As discussed in another thread I took my dog to the vet for his scraped paw pads (all should be fine, by the way). While there I recommended that we muzzle my dog because he's not too keen on the vet to begin with and with them presumably wanting to examine his paws I knew that muzzling was a smart move.

I held my dog while the vet examined his paws, put a rectal thermometer in him and cleaned his ears, which he really hates.

My dog was trying to get out of my grip and was shedding quite a bit from the stress of the examination. Needless to say my dog did NOT enjoy his visit.

Once we were done the vet suggested I start treating my dog with "Bach" flowers to calm him down. I politely listened but I don't think there is anything wrong with my dog. Like a lot of working dogs my dog has a ton of drive and does not take too well to the strong armed treatment of being muzzled and held while strange people poke his rear, ears and his sore paws.

But maybe I'm just an overprotective daddy who doesn't think his little angel ever does anything wrong. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> And in the spirit of keeping an open mind I was wondering what some of you think of this doctor's advice and the "Bach" flower. Thanks.

I've used the Bach Flower stuff, mostly "Rescue Remedy" when working with really stressed out, wild caught birds. It has worked really well for me. I used Rescue Rememdy on myself when my mom was in the hospital, and it seemed to work, but can give me a heck of a headache.

It didn't make me feel "dopey" or even "mellow", just things were less stressful. The dogs I used it on didn't act doped either, just less drippy, heavy panting, stress swallowing, barfing, etc. Those were greyhounds being transported in cars for the first time.

One of my acquaitances says her daughter had a bad allergic reaction to Rescue Remedy. She gave it to the kid without thinking twice from using it so much on her dogs, and ended up at the emergency room.

The directions say to use it for "stress relief". It's 27% alcohol, and tastes pretty good. I've got a whippet that loves the smell and taste.

I think of using it more in terms of situations where the dog is chronically spooked or bug eyed scared. That doesn't sound like your situation. The stuff is pretty expensive.

I personally prefer using the separate flower extracts as opposed to the "ready made" rescue remedy. It is much easier to figure out what the dog's problem is and then finding the appropriate extract than just using RR and putting a bandaid which may not be the right one for the situations.

I know that my dog cannot take rescue remedy as there is one extract in there that is contrary to her usual situations, and it actually did the opposite. However, when using the appropriate extract for the appropriate stressful situation (i.e. Walnut for when we moved or Rock Rose when she panicked etc) then they worked really well.

Here's a link that tells you what is good for what:
http://www.bachcentre.com/centre/remedies.htm

Yes, I have also used them on myself on occasion and it did do what it was supposed to. Calmed me right down. Neat feeling actually and natural, which is always good <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />