Separation anxiety & tablets

sambuka41

Apologies for the lenght of this post, Im just a bit lost!!

I posted in here a good while back about my dogs separation anxiety, things didn't really get any better so I had a word with the vet.
She gave me a new tablet Zylkene, she said that it triggered the same calm feeling the pup/kitten has after it has been fed by the mother. So far it has worked quite well, she's only been on it for 2 weeks but we have seen some changes in her. She used to jump at every noise or movement but she doesn't do that anymore. I also have her in Doggy Day care 1 day a week and thats helped increase her confidence.

The only thing left to figure out is her relationship with me I am the one she is most attached to. We record her when we leave and since she started taking the meds she has been able to be alone and not bark once (for 4 hours!!!!!) BUT only when it is my partner who is last to leave the house. When I leave she howls, I left her for 1.5 hours after her doggy day care (she was wrecked) but she cried the entire time.

So to my question (finally!) The only difference between me and him is that I worry about her barking and he doesn't; could this be the reason why she barks? We have made a huge effort to keep consistency in how we leave the house; so would she be picking up on my "issues" or is it because she is more attached to me? I'm running out of ideas on how to manage this behaviour.

The reason I am trying to address the behaviour is so that we are not reliant on the tablets all the time; as I'm not sure how long realistically she can take them?? If anyone has experience with the Zylkene, is it long term?

Thanks for any insight or ideas on what to do!!

Zapperzy

I used to use zylkene for my cat, tbh I didn't notice a huge difference in her maybe some small changes but not sure if these were imagined by me or not (placebo effect maybe?). From what I gathered by it is made from some sort of milk extract so completely natural so no worries about long term effects, it's also non prescription so you can buy it online, I got mine from vetuk.co.uk. I can see why you wouldn't want to use it indefinitely though. Have you thought of a thunder shirt? Or a DAP diffuser or collar?

rotti oRiley

hi,
What age and breed is your dog. Did you get her as a pup or older rescue.

There is a good chance she is picking up on your anxiety, dogs are all about body language and facial expressions.

sambuka41

Thanks for replies. I have a plug in dap diffuser that I use at the same time. I have never heard of the Thunder shirt (off to look that up )

She is a Sheltie/ Pomeranian mix I've had her since she was 14 weeks. No abuse or neglect that I know of. The other sheltie owners that I have met have said they are nervous dogs who do attach to one person in the family. It seems to be in her nature/breed so it's a bit of an uphill struggle.

She is two in February, we kept hoping she might grow out of it but it doesn't look that way.

I'm trying to be the one who leaves her (where possible) in an attempt to get her more accustomed to me leaving and coming back. (my partner worked shorter hours than me for about 1 year so she got really used to him being the last to leave the house, so I'm thinking that maybe that is why she is more relaxed with him?? Just a thought)

sambuka41

Hi guys just thought I'd update on this. The thunder shirt did help a bit, combined with the zylekene there were times when she didn't howl at all. but we had to move house and it has spiralled backwards :(

At the moment nothing is working so we have booked a session with Orla Doherty, she is a behaviourist that our vet recommended. Has anyone been to her before?