Fear Season Episode 1. | Why Medication doesn’t heal fearful dogs.
Fear season is here. And I wish that was a fun thing like Halloween - but in the Dog World, the increase in explosions from fireworks, crow scarers and game shoots is now exacerbated across much of North Yorkshire by a significant increase in fighter jets and other military aircraft - all of which can make the world a truly terrifying place to be for a fearful dogs. Other environmental factors like the dark, the rain (which amplifies the sound of traffic) and the wind mean that this is my busiest time of year for nervous and fearful dogs.
This blog post is the first in my series for Fear Season - Why medication doesn’t heal fearful dogs.
A growing trend.
Over the last few years, it has become increasingly common to work with clients with fearful dogs, who have been described medications to resolve issues such as fear of loud noises, going on a walk, fear based reactivity and Aggression - and behaviours like Separation Anxiety. As is the nature of my work, I only see the dogs who don’t benefit from medication - so it would be fair to say that medication ‘can’t’ help - only that there are great many scenarios where it doesn’t. In this article, we’re going to focus on a few key reasons why medication isn’t going to resolve major problems relating to fear.
“…medications like anti-depressants are used as a way of allowing owners to continue to practice unhealthy habits and reinforce an undesirable mental state in their dogs, with the medication acting as an affirmation that their dog has some sort of inherent medical issue, as opposed to it being a product of learned behaviour and environment. That is a very hard pill to swallow.”
How strong is the Medication - and what does it actually do?
The first element to take into consideration is the strength of the medication and what its actually supposed to do. There a huge number of different medications and other products on the market, but for the sake of simplicity, I’m going to split medications into three categories - Sedatives, Antidepressants and Dietary Supplements. Understanding what you are being sold and what it is supposed to do goes a long way to understanding whether there will be any benefit.
Sedatives - Strong, Short-term Depressants which reduce nerve transmission and send the dog into a medically induced state of low energy, decreasing excitement and stimulation levels to create what may be considered a “Calm’ state. These medicines are usually but not always strong enough to override bodily functions, but work only as long as the drug is in the system. Most commonly prescribed prior to veterinary care, or as a management tool for Chronic states of fear and anxiety around Firework night. Sedatives have the most significant side effects with long term use, so are prescribed sparingly.
Anti-Depressants - Weak, Long term medication which normally functions to increase Serotonin levels in the body by blocking its re-uptake, with the goal being to increase confidence and happiness levels in order to allow a dog the opportunity to practice desirable behaviours. Essentially, confidence and Happiness here are subjective, based on perception of how confidence or happiness is measured. Sedatives have less significant side effects than Sedatives, but there are still numerous, and can still have a significant impact on ‘withdrawal’.
Dietary Supplements - Weak, Long term supplements offering a wide range of functions relating to health, calmness and confidence levels - including Supplements of essential dietary amino Acids, vitamins and minerals, and pro biotics to support digestive (gut) and immune health, joint health and pain, natural sedatives such as Passiflora, Lavender, Lemon balm. These dietary supplements all work on the principle that your dogs behavioural issues are related to suboptimal health, and that by improving your dogs overall health and providing Natural versions of depressants in their diet. These typically have these least side effects, owing in part to the fact that many of the ingredients are part of what a dog may consume naturally, and in part due to the very low doses or concentrations of any medicinal ingredients used.
This should immediately raise red flags - whether on the basis of professional competence, but also on the ethical question of whether a dog is practicing free expression and willing compliance when it is, to put it colloquially - as high as a kite.
“If the medication is strong enough to change behaviour, it’s not changing behaviour.”
The reality with any medication you are providing for your dog is simple - if the strength of a medication is enough that its going to have an immediate or significant impact on an animals behaviour, then you can be fairly certain that your dog will continue to feel and behave in the same way as soon the medication wears off. Which means that the medication will only ever become something that you and your dog are dependant on to mask symptoms - a false positive. There is also a very real question of whether it is appropriate to medicate a dog to such a level that is no longer able to express itself as intended. In the case of chronically fearful, aggressive, over excited or overstimulated dogs,
I have seen a number of cases where professional (and supposedly ‘Accredited’) trainers will claim that a dog cannot be worked with or ‘trained’ unless it is medicated. This should immediately raise red flags - whether on the basis of professional competence, but also on the ethical question of whether a dog is practicing free expression and willing compliance when it is, to put it colloquially - as high as a kite. The other immediate question that should be asked is how that dog will behave once it comes off the sedative - and what the side effects will be. In the cases of fearful dogs, the rebound of being taken off a sedative and resulting hypersensitivity to stimulation often creates the same problems that the sedative resolved - a vicious cycle of medication and rebound.
The argument for a Sedative is really one of conditioned responses - if a dogs stress levels are so high that they are incapable of practicing anything other than Defence Flight - does a medication open up the opportunity for them to practice something different, or are we simply ‘going through the motions’ with a dog that is medicated to the extent that it is no longer aware of its surroundings or its behaviour? I would argue the latter.
If the medication also requires a behavioural support plan to be effective, is the medication effective at all?
When it comes to Anti-depressants, you will find that they are almost always prescribed with a requirement for behavioural support. As a professional working on the behaviour side of the isle - its really important to understand that the training process for dogs which use, and don’t use Antidepressants is exactly the same. And the training processes that we use are chosen because they are highly effective at resolving the problem behaviours. The reason that these training processes work is because they focus on the root cause - the elements of a dogs temperament or personality, their relationship with the owner, and how they feel about other stimuli that drives their behaviour. We look at things like how the dogs are negotiating or managing their space, how much they relate to the owners as a point of safety, and learned behaviours that may have become practiced habits - and will continue unless those habits are interrupted.
Whether I am working with chronically fearful dogs that are scared of everything, dogs that have a high sensitivity to loud noises, dogs that are fear reactive, dependant possessive or otherwise anxious - these dogs all still present the same behaviours regardless of whether or not they are on the medication. The trajectory for success is also the same timescale regardless of whether or not the medication is present. So it raises an important question as to what role these particular medications play in reaching a resolution.
In my experience - the biggest single factor when it comes to why dogs practice key behaviours is the relationship they have with the owners and how those owners respond. So it normally unfolds that medications like anti-depressants are used as a way of allowing owners to continue to practice unhealthy habits and reinforce an undesirable mental state in their dogs, with the medication acting as an affirmation that their dog has some sort of inherent medical issue, as opposed to it being a product of learned behaviour and environment. That is a very hard pill to swallow.
To medicate a naturally sensitive dog would be like diagnosing introversion as a medical issue and medicating for that person to be more outgoing and sociable. To medicate a confident dog that does not like being touched by people they don’t know, would be like medicating someone who recognises the importance or consent.
Without a behavioural diagnosis - what is the medication being prescribed to fix?
In the overwhelming majority of cases where a medication is prescribed, it is done prior to any behavioural support, assessment or diagnosis. Which means that when the veterinarian (who is usually not a qualified animal behaviourist) prescribes you the medication, it is being done on a ‘best guess’ as to what the dog is doing or feeling - and that normally means providing a generic, blanket medication as a catch all for most behavioural issues. If the issue is not diagnosed - then how can anyone be sure what medication if any is appropriate to resolve a problem?
In my behaviour work - it is very common that dogs described as fearful or anxious are actually either excitable and overstimulated, or possessive and territorial - neither of which relates in any way to anxiety, fear or nervousness. The medications prescribed are being given to resolve an issue that doesn’t exist, so of course they aren’t going to provide the intended benefit. When working with dogs that have separation anxiety - a significant portion of the cases involve dogs that are practicing learned anxiety - that is to say that they have learned to bark for attention - and aren’t actually anxious at all. Again - medication is being prescribed prior to diagnosis, for the wrong issues.
In the cases where the dogs are actually nervous or fearful, this can be down to a huge number of factors. Their temperament in respect to their inherited genetic characteristics, how confident they are reactive to the rest of their litter, how they were exposed during their imprint period of 0-6 months, and any significant traumas that may have impacted their perception of people, dogs, sounds, or other stimuli. To medicate a naturally sensitive dog would be like diagnosing introversion as a medical issue and medicating for that person to be more outgoing and sociable. To medicate a confident dog that does not like being touched by people they don’t know, would be like medicating someone who recognises the importance or consent. Not all behaviours that dogs present are unreasonable or unnatural - and often its our own perceptions that need to change.
Thoughts on dietary Supplements and behaviour.
When it comes to dietary supplements, there is an argument that a healthy dog is a happy dog - and that optimally balanced nutrition will contribute to behaviour. In these cases, I think its important to understand that when it comes to diet, the biggest changes are only ever going to be seen when a dog is starting from a place of very poor health. If, for example, you have a dog with severe Arthritis - and optimising for diety to increase Chondroitin and glucosamine and reduce inflammation means that your dog is in less pain, I have no doubt that those changes may positively impact behaviour. If your dog has severe allergies, or other issues relating to gut health - then getting a full and proper resolution in terms of diet can stop a dog from feeling weak and vulnerable. But when it comes to most supplements on the market, the changes that are being made are usually much of a muchness. Most high quality pet foods already contain added dietary supplements with similar ingredients to those sold separately. And it is usually the case that moving from a poor quality dog food to a high quality food will have the same impact as staying on a poor quality food and adding a dietary supplement. In most cases, it is also significantly cheaper.
But when it comes to the ‘big tickets’ - dogs that are highly reactive or under chronic stress, it is never going to be the case that your dog woke up that day and decided not to leave the house because it was short 20mg of Milk thistle and Kelp. Nor is your dog going to attack another dog because you forgot to give them their lavender and chamomile treat. In almost every case, the factors that will have the biggest difference are usually proper handling and training, healthy relationship habits in the home, and consistently creating successful outcomes, regardless of what problem you are trying to solve.
A final note on Plug in calming solutions…
As i’m sure you may have guessed by now - i’m not going to be the one to sell you on plug in solutions for your dogs anxiety. Remember that first and foremost, dogs are associative learners - which means that they relate things like scent to the activities they practice and other stimulation around them. If you plug in your ‘calming spray’ every fireworks night, all you are going to do is teach your dog that the scent coming out of the wall relates to the fear and anxiety they are feeling when they hear the sound of Fireworks or a plane passing overhead. Contrary to making your dog relax, it can become an additional trigger for the problem you are trying to solve.
A much stronger solution is to condition a habit of relaxation outside of the times when the sounds your dog doesn’t like are present. That means a clear routine - maybe relaxation in the evening means curtains closed and the fire on. Maybe it means music on the radio and a cuddle on the sofa. And if you want scent, maybe that means lighting your favourite candle or a diffuser on the bookshelf. Show your dog what normal, healthy relaxation looks like - and invite them to practice the same thing when the explosions arrive. Conditioned responses are powerful - use them to your advantage. And ditch the medication - its a very expensive way of not solving a problem.
