We also used fluoxetine for our seriously anxious aussie/lab mix rescue (with encouragement from the "Medicating Molly" thread!) It did take a month or two for it to help, but it really, really did. Once she hit about 7-8 months old, our girl was afraid to go ANYWHERE that wasn't our house. She didn't enjoy walks, car rides, going to the park...nothing. It was pathetic to watch, honestly. Pure panic. Hers was mostly noise related phobia, and once she associated a certain place with one loud noise (distant gunshot, car door slam, truck driving by, unexpected thunderstorm, someone dropping something etc...) she never wanted to go there again. She also has a weird phobia of things above her...treehouses in trees, birds on telephone wires, umbrellas on neighbors decks etc. She even got spooked by the moon one night. 🙄 We stopped taking her places, she got to play fetch in the yard, and brain games in the house, but we rarely even took her for a walk because she just couldn't handle it. It was so hard to watch her terrified doing something that dogs are supposed to love! I finally asked our vet about meds, and she confirmed that it was worth a try.
She didn't have any significant side effects of the fluoxetine, just a bit more sedate than normal. Luckily, even with all her unstableness, she's super sweet and friendly to all people and other dogs, and that didn't change. After about two months on the meds, I took her for a walk around the block which usually resulted in a tucked tail, circling and pulling with all her might to get home. She was more relaxed, and actually paying attention to me and taking treats! She hadn't done that since she was a little puppy before the anxiety started. I just about cried! She really did improve noticeably, to the point where she is now
mostly normal. She's still very sensitive to noises, but she recovers much more quickly (minutes as opposed to hours or days before). She very rarely goes into full on panic mode anymore.
Even on the meds, she still had trouble with thunderstorms and fireworks, and we tried stronger meds for that but they made no difference. She was on fluoxetine for about 1.5 years (2 years old-3 1/2years old) and we weaned her off it last fall. She did great over the winter (no storms) and so far she's doing pretty well this spring. She is still not a normal dog. She will never be a dog we can take lots of places and do lots of things. But her improvement was huge, and she's happier and a little more sane now. She loves to be at home and she likes walks and runs on a quiet trail near our house, so we pretty much leave it at that. If she started significantly regressing to her old panicky ways, I'd put her back on the fluoxetine in a heartbeat...that's not good quality of life for a pup. My only regret is that we waited so long to do it.
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