Quote:
Originally Posted by lbottsfo
My little guy is named Buster and he is a 5 year-old rescue.
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Buster doesn't sound very little at 70lbs!! LOL
I've had this problem twice. Once was with Prince (also 70 lbs) who had been in a car accident before ending up at the pound and then being adopted by me, he adjusted EXTREMELY quickly and became VERY calm. Except if there were loud sounds. So every New Years Eve and 4th of July we gave him 10mg of valium and he'd end up either being very mellow and barely noticing it, or just sleeping. He also had valium after eye surgery because he had anxiety issues with the cone.
Molly has adjusted very well for only being with us for a few weeks, she doesn't shake as often and rarely cowers now when we go to rub her head or her body. That broke my heart :-( She does have really bad anxiety with other dogs, she acts like she's expecting to get attacked. Anytime we bring her around other dogs we give her 5mg of hydrocodone. She had to take it for her kennel cough, so the vet prescribed extra for stress instead of putting her on a second drug that was a sedative. Hydrocodone is the "loopy" part of a human lortab, so that will work to calm her down. If her anxiety doesn't go away he said we'll try xanax or valium for her.
Both of my babies have done VERY well with medication, I hope your "little guy" and you have the same luck.... My opinion (and thankfully my vets also) is that when a dog has been through so much,... if a pill will help them adjust or atleast learn that they don't need to be scared, it's not going to hurt them and they don't need more stress.