Help For Anxious, Biting Dogs

Many dogs are given up to humane society when they bite. These dogs often go into temporary or foster homes. We have special problems with anxious, biting dogs in foster homes. These dogs understand they’re living in limbo and they feel insecure no matter how much love exists in limbo foster home.

Our army of approaches for anxious biting dogs in foster homes include
• flower essences
• pheromones
• herbs
• homeopathic medications
• conventional drugs.

It is difficult to know which of the above remedies will be most beneficial without trying them. They all help, but in slightly different ways.

Flower Essences
For flower essence, check out the foster care, stress stopper, and nervous nellie at www.spiritessence.com. Their remedies are fabulous.

Pheromones
For pheromones, get DAP. Use the spray or atomizer. Collar has to be too tight to work. In Canada, DAP is only sold through veterinarians, but it is available at pet stores and online in the US.

Herbs
Many Traditional Chinese Medicine formulas help dogs with anxiety. Among my favorites are Calm Repose (Ian Ma Gou Teng Yin) and Blood’s Palace (Xue Fu Xue Yu Tang). We can also consider Rambling Ease Powder (Xiao Yao San), Heavenly Emperor’s Nourish the Heart pills (Tian Wang Bu Xin Dan), or Snake & Dragon (Long Dan Xie Gan Tang).

Homeopathic Medications
For homeopathy, we consider over a dozen remedies and make the choice based on the dog’s behavior. Among the homeopathics we consider are anacardium, Ars alb, Belladonna, Ignatia, Lachesis, Lycopodium, Nat mur, Nitric acid, Nux Vomica, Sepia, Staphisagria, Sulfur, and Thuja.

Conventional Drugs
For conventional drugs for anxiety, we might use clomiprimine. It takes at least 3 weeks to kick in and doses may need to be adjusted. There are other antipsychotics and anxiolytics consider, too.

We realize when we accept biting dogs into our homes that we need to protect ourselves and our families. There are many methods to try to help them, and the greatest opportunity for success lies in having a dedicated family, a permanent home, and holistic veterinary care.