mason@pneuma.DEC (ANDREA--223-4864--PK03-2/31) (05/29/85)
>I'd like some advice from anyone with experience >on nervous dogs. I'm planning to move soon and >in the past my female German Shepard mix has >always had a nervous breakdown the first night >in the new place... > >Does anyone have any suggestions on making the >move less traumatic for her? She is generally >a nervous sort, but very good natured; about >7 years old and spayed. > >Any advice would be much appreciated. >Josie >(...!ihnp4!ihuxw!josie) When I moved last year, I was very worried about how my dog would react. She is also very nervous, and was a stray who had been badly abused (that's another note, however). We were real concerned about her panic level. My SO suggested that I call the vet and get some "puppy tranquilizers" for her. However, since she is already on medication for her epilepsy, the vet vetoed that idea immediately. Instead, he recommended that we gradually increase her daily dosage of phenobarbital (sp?), which is, essentially a tranquilizer. This worked very well, and the moved was a lot less traumatic for all of us. So, I recommend that you call your vet and see about some kind of tranquilizer for your dog. By the way, I don't know if this is true about tranquilizers in general, but if your dog is already on a medication like phenobarb, and you're going to increase the dosage to use it like a tranquilizer, do it GRADUALLY, and when you decrease, don't do it all at once--this could cause your dog a lot of harm. Good luck, Josie! I hope the move goes well, without whining, or other unpleasantness! ****andrea mason**** UUCP: decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-pneuma!mason ARPA: mason%pneuma.DEC@decwrl.ARPA