Significant change in lifestyle does not happen only to people over the years, but to dogs as well. What we mean by that is change in their habits, environment and different existing restrictions. Nowadays, dogs usually find themselves alone in an empty house for bigger part of the day. Being alone up to 10 hours a day and having many restrictions while doing any activity in neighborhood makes them change behavior very often. Usually this change means problems. For some dogs it is much harder to adjust to changes in lifestyle and therefore many different problems in behavior occurs. Not only do they have to adapt to different rules and limit their natural behavior in modern, urban environment, but also have much closer relationship with owners. This can be quite complex and hard to deal with. As a consequence, anxiety often occurs and the most successful treatment is one with medications.
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Best Anxiety Medication for Dogs
Dogs suffering anxiety are being nervous in everyday situations. Their acting, reactions and habits change and become unbearable to both owner and pet. Therefore helping them to relieve anxiety symptoms should be priority.
Having in mind all mentioned above, we bring you the list of the three best anxiety medications for dogs. They are all proven to be effective and without side effects. Regular usage can improve dog’s behavior and decrease anxiety symptoms easily. Best anxiety medications for dogs are:
- Composure Chews
- Dog Calm
- Anxitane
Composure Chews for Medium and Large Dogs
Relaxing after huge exposure to environmental stress is easy for humans, but what about dogs? They cannot enjoy warm bath or cup of tea. The anxiety can be so high, causing unpleasant changes in behavior and finding the cure has to be priority. One such is Composure Chews. This soft chews are said to be efficient for following conditions:
- Exhibiting nervousness,
- Hyperactivity,
- Anxiety,
- Environmentally induced stress.
This bite-sized chews for dogs are made with chicken liver-flavor and could be used for both immediate support or on a daily basis for ongoing support.
When it comes to ingredients, it is very important to mention that Composure Chews are made without herbal ingredients like Kava Kava, Valerian, St. John’s Wort, etc., as they provoke addiction. All ingredients used do not cause any addiction, drowsiness or impaired motor skills. No one wants to give to a pet something that will cause above-mentioned problems; so taking care of ingredients in every medication should be buyer’s focus.
Composure Chews seem to be the least expensive of the three best options elaborated here. The package contains 60 chews and when discounted, this can be quite a good bargain.
Users Experience
- I have two dogs, one who becomes completely hysterical with thunderstorms, and mildly hysterical with heavy rain. My other dog takes on any stress of the people and animals around him, and it got to the point where that was making him really sick. These chews have been fabulous in helping with the dog who takes on the stress and anxiety of others–it’s made a stunning difference for him.
- I had received a sample of this product (different flavor) but before I used it I had given it to a friend whose dog had been injured, had surgery and was “freaking out”. Later she told me that it had worked really really well, it calmed her dog without spacing her out and causing her to become befuddled and changing her personality.
Dog Calm – Advanced Formula
DOG CALM is another very efficient medication made for dog’s anxiety and changes in behavior. As the reason for anxiety is usually out of human’s control, finding cure like this is necessary for normal life with your pet and for his health safety.
DOG CALM’s herbal formulation is what helps pets feel relaxed and calm. First of all, there is chamomile, which has muscle relaxing, anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic effect. Also, there is a passionflower in its formula, which is useful in many ways: for separation anxiety and aggression caused by fear, for jitteriness, muscle twitching, and hypersensitivity to touch. Furthermore, adequate Thiamine level decreases pet’s mental confusion, nervousness and muscle weakness, while ginger relieves motion sickness and nausea that sometimes occurs while traveling or similar action. Finally, there is L-Tryptophan, amino acid that releases serotonin (so-called “feel good” hormone) and is easily absorbed by the brain. With this final ingredient in DOG CALM’s formula, feeling of relaxation is increased and impulsivity, stress and aggression reduced.
This medicine for dogs is made in the USA and is said to be very powerful without possibility of side effect. Producers claim it will instantly relieve your pet’s anxiety and provide full refund if such reaction does not happen. Therefore, for everyone who is skeptical about purchase, risk-free option is great way to try and get proof of its value.
DOG CALM contains 60 pills as well, but with a bit higher price. However, when on discount, which happens often, this supplement can be bought quite cheaply.
Users Experience
- My Jack Russell Terrier was crazy until I started her on this. When I got home from work she would jump all over me, tear through the house, over the furniture, knocking things over etc. It took her forever to calm down to just her regular state of hyperness and that’s better now too. It’s so nice to have a calm companion to play with now. Thank you for Dog Calm, I will keep using this. Great product!
- This is one of those ‘your milleage might vary’ things. We have 3 dogs, 2 of them are hyperactive. This works like a charm for one of them and calms him effectively, but it’s completely uneffective on our other dog. It *might* calm him a little, but the difference is barely noticeable.
- I’m a nurse at vet animal hospital so I’m familiar with medications and supplements. My dog is on Prozac for anxiety and dr recommended I use anti-anxiety supplement as well. This product seems to work and it has the ingredients I was looking for in this type of supplement.
Try risk free option. Buy on Amazon this supplement and help your pet feel better.
Anxitane for Dogs
Anxitane Tablets is our last suggestion when it comes to supplements for relieving dog’s anxiety. These chicken-liver-flavored tablets help pets feel calm and relaxed. They contain pure L-Theanine. As we mentioned previously, that amino acid, also known as Suntheanine, acts neurologically, helping pets feel calm and relaxed and therefore causing them to behave nice as well. Along with behavioral training modification, this clinically proven supplement can reduce signs of fear and anxiety.
Anxitane can help in:
- Reducing stress-related changes in behavior,
- Pet’s coping with any-kind changes in their environment,
- Decreasing of chronic nervousness, anxiety, or changes in behavior caused by any reason.
Anxitane tablets in M/L are suitable for medium and large dogs, which means for all dogs heavy 22lb or more. Having natural formula makes it perfect choice for treating your pet’s anxiety, especially when taken in consideration that forming a habit cannot occur. Also, no side effects, such as drowsiness or nausea, are known to appear nor any interaction with other therapeutics happened to users.
Anxitane tablets for dog’s anxiety relief contain 30 tablets and is the most expensive option of three presented here. It is said that at least 30 days usage is necessary in order to certain change in behavior happens.
Users Experience
- My normally very mellow beagle had very bad separation anxiety. The neighbors let me know how vocal she was when I wasn’t home and she started scratching the door. My vet recommended Anxitane so I gave it a try. It took around 3 weeks to have the full effect (vet said this would happen) and after that it worked great – no more howling and scratching. I tried taking her off it after a year or so and the behavior issues started again (after a couple of months) so I put her back on it again.
- My cockapoo has been anxious and fearful since he was a pup. A trainer recomended this to us. Saw an almost immeatiate change! This is a great product that has improved not only my dogs quality of life, but the life of his owners significantly! Highly recomend!!
- It takes a very slight edge off her – I could definitely tell when I forgot to give it to her!
Giving Your Dog His Medicine
Deciding to use medication for your dog’s health problems and overcoming behavior problems is though, but even harder task follows. It deals with getting your dog swallow pills. Some dogs especially cause problems during taking medicine and all results in avoiding pet parents or denying any food. The best way is putting the pill in food, so that the smell of pill is not recognizable. In order to help you out, here are some tips for less stressful and successful way of giving medication to dogs
- Put the whole pill inside any food you give to your dog, for example meatball.
- Crush the pill with a mortar and pestle and mix pill powder with any food, preferable creamy.
- While preparing any kind of food in kitchen, when your dog is next to you watching and sniffing carefully, drop the pill on the floor. Dogs usually tend to eat anything you drop, thinking in advance it is nice smelling food you prepare in the kitchen. If this was not successful, take the pill bake and repeat the process, but with dropping real food first.
Is Anxiety Medication for Dogs Really Necessary?
The most obvious question at the beginning is “Should medication be given to dogs or not?” It is very reasonable that some pet parents refuse to use this method in behavioral problems and anxiety symptoms. However, the fact is not always can this kind of problem be solved with training and modification. Not to mention how quicker and with less stress whole process can be with drugs usage.
Even though perfect and most effective solution for treating behavior problems and anxiety are trainings, medication has, apart from being fast effective, one major advantage – it reduces dog’s fear. At least it has to be used in order to decrease fear, so that other treatment like training can start.
However, there is a solution for dog’s behavioral problems that excludes medications. One such is elaborated further in text, so if you are not fond of drugs keep up reading.
Alternative Anxiety Medication for Dogs: Thundershirt
ThunderShirt’s patented design allows applying constant, but still gentle pressure that has a calming effect proven to be successful on over 80% of dogs. Veterinarians consider this way of anxiety symptoms reduction most effective. It already helped numerous pets. Being confortable makes it perfect for use in any situation (like traveling). Also, producers claim there is no need for training or drug usage.
How ThunderShirt Works?
ThunderShirt helps your dog or cat calm if feeling anxious, fearful or too excited by providing constant pressure. The pressure is gentle and usually has positive effect on most of the dogs. It is said that more than 80 per cent of dogs feels relieved after ThunderShirt usage.
Hundreds and thousands of pets (dogs and cats) was proved to feel better after ThunderShirt usage. Experts claim that the pressure produced by this invention has a calming effect to pet’s nervous system. It affects on releasing endorphins, a calming hormones. This is not common for relieving pet’s anxiety, but is used with people too.
What If ThunderShirt is Not Helpful?
Producers stand behind their product and claim ThunderShirt will be the best solution for your dog’s anxiety problems. It might happen that few usages is necessary before any signs of relief, but previous users and owners provide the same facts: ThunderShirt helps in stress relief.
In case it happens that your dog does not feel any improvement and behavior does not improve, return it possible within 45 days with full refund.
User Experience
- My dog HATES car rides. She paces and pants the entire ride when we go on long trips. It is not only uncomfortable for her, but it is irksome to me as a driver because she won’t stay still. We bought this shirt based on the other reviews and it does seem to reduce her panting. Mind you, she isn’t cured where she lies down and sleeps (which would be ideal) but she is better, the panting is quieter and she seems a bit more calm. I recommend giving it a shot.
- The shirt itself gets 5 stars. It’s very high quality and I like that all the velcro sections are covered by more fabric so my dog isn’t catching herself on the carpet, couch, etc. It was a bit difficult to put on with the different flaps, but the directions did a good job of explaining the process.
- I notice on here that some reviewers are not seeing any results. I’m not totally sure its going to help as much with the separation anxiety, but after I wrote my review under the other shirt, the thunderstorm became much worse…Molly just looked up at me and then laid back down; she is TOTALLY calm, just wary. More and more I’m sold on this product…I’ll keep you posted thru the summer.
If you are skeptic about anxiety medication for dogs usage, You can buy Thundershirt on Amazon. This might be the perfect solution for you and your dog.