Oh, Irony! You make for the best stories!
You know how it is said that dogs and their owners often look alike? Well, my dog must have been cut from the same bolt of defective cloth that I was, because it turns out that his brain is just as nutty as mine. I’ve always been happy to share my history of anxiety and medication with other people because if I had to go through it, it might as well be good for something, but I never thought I’d be researching pharmacology for my dog.
It turns out it’s pretty handy to have the medicine your dog needs already in the cupboard . . .
I originally wanted to get the dog on anti-anxiety medicine a few months ago — probably because I’ve been in his shoes and know it’s not fun to feel like you’re trapped in a cage and screaming to get out. His problem was he was literally trapped in a cage and yelping to get out so loudly and for so long that the neighbors started complaining to our landlord. Our vet thought that it was a case of him just not liking the crate or thinking if he’d persist we’d let him out and wanted me to try this thing called, “baby steps.” Yeah, I know them, have lived them, and had already tried them, but since I have a problem with wanting people in authority to like me, when she said, “You don’t want to just dope him up,” I gave her the Good Dog Owner answer of, “Of course not” even though I really did.
So I hit up my home pharmacy and Dr. Google and found out that there are a ton of options for “dog separation anxiety medication.” I started giving him some of my “yellow pills” about an hour before we’d go out and it seemed to help some, but his anxiety level was still too high — panting, pawing at the crate door, whimpering, whining, sweaty paws (totally didn’t know dogs could get sweaty feet), and drooling, but to a lesser degree than before. I knew that this was only a short term solution and, just like his Mama, he needed a brain reset. Besides, I was starting to run low on my emergency pill stash and I was starting to begrudge the dog taking all of my pills. Not that I’ve actually needed that particular drug in a while, but I like having a backup. (That’s totally the anxious lady talking).
So Josh took the dog in on Thanksgiving, bless him, and came away with some help for our dog’s brain. It cost a ridiculous $30 for a weeks‘ worth of pills, but I should be able to order them from the US eventually for about 1/4 of that price. So far we’re on week 2 (cha-ching! another $30 later) and I think I’m seeing improvement. Just like when I started taking them, they tell you it takes at least 3 weeks to start working, so I’m not expecting too much right away. But I am noticing that he is choosing to rest or sleep in other places than right by my feet or right next to me in bed, we haven’t gotten any neighbor complaints about our dog “making a very loud noise,” and he hasn’t had any side effects from it. Those are all good signs.
Too bad for Micah that I’m not agoraphobic any longer because if I had had him back in the day, we’d never even have known he had separation anxiety since I couldn’t leave the house. Thankfully, I’m no longer (too) crazy and just hope that he becomes more like me instead of me becoming more like him.