Mine has a lot of anxiety issues and my holistic herbalist told me that the negotiable amount of CBD in " treats" rendered them virtually ineffective. He primarily recommends pure CBD oil for epilepsy and as an appetite stimulant and seen has seen mixed results for anxiety. However it's high-fat content exacerbates Kirby's colitis.

I have no advice, but am so sorry for this struggle. You are wonderful for taking in a special needs dog. I hope there are some good possibilities out there for your dog.

I remember this lady that was very active at a past discussion board that I used to visit, she was a vet tech. She swore that those plus in things really worked. I cannot remember what they are called but I'm sure you can google search for them. They are made to calm dogs, you plug them in and they emit something that soothes them. She had a dog that had anxieties too and used them for him and it helped a lot.

I believe this is what she used. Here is an article.

My DIL used CBD oil for their older dog. It helped with her mobility issues. I can’t speak to its effectiveness regarding anxiety.

2pups, please let me know the actual brand that your daughter uses, thanks.

Neets, yes that is what I am hearing about the Trazadone. Why not start naturally first, then possibly go there? Please let me know the brand she uses. I am not aware of a natural pet store near me, but I will google.

All supplements are not alike as we all know. One example is Glucosamine. I started using it myself after giving it to my elderly Golden. It absolutely worked for her, as you saw results.

A neighbor tried a cheaper brand and it did nothing. I suggested the Nutramax and we saw an improvement. Dog can't lie!

eld bless your heart (and I mean that truly not sarcastically) for taking on your daughter's dog and trying to help him. We just never know, with rescues especially, what goes through their minds and causes the anxiety.

I have no recommendations but was going to post recently as our dog has anxiety issues when our kids visit. We have a very calm, quiet house and she's fine until they visit. It was 3 weeks of her constantly on alert, trying to figure out who is where and which direction they are moving so she can get away. Our kids were living with us when we adopted her and it's been this way from day 1. She finally warmed up to DS2 (who is slower moving and calmer) but DS1 and DIL send her into a panic - add in an unpredictable, walking 1 year old who can scream with delight or frustration at any moment and you can imagine what those 3 weeks were like! I feel badly for you because what you're dealing with is not situational and part of your day to day. I understand what you are saying about it not being a training issue but are you able to relate it to anything specific? For example,, our previous dog, a Katrina rescue, was terrified of cameras, ladders, laundry being folded (!!??) and a few other things so we did our best to limit his exposure. Is your dog on high alert at all time or how exactly does the anxiety manifest?

If you are going to use CBD oil, you might try the pills, which are less expensive than the treats. I have given dogs Canna-Pet. But honestly, I have not seen an effect, and of course the dog can't tell you.

I know you want to go holistic, but there is also Prozac, and, depending on what the dog's issue is, Xanax. I work with a dog rescue, and we saved a dog's life by getting her on the right meds. The poor dog was terrified of every noise she heard. Prozac wasn't working, but Xanax calmed her enough to give her a reasonable life. She was adopted by wonderful people.

Several years ago, I was e-mailing with a local dog behaviorist and she described the mental torment that some dogs have from issues such as separation anxiety. She made a believer out of me that sometimes drugs are in the best interest of a dog.

eld, I’ll check on the brand. Not sure if it’s hemp based or mj based - they live in Colorado and since the laws are different from state to state, access to certain brands may be limited.

I feel for you. My yorkie came to me before she was a year old and had been with four owners before I got her. She hated everyone but me and my neighbor. It was miserable and I often thought about giving up. But I just couldn’t. She’s going on 15 now and has lost most of her pi$$ and vinegar.

I still use low doses of Trazadone for the groomer, but it’s a pretty hard core doggie downer.

Have you talked to the vet about Fluoxetine? It’s more like Prozac and probably better for long term use. My last dog had some separation anxiety and I used it with her for a while with good results.

DLM, it seems that some of the issues are getting worse and others just starting.

I can deal with the anxiety over thunder/lightening. This is new. If need be, we let him sleep with us to calm him down. We don't get these too often so this is a none issue. Just odd.

He has leash aggression and I have to keep him away from other dogs. Today though while out walking in the park, a jogger ran by and he barked and lunged. So, sometimes people can trigger his anxiety. I know part is that he goes into protective mode so I need to watch my body language i.e. pulling the leash to tightly.

1929, he has also developed some anxiety when we leave him alone. This too is relatively new.

What is disheartening is that he is in a loving home for 6 years now. I often tell him to "get over it already!"

ETA: DD now has a rescue Chihuahua, this one has issues but is sweet and not aggressive.

Along the same lines as the plug-in pheromone linked above, you could try an Adaptil collar. It releases calming pheromones that mimic those produced by a mother dog towards her puppies. It doesn’t work for all dogs but it’s relatively inexpensive through Amazon, etc. , so maybe worth a try. It lasts about 4-5 weeks, and takes a couple of days on the dog to start seeing an effect. Good luck.

https://www.adaptil.com/us/Products/ADAPTIL-comforting-messages

My dog was on Trazadone for almost a year. It really didn't make much of a difference. Same issues in general as you have seen: aggression towards other dogs, very clingy to me and a general nervousness (we described her as being like a buzzing high tension wire.) I think what has helped was me seeing the world through her eyes. Generally I avoid other leashed dogs and ignore (don't reward) the clingyness. If she wants my attention, she has to chill. And then she gets it. She has never shown aggression towards people (although, as a herding breed (border, aussie, pit) she does focus on peoples feet). If you find the name of the CBD oil, I'd love to know it.

Jojo, you are now the second person that does not recommend it.

Here is my problem. We will be going to a place where my dog needs to not stand out. If these plans were not in the works, I pretty much do as you do.

Mine is not continuously nervous. He lounges comfortably most of the time. He will get hysterical when people with dogs walk by our house. I don't understand how he can sense they are outside and not close to the house!

Right now I received an email on what to look for, what to avoid. A free pamphlet that I just downloaded. But, unfortunately it doesn't recommend the product(s) you should buy.

It's a lot of detailed information and I am going to print it out and let DD (the one who got us into this "mess') look at it and help with the research.

When I adopted our shep mix she was crazy. The first trainer I used suggested Composure by VetriScience Laboratories. Not really sure if it made a difference as the dog was young and very crazy, so even slightly calmed down was still pretty crazy!

Honestly, what changed most of her behavior was finding the right trainer and method.

That said, I still have 3 sealed packs of the Composure (60 chews each). Send me a PM and they are yours. I am just not going near a post office days before Christmas, so I wouldn't mail them out till the following week!

If this is new, it may be behavioral. Look at how you’re reacting to the behavior. Dogs can pick up on negative reinforcement pretty easily if they get what they want. Ask me how I know....

Chispa thanks. I think I want to try the CBD route. I have worked with three different trainers with three different approaches and i have basically kept what worked from each. Trust me, all of these things cannot train out aggressive/anxious behavior that is erratic.

1929, no this is not really new. Just the thunder/lightening. His behavior is always and and has alway been questionable. You just don't know.

As I mentioned in Jojo's post, I need to have my dog calm for a new environment that we will be heading to. Otherwise, I would just keep things status quo.

Trazado has a high safety factor and can be amazingly effective in dogs and cats, but just like any drug, any given animal or person may react differently. It's safe enough there's no real risk in trying it at some point....but for more natural things to try, Adaptil plug in and collar, and google Zylkene supplement. It's made from a substance naturally occurring in milk and has some real credentials.

DEbrak, do you mean Trazadone? Two people I know have said this just doesn't work and is not worth the effort.

I am off to google the other two.

You have probably tried this already, but I would suggest a thundershirt. Our 14 year old Aussie has always tended toward mild anxiety since we adopted him at age 4. Recently, he developed some episodic confusion, probably age-related. We put his thunder shirt on him, and he immediately calmed down. He now wears it all the time, and won’t even let us near the Velcro to remove it. I know its effectiveness is dog-specific, but when it works, it’s great.

Our neighbor's dog is on Prozac.

So is my vet's dog. They start off with Trazadone.

I have a Thundershirt sized for my lab I will send you if you want to try one. She started getting phobic about fireworks and we had neighbors who would shoot off big aerial displays that rattled our windows and shook the house. It was kind of too little too late by that point and we have found other things that have helped more. Neighbors moved too, so we only have the distant fireworks for the most part and seem to be able to limit the valium to a half dose on the 4th and NYE. Anyway, we aren't using the Thundershirt now and if it could help, I'd be happy to send it to you.

We also use Composure chews. In our case, I give them to the dogs for a day or two before the main fireworks holiday and a day or two after -- mainly to catch the folks who set them off for days. They do seem to help, but that alone is not enough.

I also started using Hemp and Hips supplement chews after a co-worker was raving about a hemp supplement when she was talking with my DH. I researched them and decided to try this less expensive one first. We gave it to both dogs -- the lab to see if it helped with anxiety and general energy (she was 12) and the border collie for arthritis/joint support. It made a quick difference in both dogs, but we have backed off giving them to the lab on a regular basis because of other health issues.

One thing I will tell you is that you can give a dog too much. After seeing how the dogs responded, DH bought a bag of hemp hearts at Costco. He used them regularly for a while and then stopped. I thought I might use some in the dog treats I make and then not have to buy the supplements. What I didn't stop to think about was dosing -- or the fact that with the boys home this summer, my brown-eyed beggar was getting an uncontrolled and increased dosing. We went through a couple thousand dollars in vet bills when she had accidents inside the house but didn't have a UTI. The docs were telling us she needed this test and then that one -- did an ultrasound looking for cancer, blood panels and specific tests. Something wasn't sitting right with me -- and I don't think the vets believe me, but I researched it and found that a high amount of hemp can cause incontinence. Back off the hemp though and things return to normal. It's worth trying -- and we're still using it, but with more awareness.

I will also tell you that I realized that my lab got worse about fireworks after I got upset about the shaking windows and the fact that they were concerning the dogs or the fact that we were getting the glowing embers from their fireworks coming down in our yard during the summer of our worst drought. By seeing me get upset about her being upset, I was reinforcing her fears and telling her there was a real threat to be upset about. I started looking at ways to work on behavior modification and de sensitizing. Of course, that works best if you know what is causing her anxiety, but you can work on rewarding her for not losing it when she is starting to get anxious. I used distractions -- activity, TV on, training and giving her treats to give her positive things to associate with the c=sounds instead of all negative. It has helped a lot. We have gone from several days of having to medicate her in the evening to pretty much being able to use chews and treats and only having to use medication in a half dose once or twice each season.

Sorry this is so long. Hope something here is helpful.

We have a store locally called Healthy Dogma that specializes in canine suppliments and higher quality food & treat products for dogs. I’ve posted about the stomach problems my dog had numerous times and in the end, it was this guy’s suppliment, Tender Tummy that resolved her issues. He has a calming supplement as well and I’m guessing by it’s packaging that like our probiotic, it’s a powder you sprinkle on their food. The container may look small for the price but it lasts a long time. If you want holistic, this might be a good fit. Here’s the link to the site so you can see the ingredients and so on.

https://www.healthydogma.com/

Eled, bless you for doing your best by this dog.

We had a lab that had storm phobia. She could detect an incoming storm 20 miles away with great accuracy. She's start panting then shaking uncontrollably. Definitely anxiety attacks.

We gave her Xanax. Took us awhile to find the right dosage. She'd get 1/2 of a pill, and if necessary, the other half about 8 hours later. Kept her calm, but not too dopey.

We now have a Morkie that we give CDB oil too. It's for her joints, I've not noticed in any way that it "calms" her. (I do think it's helping her arthritis.)

Good luck to you!!

I called a local store and was surprised that they had the CBD oil from Colorado! The sales woman also spoke to me about my dog's diet. She recommended Open Farm or Go. She also said to stop with the milk bones. (I only told her my food's name brand, I guess she assumed and was right that I used milk bones as treats.)

Last night my dog was upset because of wind and rain.

It's terrible out there today, but I will going to this local store in a day or two to gather more info and probably buy the CBD oil.

I don't know any of them.

We have a rescued dog too, with pretty significant anxiety issues, mostly aimed at my husband (because the dad/husband in her previous home was abusive to her). It only happens once a month or so now, and it's hard to predict, because sometimes he can walk around holding a spatula and she doesn't react at all, and the last time, she jumped down from where she was sitting and grabbed his pant leg. It's very, very frightening and I feel like I have to be on high alert alllll the time. So I'm very empathetic.

What has worked:

At our vet's suggestion, we give Savannah sertraline 1x/day. I tried stopping it once without mentioning it to my DH, because I wanted someone to be able to objectively observe her. A few days after I stopped it, he said, "Wow, she's having a rough couple of days," which had been my conclusion too, so we restarted it and she's been on it ever since. I don't notice any negative side effects from it. Her outbursts with my DH have gone from a few times a week to less than once a month. When I see that she is starting to grow anxious, I utilize something a trainer taught me, and it works. Visualize a clock face. If your dog is becoming agitated, you might measure her behavior as being at a 2 on the clock, or a 4, whatever. Everything you do will either escalate (toward the higher numbers) or de-escalate (back down to lower numbers). Your goal is always to de-escalate. So gentle matter-of-fact, light voice talk, such as, "it's okay, it's okay," etc. You don't want to overdo it because that can become a reward for the dog (i.e. barking or growling results in lots of sweet talk and petting). So easy breezy, matter of fact, "let's move on" kind of approach. If you correct the dog, yell, speak loudly, clap, etc., you will reinforce the fear and escalate her behavior. This approach has worked well with Savannah. The outbursts with my husband are far fewer in number. The trainer suggested another technique: have your offending visitors frequently handfeed her treats. Again, don't make a huge deal. Just consistently have them offer her treats. It just works on the principle of association. Over time, she begins to have a positive association with that person.

What hasn't worked:

CBD -nope, nadda, nothing.

Calming supplements purchased at pet stores and Amazon.

Harmony from Front of the Pack, despite rave reviews. When I tried to post our disappointing experience with the product, I discovered you could only post a review with the approval of the vendor, which helped me understand why they were all glowing.

Thanks for the really good info, Bestyears. I suspect that the thread was bumped by a couple of spameditors, but thanks for your useful info.

I give my dog two pills---Trazodone and Gabapentin. This combination was prescribed by my vet.