A medical approach to canine aggression

I was reading the March 2008 issue of Veterinary Practice News and came across an article about canine aggression. It discussed  a vet up in Canada who specializes in canine aggression and has found “the biggest breakthrough in canine aggression is the medical appraoch.”  This vet often uses prozac, zoloft and paxil to faciliatate treatment.

Video: Aggressive Dog Handling Solid K9 Training

He says they can stabilize pets’ moods with virtually no risk of serious complications and takes 1-2 months before clients see results but he says the pay off is well worth the wait.

When I first read this I equated it with the pharmeceutical weight loss drugs that are now available for dogs, which I think are unnecessary if the dog’s owner is taking proper care of the dog.

Video: Veterinarian Dog Aggression - DOG INTERVENTION Dog Whispering BIG CHUCK MCBRIDE

And in 99.9% of the cases I would agree that prozac for dogs is absurd. However, the article points out “many owners who consider thier pets part of the family are turning to relinquishment, even euthanasia, because of behavior problems they believe are beyond their control.  People may give up on thier pets or not take care of them as attentively if they have behaviors that are undesirable.”

Obviously all selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (zoloft, prozac etc) are only prescribed after the usual behavior modification tools are used (behaviorists etc). Clearly dog owners who let their dog get to that point should not own a dog. But the reality is, many do.

So what do you think? Is prozac for dogs a good last step solution?

We would recommend Sleepytime Tonic as a good FIRST step in solving retraining efforts to break habits like barking, cowering or aggression. Also is useful during thunderstorms and while traveling with your pet.

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