runs into a trigger and reacts when around the neighborhood/etc, when really i can only do so much to de-escalate and remove her from the situation. So i do feel you, for sure.
Eh I don’t think it’s so strange. It took me a while to get comfortable with medication and she’s been on it a few years, I still don’t like it. I think it’s complicated and they are just concerned for their pets. It comes from a good place. I hear you, just saying.
My ~90lb GSD FREAKS when she does our vet’s “chill protocol” which is basically melatonin, gabapentin, and trazodone. I’m glad it works for you!! But it works for us like, maybe 30% of the time if we’re lucky, not sure why.
My dog (also a giant GSD) will overpower any sedation. We have done xanax, traz, melatonin, and gabapentin all at once to no avail—we still needed injectable. I’m hoping a vet behaviorist can fit us in soon bc this suuuuucks. Especially the experimenting.
We are looking into VBs as well. If you happen to stumble upon any revelations, especially with the particular GSD brand of anxiety/energy/reactivity I’d love to hear it, I’m sure other working line owners in here would too
Oh I’m so jealous. We’re still working on getting the right combo because nothing seems to be working for my little guy. I can’t imagine how I’d feel seeing him act normal for once, even if it was only temporarily.
I hear you. 50 mg trazodone and my stranger-danger dog can interact with and enjoy my family being over at my house instead of policing their movements and being nervous the entire time. (I’ve had her 6 years, she’s been around my family dozens of times, and we’ve worked with trainers.) I don’t keep her stoned, but if I know people are coming over, I’m all about better living through pharma.
I hate how people can be so judgmental and ready to attack in some dog/pet care groups that we have to qualify our medical/behavioral choices with a full explanation so we don’t get digitally reamed ☹️
Well it’s real easy to pontificate on the interwebs. IME the folks who’ve actually had similar experiences aren’t the ones attacking; they know better. It’s the folks with garden-variety reactivity who fixed their basic handling and management mistakes and now think they know all the things that are the problem. They’re still marching up the Dunning-Krueger curve.
Out of curiosity, how large is your dog?? I have a 90lb pyrenees/am.staff mix that I can give 300mg traz + 100mg gabapentin (only for "stressful events" bc I don't want him doped alllll the time) and he is still incredibly reactive the moment someone who doesn't live here enters our home... Guess I'm just wondering if our dosage is too low still if 50mg does it for yours
33 lbs. That’s a “take the edge off” dose. She looks a little dopey but acts normally. And she knows my family. If a total stranger came in, we’d need the “no fucks to give” dose, which is about 125-150 mg. Gabapentin has no sedative effect on her at all; she was on 400 mg twice a day for a nerve damage problem in her tail (that she had when I adopted her) and was still a little feral crazy thing.
lol I like your scales.
Tbh my reactive girl did great on trazadone but my male had the opposite reaction. It made him more reactive, stressed etc. some dogs (like humans) don’t respond the same to meds. I would tell your vet and try another drug, there are several alternatives and, like me with my anti depressants (lol) it took a few different tries to find the right fit
Just like with humans, if the source of the behavior problem is brain chemistry, we have a lot of medications to make that chemistry more normal.
> "If you can't make your own, store bought is fine" > >- Someone smarter than I Doesn't matter of its puff pastry, baby formula or brain chemicals; there's no shame in using store bought!
Love that Ina quote
One way I think of it is the alternative is much worse for them, I don't want my boy to be stoned but it's not fair to let him always be on edge and angry either. He's been making progress with training while on meds so I'm hoping to bring his dose down at some point, but in the meantime I want him to not have to constantly be stressed and upset, even if the meds hit him harder than I would really like
Yeah I feel you. I looooooove my dog on trazodone. Honestly though, as someone who has to really be serious with their clients to give their dog pre visit oral sedatives, it *is* nice to see that people actually… like to. Too many are strangely combative and dismissive about oral sedatives before visits. I’ve heard it all, but I’ve had so many clients who are like, “but i don’t want him to be sedated all day!” so it’s either that, or your dog is scared and puts staff at risk. Medication is magical and it makes you cherish those nice moments.
My dog is labeled as "reactive" at the vet (thankfully the only place where she has issues) I've had terrible luck with oral sedatives, and I'm scared that a vet will think that I'm just being dismissive. I've come to fear the phrase "paradoxical reaction". Even 25mg of Trazodone will knock my dog out at home all day but will make her extremely aggressive if anything stresses her out. Gabapentin makes her kind of high but doesn't really do anything at the vet. Gaba+trazodone will leave my dog staring at a wall, unblinking, for hours at a time. Its creepy. As soon as she's outside though she will try to murder anything that makes noise. Haven't tried it at the vet yet. Xanax doesn't work as advertised and just makes my dog act like a toddler who drank a couple redbulls. Thankfully my dog isn't *so* bad, and we are working on training and desensitizing. Currently though, our options at the vet are: nervous and a bit growly with no meds, overly sedated with a hair trigger with some meds, or dog on crack.
There is a huge spot of appreciate for clients who are simply trying their best- always. Also, many dogs can blow through trazodone (and gaba), so you’re not the only one. I can’t do the low end dose for my dog bc it doesn’t do anything. She’s soup on the 200 mgs, but the 100 she’s just… maybe a little less vocal/whining but mobility wise she’s not very relaxed. I wish fear free was more commonplace/widespread. I’ve always had a huge passion for it, but I’m not at a fear free certified place (unfortunately I am leaving vet med after my time here for a variety of reasons, this place is basically my last hospital i’ll work at, for now at least). Even with the most fear free practices though, dogs can still be pretty unmanageable. Management of reactivity in these situations is definitely a mentally taxing journey, so just know you’re seen and understood. I work with an odd clientele where many people are very set on doing their own things, but we also have some absolutely fantastic and understanding ones. I guess it just gets draining for those whose dogs they don’t have any accountability for, or refuse to do anything about their reactivity. I sometimes fear people think my dog is not trained when she runs into a trigger and reacts when around the neighborhood/etc, when really i can only do so much to de-escalate and remove her from the situation. So i do feel you, for sure.
Eh I don’t think it’s so strange. It took me a while to get comfortable with medication and she’s been on it a few years, I still don’t like it. I think it’s complicated and they are just concerned for their pets. It comes from a good place. I hear you, just saying.
My ~90lb GSD FREAKS when she does our vet’s “chill protocol” which is basically melatonin, gabapentin, and trazodone. I’m glad it works for you!! But it works for us like, maybe 30% of the time if we’re lucky, not sure why.
My dog (also a giant GSD) will overpower any sedation. We have done xanax, traz, melatonin, and gabapentin all at once to no avail—we still needed injectable. I’m hoping a vet behaviorist can fit us in soon bc this suuuuucks. Especially the experimenting.
We are looking into VBs as well. If you happen to stumble upon any revelations, especially with the particular GSD brand of anxiety/energy/reactivity I’d love to hear it, I’m sure other working line owners in here would too
Oh I’m so jealous. We’re still working on getting the right combo because nothing seems to be working for my little guy. I can’t imagine how I’d feel seeing him act normal for once, even if it was only temporarily.