Chrissy 0:01
Chris, welcome to The Dogs of our lives podcast with me, your host, Chrissy Messick, in these short digging deeper episodes, we'll dive deeper into interesting topics that arise from my guest interviews, those areas of dog training, behavior, consulting and interspecies communication that provoke more questions that I'd love to answer for you as an expert in the field. And speaking of questions, how well do you really know your dog? Why not try out my quiz, which is linked in the show notes, the questions and the answer might surprise you. Now, let's dig in. Last week, I talked with Dr Stacy Jones about busting myths surrounding dog medication, and that's episode number 24 if you want to listen to that. And the link is in the show notes. And today I wanted to dig a little deeper into when to seek veterinary medication for dog behavior issues. And so when do we know is a good time to go to our veterinarian to talk about this? As a dog trainer and behavior consultant, I work very closely with the veterinarians and veterinary behaviorists, similar to like what I did in my sports medicine career with the athletes and the doctors, and it's important to take a team approach to have the best outcome for the dog and their family. So I want to tell a little story about my kids and medication. Our oldest daughter has cold induced asthma. She's 18 now, but when she was a wee little less, she would get sick, and it would turn into a cold, and then it would turn into cold induced asthma, and then it would move into an ear infection. And so we started to see the pattern really well, like, okay, she's getting sick, and then it's going to turn into asthma, and then it's going to turn into an ear infection. And so we had a plan where we would use a natural approach, and we would get to the point that we knew it really well that we could prevent her illness from getting worse, but if there were times where it was bad, we would use the medication that the doctors gave us. And so we ended up using a combination of a natural approach to prevent her illnesses, and then, you know, then we would use the prescription medication if that wasn't helping. So I'm just telling this story because we can apply it to our dogs too. And there are a lot of people that are out there using natural approaches and that kind of thing. But sometimes it can get to a point where that's not helping and we need to to look at any medications that the veterinarian can support us with. So I wanted to go over some times when it might be a good idea to seek veterinary medication for dog behavior issues. You know, just go talk to your vet or veterinary behaviorist. And the first one is persistent anxiety that impacts the quality of life. So when your dog shows ongoing signs of severe anxiety, such as excessive panting, hiding, inability to settle that prevent normal activities like walks or playing or being alone for reasonable periods, and a key indicator is the anxiety consistently prevents your dog from engaging in behaviors that would otherwise bring them joy or comfort. And we can see these behaviors in specific situations or environments, and then other times the dog is fine. So some examples would be nighttime or noises, a busy environment, being left alone, riding in the car, or seeing a specific trigger, and so their recovery time might be slow or take a long time, or they might be exhausted afterwards. So then you want to refer out to your vet or veterinary behaviorist to rule out any medical issues, because a lot of times medical issues can cause this severe anxiety. If your veterinarian rules out any medical issues and deems anxiety medication would be supportive, then we would go ahead and create a training plan along with the medication support. The second aspect would be any aggressive behaviors that don't improve with training. So if your dog is displaying aggressive behaviors that haven't responded to professional behavior modification over several months, or if the aggressive behaviors appear suddenly in a previously non aggressive dog, this could indicate an underlying medical issue or neurological conditioning requiring veterinary intervention. And so it's the same idea. We want to look at your dog's recovery time. Or, you know, the recovery time may be very long, or if the training is moving at a very slow pace, and the client you know has been working hard at training, a third indicator would be self harming behaviors. So this looks like dogs who compulsively lick, chew or scratch themselves to the point of creating wounds, losing fur or causing tissue damage that may need medication alongside behavior modification. And so similarly, dogs who chase their tails obsessively or engage in other repetitive behaviors that cause physical harm should see a veterinarian. These behaviors can also be due to pain or medical issue versus anxiety. And so I've seen it before where, where dogs will have silent. Or hidden pain somewhere where they can't reach, say, their shoulder, and so they will lick their forearm obsessively to try and reduce the pain. And some dogs may soothe themselves this way to self regulate. But if it's from anxiety or stress, that's another story, and a veterinarian can help determine this. Another indicator would be significant changes in normal behavior, and I would say subtle or significant changes in normal behavior. And so unusual behaviors like increased startle response, confusion, excessive vocalization, or changes in sleep patterns could signal medical issues causing behavioral symptoms. So we always want to rule out any medical causes before assuming there's a primary behavior issue, and this can cut cause a lot of anxiety. An example might be like a subtle thing, as your dog is getting older, you know, there's the canine cognitive dysfunction, and so we have to have some awareness around that. And so referring to a veterinarian, they can kind of determine if it's something like that, or generalized anxiety. And the last indicator I want to talk about is when behavior problems affect your relationship. So if behavior issues are straining the human animal bond or causing you to consider rehoming or euthanasia, it's time to explore all options, which may include medication. And I want to say that you know this should be done sooner rather than later. Medication is not a standalone solution, and it's typically most effective when combined with appropriate behavior modification, environmental management and focusing on the relationship between family and the dog, such as your day to day interactions, because the family's role is vital in this dynamic squirrel moment. I'm excited to share my new free master class that's coming up soon. If you've ever felt frustrated with your dog or frustrated about how to help them, have wanted a deeper connection, or want to build a rock solid foundation built on trust, then you are in luck. My new free master class is called Beyond obedience, the art of trust and partnership with your dog. The link is in the show notes, where you can find out more details. I look forward to seeing you there. One thing I wanted to talk about is denial. A lot of people are in denial or don't want to deal with it or take action with what's going on with your dog, and so the longer you prolong needed action, the worse it will get. And I see this, you know, a lot of times with separation anxiety, where the person doesn't see it as a problem, and where I see the dog is truly struggling. And so we want to create awareness about when is a proper time to refer and take action when needed to create awareness around this. Ask yourself, Am I uncomfortable with this and the steps I need to take to help my dog, or am I too proud to get the help that we need? Or am I just not aware of that, that my dog is struggling, and all of those are okay, but I think it starts with the awareness of where we are starting. The last couple of things I want to talk about. If you are frustrated with your dog's behaviors, please don't punish or correct them. Find the root problem and treat that. And so that means exploring any medical interventions that are needed through your veterinarian, and if your primary care vet can't help. Please refer them to a veterinary behaviorist. Many primary care veterinarians don't get this detailed training in vet school to comb through these nuances, and that's what a veterinary behaviorist can do. Please reach out if you have any questions, and if you need help finding a veterinary behaviorist, I would be happy to do that as well. Thank you for joining us today. I hope you discovered a valuable nugget you can implement right away with your dog. If you enjoyed the episode, please follow, rate and share with fellow dog lovers who might benefit. Don't forget to take our How well do you know your dog quiz? You'll find the link in the show notes until next week. Happy tales. You.
