OT - Freakin' out dog -Advise?

[madisongrrl]

If you want a medication that will help your buddy through the storms call your vet and ask about obtaining a prescription for Acepromazine. You have to give the medication 1 -2 hours prior to the events that cause the fear but it does work.

Hope this helps.

I would also like to shed a little light on the use of Acepromazine. I'm not a vet, but I have learned quite a bit about Ace recently from my fellow members of the IAABC (some of which are board certified veterinary behaviorists.) Ace is an anti-psychotic drug, not an anti-anxiety drug. This drug relaxes and sedates a dog's muscles, but not his mind! Dogs can still feel feel fearful and anxious while taking this drug...they just can't move very well. So it is not the best choice to use with dogs who are having anxiety or fear based problems.

My dog recently had a surgery and I had a lengthly discussion with my vet to make sure she wouldn't use ace on my dog as pre-operative sedation. She said she wouldn't use it because of the reasons I listed above and also she thought it drops the heart rate too much during surgery.