Can dogs anxiety improve with vet prescribed medication?

[southwestadopter]

We rescued a jack russel just over a year ago and have made significant improvements with his behaviour and certain anxieties. He is now 2.5 years old

He used to bark people out of our house whereas now we have the opposite problem where he will bark at people for their attention and only stop once they are stroking him and showing him love.

We think that this is still a symptom of his anxiety. In general he is a very anxious little dog that will bark when the door goes, bark if he hears noise outside, anxious of other dogs and people when on his lead (fine and friendly off lead) and we cannot leave him alone as he suffers terrible separation anxiety and will bark, cry and run around the whole time we are gone. He also doesn’t travel well in the car at all!

Despite these issues he is a very loving and clever dog who has become a central part of our family.

I wanted to know if anyone had ever seen improvements through vet prescribed medication long term? He has taken doses of trazodone when having to visit the vets but this never helped him.

We have already tried to improve his issues with behaviourists, collars, coats, thunder shirts, plug ins, cbd drops, and some herbal tablets and sprays such as yucalm from the likes of amazon, pets at home etc. but nothing has worked for the anxiety he still suffers.

My main worry is the constant stress and anxiety he has will affect his physical health long term and shorten his life expectancy. Selfishly, it would also be nice to be able to leave him alone and content occasionally for a couple of hours without sorting a sitter etc.!

If trazadone doesn’t work you’re looking at a vet behaviourist to prescribe so you could see a difference, but best to speak to one your vet can refer you.

some insurance covers behavioural stuff, ours helpfully didn’t as it’s expensive. I also have a barker bigger dog though and it’s loud shame for them.

It is possible that medication prescribed by a veterinarian could help your dog's anxiety issues. Medications like fluoxetine and alprazolam have shown to be effective in reducing anxiety in dogs. However, it is important to note that medication should always be used in conjunction with behavioral modification techniques and never as a sole treatment. I would recommend visiting your veterinarian for a thorough evaluation and to discuss the best course of treatment for your dog. Keep in mind that each dog is unique and may respond differently to different treatments, so it may take some time and experimentation to find what works best for your pet.

My dog is 11 and I have had the same issues since day 1 … I have tried everything you listed and spent thousands . It’s nice to see a fellow dog owner who is willing to put in the effort to help their dog overcome anxiety .

I tried medication with my dog a few years ago , clomicalm . It didn’t make any difference at all. The only thing that helps is a bark collar , not so much to quieten him but it stops him escalating and driving himself insane . Left alone without the collar he will bark for hours non stop , wee, poo, pace the room , try to escape .. basically he is mental. With the collar he knows he can’t bark so it stops him wearing himself out barking and he actually lies down to sleep.

I used it alongside a very good behaviourist who made sure it was a proper collar and that the dog understood it . Some of the cheaper ones are awful! I don’t even switch mine on when he wears it now as he knows that the collar being on means no barking.