|
Talk to me about CBD oil vs Prozac for an anxious and possessive-aggressive dog. Our girl is 3 and despite intensive socialization, frequent training classes, and constant work to navigate/improve her issues, we've come to the conclusion that she really just needs to chill out on some meds in addition to our continued work with trainers and at home. She has a pretty high level of baseline anxiety and is very much prone towards dominant behavior and possessive aggression. This is occasional guarding of stupid things like q-tips and other people trash (which we've almost entirely solved with a treat-for-trash trade policy) but its a lot more too. Showing aggression on walks when we meet other dogs if they're aggressive on leash or simply inquisitive off leash (thanks redneck neighbors) because she doesn't want anyone near us. But she does not strain or act out if the other dog is well behaved and at least 10ft away. She shows aggression towards my parents dog only if there are people present and he approaches/is given affection by anyone ("those are MY scritches".) Sometimes she shows aggression simply because we want her to do something she doesn't want to do. She loses her goddamned mind if someone knocks on the door and is incredibly wary of strangers. Sometimes she loses her mind over random sounds outside. A good way to describe her is "hypervigilant." She is treat motivated/play motivated up to a point. There are times when NOTHING at all is worth stopping doing the thing she wants to do. 99% of the time she is a good, polite dog who goes on polite walks and sleeps on the couch. If my husband and I walk her individually she is well behaved, rarely pulls on the leash. We've gotten her to stop lunging after squirrels and cats almost entirely with training. But bizarrely she's godawful on the leash if we're both walking her, I assume because she's excited. If something excites her/riles her up she completely forgets all of her training. It's like she knows what she's supposed to do but cannot calm down enough to do it. When she shows aggression to other dogs on leash it's a lot of jumping/snarling/barking. When my parents dog is involved its definitely her trying to dominate him and herd him, she'll growl and yip and snap at him but it's nothing like when she has an episode with a person. When she shows possessive aggression to myself or my husband there is rarely any warning (though we try and diffuse any situation if we think its about to head in that direction if we do get a sign from her). It's like for 5-15 seconds she becomes a demon dog, she charges, her eyes are wild, and she bites repeatedly at whatever part of you she can reach but does not break the skin. If you back off, she will follow you. Sometimes turning and walking away works but usually the attack is so sudden its over before you can process it. Afterward, she immediately goes back to normal and is very sweet and polite. She will come up and wag her tail and poke you with her nose for pets or lick your hand like "hooman why are you crying?" without seeming to understand she just went berserk. She will no longer show possession of whatever she was guarding. It sounds a lot like what people describe with "idiopathic aggression" but with her we feel like we can usually identify a trigger (trying to take something from her, her thinking we're trying to take something from her when we're not, or us trying to get her to do something she doesn't want to do). It's just frustrating because we used to have trouble with taking trash from her but basically never have that problem anymore (re: the trash for treat policy) and instead she's showing this sort of aggression in other possessive but not guarding situations like. She will go anywhere between 3-6 months between episodes of people focused aggression like this but has had two episodes in the last month. It happens vastly more often with men but has happened to me twice in 2.5 years. In that time likely 3 times that to my husband. She's a border collie/aussie mix and very high energy. She gets two 30min walks daily and lots and lots of fetch in addition to free time outside. I believe this is why she's good 99% of the time. But it hasn't addressed her underlying personality issues. We already adopted a "nothing is free" policy, she has to sit politely to go outside, eat, get a treat, have the ball thrown, etc. She only gets affection when she is behaving. We take treats on walks to distract her from roaming dogs and cats and also for good behavior. We've exhausted just about everything other than medication. For us this is important beyond her behavior being inconvenient, we feel like her hypervigilance, anxiety, and aggression is frankly exhausting and incredibly stressful for her as well. It's also a safety issue. We love our dog who is good most of the time, only sometimes a little poo poo, and only aggressive for what averages to only seconds each month. But we're also concerned about safety. It's only ever happened at home/my parents home and never out and about (where she is ALWAYS leashed). Still, we don't feel safe inviting anyone into our home, and never have, because we fear she'll have an episode towards a guest. We're hopeful medication may help and we need information. I'm interested in trying daily CBD first but know there's issues with it. How can I find a provider that provides pure, safe CBD oil for use in dogs which others have used safely and effectively? Her safety and the efficacy of the product are my top priority. For using doggy Prozac, should we try that instead of CBD? Is it okay to try CBD first. We want something for daily use in addition to intensive training to help sort out her issues. JibbaJabberwocky fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Nov 11, 2018 |
#
¿
Nov 11, 2018 18:24
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 3, 2024 07:11 |
|
|
Instant Jellyfish posted:You need to talk to a veterinary behaviorist for your situation. You can ask your regular vet if they have a recommendation but you need a vet that deals with behavior like this, not a trainer. You need to be careful with behavior meds because they can lower inhibition and make them more likely to bite if not used under vet supervision. It also sounds like you would benefit from a behaviorist going over management plans so another reason to reach out to one. This was very helpful, thank you! We'll start by talking with our regular vet and also look into a behaviorist to help us as simple trainers haven't worked.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2018 22:04
|
|