Helping anxiety in an old friend – Calm and Peaceful Formula
One of the older dogs I work with recently developed severe separation anxiety, involving doing injury not just to the house she lived in but also to herself. Her western vet had put her on Xanax and Prozac but the Prozac didn’t seem to do anything and the Xanax sedated her so much she acted like a zombie dog on it.
On a recent visit in, her human mom brought in a tooth she had pulled out on her crate while she was away at work. We were very concerned that she would contain to injury herself if nothing was done. In addition not only did she have separation anxiety while her person was working but she also had quite a bit of anxiety at night making it so no one was sleeping well.
We started her on a calming formula to try to settle her nerves and anxiety yet let her still be herself and not always sedated. So far she has been much calmer throughout both the day and the evening and can now stay by herself when her mom is working.
Her formula included the following ingredients
- Hops – I’m sure most of you are familiar with this important ingredient of beer. Hops is known to help with anxiety and insomnia
- Passionflower – helps to calm the nervous system and has anti-anxiety actions as well as being a mild sedative. This plant is also used in some epilepsy treatments.
- Valerian Root – This herb is often paired with passionflower for treatment of anxiety and insomnia. It also is mildly sedative.
- Skullcap Root (Huang Qin) – Skullcap helps to calm the nervous system and also supports the liver.
- Chamomile – Calming and so much more. We all know about taking a cup of chamomile tea.
- Ginkgo Leaf – Did you know that Ginkgo trees are 270 million years old and one of the oldest species on earth? They were around when the dinosaurs where. Did you know that they were the only plant to survive the hiroshima atomic bomb, staying alive and thriving to this day? Pretty cool trees! They also help with memory and dementia by supporting blood flow to the brain. Makes seen that something that old would help with memory! If there is a blood flow issue causing anxiety in your dog friend, this is the herb to help.
- Catnip – Calming and a great anti-anxiety herb for humans and dogs. Not so much with cats.
I’ve added this Calm and Peaceful Formula to my etsy shop, Kingdom of Basil.
As it can cause sedation it should not be used with other sedating herbs or drugs without veterinary direction. It also should not be used long term in young dogs as a replacement for training. It can be used at a low dose long term in older dogs.
January 4th, 2014 at 9:34 am
Great post! I passed this along to a fellow animal trainer whose elderly dog may be suffering from senility that is producing anxiety.
I have a question: I am working with a dog (1 year 4 month old Pointer) who was adopted 4 months ago. No previous training, lived in an environment with zero boundaries. While she has come SO FAR in four months and is now a model doggy citizen, one thing remains: She wakes up every night between 2-4 whining and in distress. If let out to pee will not re-enter her crate. Once crated will whine until owners get up. While the symptoms have decreased somewhat her owners have not gotten a decent nights sleep in 4 months. Do you think a similar formula may help her to relax at night along with further behavior mod?
Thanks so much. There isn’t a holistic vet here that I trust (but if you know of any in NYC I am open to referrals!!)
January 4th, 2014 at 10:22 am
Hi Lauren,
Between 2-4 am is when liver is at its peak in Chinese medicine and liver excess can cause anxiety in younger animals. If there is an animal acupuncturist in your area that would probably be very helpful. Does she have excess dreaming at night also – running in her sleep, vocalizing, etc and/or night terrors? This formula could definitely help but you might have to give it at a sedation dose, wondering if there might be something better if there is a lot of dreaming there is often a different formula I use, which is not sedating.