The science of dog behavioral pharmacology aims to help exhausted pet owners and their stressed-out four-legged companions. Although it was once controversial to prescribe mental health medications to dogs, the pioneering work of Dr. Nicholas Dodman, a Tufts University veterinarian, has steadily moved dog psychology into the mainstream.
The behaviorism of the early twentieth century would have you believe that dogs are little more than machines reacting to their environment. But dogs have much of the same brain circuitry as humans, and when brain chemistry goes haywire, so too can a dog’s behavior. A recent article in The Atlantic, for example, tells the tales of dogs whose behavior miraculously changed after getting the right prescription medication.
Veterinarians typically rely on human medications rather than special formulations for dogs. An anxious or depressed dog is almost as likely to be prescribed Prozac as an anxious or depressed human. The dosage has to be adjusted to reflect the size difference between dogs and humans, of course, and veterinarians sometimes have to do some tweaking to find a medication that works.Medication isn’t a panacea for everything. You still have to socialize your dog and train him or her to be friendly and obedient. Reward-based training methods often improve the behavior of even the stubbornest dogs. If your dog seems untrainable or does things that put her health and safety in danger, though, she could be struggling with a mental health issue. It’s not safe to give your dog your own medication, but if you see any of the following symptoms, it’s time to consult your veterinarian:
Not all veterinarians embrace pharmacological options for dogs’ mental health. If you want to give medication a try, you’ll need to call vets and ask whether they offer pharmacological solutions for behavioral problems.
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