3 months of Fluoxetine - a completely new dog

[crystalplant]

It's been around three months on Fluoxetine, and holy hell the difference is insane. Our dog is a rescue with a traumatic past, and has anxiety-based reactivity towards strangers - especially towards tall men. We've already noticed that she's more attentive, less barky, and overall way less reactive. And this improvement is alongside lots of behavior modification work. But yesterday she blew my mind.

We went to a friend's Thanksgiving. Thinking it'd be a small gathering, we decided to take our dog because she's gotten good at handling small groups. It turned out to be like 15 people crowded in a small apartment, with lots of tall men.

I kid you not, she did not react to a single person.

Some of this was just handling the situation well so I'm proud of my partner and I too cus we've also come a long way. My partner and I were on high alert making and stayed close to her the whole time making sure none of her trigger warners was showing. The few times she did look nervous or uncomfortable - we would step in and take her to a less crowded space, and comfort her with treats and pets. There was also another dog there which I think really helped the situation as a distraction and also she tends to trust people more if they already have the seal of approval from another dog. She also was constantly checking in with us through the night - if a person was scary, she would look at me, I would reassure her with a treat, and then she'd either relax and say hi to the person or come hang out with me. It was insanely cool to see her processing everything in her head. It's like the Fluoxetine had cleared up space in her head that was being used to be afraid and now applied it to our behavior modification work.

For any fear-based reactivity, I highly recommend seeing a behaviorist and trying medication, because the combo has been incredible.

 

[zakknight]

@crystalplant That’s so great! Just wanted to voice my support too! I see and talk to so many people that are averse to anti-anxiety medication for their dog. And ya, it shouldn’t be the first thing you try, and it’s not a silver bullet that fixes everything, but holy shit it’s amazing.

My dog has had a similar experience with fluoxetine. His training and counter-conditioning are so much easier and more effective now that he’s not constantly on edge, so it’s a compounding effect that keeps paying dividends. He was noticeably calmer after ~4 weeks, but now he’s been on it for ~8 months and it just keeps getting better!

 

[thelightshow]

@zakknight Is the plan to wean off the medication as your training progresses or is a a life long type thing?

 

[zakknight]

@thelightshow Not sure yet. I’d love to wean off eventually, but I’m not too worried about it right now. If he does need to be on it the rest of his life, that’s fine. As I understand it, lots of dogs stay on for their whole life and lots wean off eventually.

I can clearly see how much it improves his quality of life. We’ve had occasions where the vet was slow filling his prescription so he was without it for a week or more, and in those cases his behavior was so erratic and he was constantly on edge again. For that reason, I’m in no rush.

 

[thelightshow]

@zakknight Thanks! I'm on the fence! Mine is only 8 months so I may wait a bit. And he's fine at home etc. Just reactive out walking, so my hope wouls be I could train over time and not need it as much!

 

[devorgilla]

@crystalplant I’m so happy for all of you. And this

she tends to trust people more if they already have the seal of approval from another dog

is just so wholesome.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@crystalplant If you don't mind my asking, how big is your dog and what's the dosage? Our dog is 80 pounds and used to take 40 mg, then we reduced her to 20... and it's like she might as well not be taking it at all. She has zero anxiety around strangers, but a ton around other dogs and loud trucks/traffic.

Also, are you working with a behaviorist or is there a program you're using?

 

[zakknight]

@imagebeastmarkbeast The recommended dosage range is 0.5-0.9 mg per pound of body weight per day I believe. So for an 80 pound dog, 20mg is way below the recommend range. Obviously defer to the vet when it comes to dosages, but it may be worth bringing up to adjust her dosage.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@zakknight Thanks, yeah.. this thread and a few others I've read are helping me understand I need to have a conversation about dosage and possible alternatives.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

Also, thank you, TripleSecretSquirrel, for reminding me of my manners. Sorry to start out about us/me - it's been rough - but wanted to recognize that your story, and OPs, are awesome. Thanks for sharing the hope and progress.

 

[zakknight]

@imagebeastmarkbeast No worries, that’s what the sub is here for, to help people and dogs!

 

[berke]

@imagebeastmarkbeast To give you another data point, we recently started our 55lb dog on 20 mg/day. Our vet said it was technically below therapeutic range but right on the edge and we decided to start there rather going straight to 30 (next available pill at our vet). We might up the dosage in a few months.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@berke Thanks for sharing.

 

[mudpuddle]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Not OP, but we've also had great experiences overall with this drug. Our boy is about 37lbs-ish, and he's on 30mg. He started at 20 and we bumped it up after a few weeks. With fluoxetine, his threshold is much lower and he recovers from going over threshold much faster, so we're able to actually train. Before the drug, he would be so intense and anxious he couldn't take treats or focus at all to learn. I use a clicker and high value treats on walks, and reward when he disengages from anything interesting - people, dogs, deer, squirrels, whatever floats his boat. He's not perfect but he is so much more manageable.

 

[chillguy]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Another data point - I adopted a 60lb dog who was taking 60mg of fluxotine a day. He was in a board and train program when we adopted so they started him on it to help with training and also so he could cope with being so close to other dogs. Once we had him for a couple months the vet had us try tapering down his dose. He was a different dog ( in all the wrong ways ) when he was off. We’ve kept him on 40mg a day for 3+ years. That seems to be the sweet spot for him. No negative side effects and he’s happy and full of energy, but not stressed and anxious.

 

[ccampbell]

@imagebeastmarkbeast I’ve just started my 55 pound dog on 40mg since the behaviourist prefers to start on the higher end then reduce instead of the opposite. So yeah, 20mg for an 80 pound dog seems way low.

 

[crystalplant]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Hi late to responding to this thread, but my dog is 25 lb and is on 20 mg!

And yes I am working with a CERTIFIED behaviorist - lots of people out there who say they are behaviorists but have no certifications lol. I've also studied the book Click to Calm and used a lot of her methods. It's a really helpful guide to Positive Reinforcement (R+) training. Another great resource (which is the methodology our behaviorist uses) is the book Meet Your Dog - the method in the book is called L.E.G.S. which looks at four different factors that may contribute to your dog's behavior.

Learning = You're dog's past experiences and education

Environment - What's happening in your dog's external world?

Genetics - Your dog's DNA

Self - What's going on in your dog's interior world (i.e. health, age, development, gender,)

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@crystalplant Hi! Thank you for your response!

 

[jessica898]

@imagebeastmarkbeast My dog is 90lbs, he started on 64mg and I did notice some improvement but after 2 ish months the reactivity hadn’t improved enough and we just upped it to 96mg. Hoping for improvement on this dose which is more appropriate for his weight.

 

[mikelanderson]

@crystalplant Great news! Just a caveat that he may act differently if the people were in your home.