Anybody ever heard of medicating a dog with amitriptyline for dog aggression? One of my grooming clients is medicating her dog on a daily basis for aggression in her home per the advice of her vet.

I have never heard of this and was wondering if anyone had any experience on using this medication other than for seperation anxiety.

Amitriptyline is just an antidepressant drug. I've heard of using antidepressants in dogs for aggression as well as anxiety problems, but have heard mixed reviews in terms of results.

The idea is that depression and anxiety are very closely linked, and that they can be treated similarly. I think this has generally been found to be true in humans.

In dogs, most aggression problems are fear/anxiety related so in theory at least, some aggressive behavior can be helped by medication. I think the idea is to "take the edge off" while retraining takes place though, not just to medicate indefinitely.

I don't have much more than second-hand experience with medicating for aggression, but I know some folks say it's worked wonders with their dogs (along with lots of training!).

Not trying to bad-mouth vets, but drugs are almost always the solution of someone who does not know a thing about canine behavior or training. I've never seen any significant difference in an animal with that particular drug. But that's just my personal experience.

Matthew, is that your puppy in your sig pic? WOW. He looks great. PM me please. Gosh, someone awesome must've referred you to that litter, LOL.

Back on track, I agree about drugs being the easy solution for those who know little to nothing. I'm sure there are cases where they really do work, as there are in humans, but my huge issue w/them is that we are so accepting of dogs who NEED meds to function. Good Lord! What are we breeding? How low can our standards get?!

I have a neighbor w/2 medicated dogs. Makes me shudder. Classic case of an intelligent person w/mental health knowledge putting human traits on dogs and treating them for such. The one dog is "nervous" (read: POS nervebag). The other one is "anxious and barks too much" (read: it's a freaking BEAGLE).

They switched the nervebag's meds when she attacked the dachshund over a treat (no broken skin), deciding that the med must be making her "aggressive." UM, attacking another same sex dog over a treat is about as normal as you can get, especially in a household where a correction has never been endured. I said that was the ONLY normal thing I had ever seen or heard of that dog doing, but I wasn't taken seriously and she persisted to explain to me that if she had broken skin on the other dog they would've put her down. HUH?

I left the premises when conversation drifted toward medicating my goofball horse for ADHD........................

Sorry to digress, but Matthew, you hit a nerve w/me when you mentioned that drugs are the knee-jerk response from people who don't know squat about behavior.

The vet does not live in the home. He/she, IMHO, should not have ultimate authority on deciding to medicate an animal that he/she has no idea how it's treated/disciplined/trained etc.

There are people who have dogs on meds for anxiety, aggression, whatever...and they BREED them. It's no wonder we can hardly find a decent, stable dog nowadays. TRY CORRECTING THE DOG FOR A CHANGE! And treating it like a dog! They might be surprised how well it works!

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There are people who have dogs on meds for anxiety, aggression, whatever...and they BREED them. It's no wonder we can hardly find a decent, stable dog nowadays. TRY CORRECTING THE DOG FOR A CHANGE! And treating it like a dog! They might be surprised how well it works!

Agreed! Most (but not all) of the second-hand knowledge I have of dogs being medicated for aggression either belong to folks who raise their dogs like human children (then wonder why they act like unbalanced dogs) or who are very anti-correction.

Going back ever further: anti-training and anti-management.

Yes, that's what I was trying to say in my roundabout way. At least that's the case w/the ones I have direct knowledge of. If they are barking their fool heads off, running up and down the property line (as they do every single time I or one of my dogs walk outside the house), they don't even hear the word "no." They get called into the house in a voice that would cause a diabetic to go into a coma, and are given a treat for coming inside.

I tried to make the point that in their minds, they are being rewarded for the behavior...but you can imagine how well that went over.

Complete ANTI-training, ANTI-management, ANTI-correction...but totally PRO medication. 'Cuz it's easier.

 Quote: jenni williams

Matthew, is that your puppy in your sig pic? WOW. He looks great. PM me please. Gosh, someone awesome must've referred you to that litter, LOL.

Back on track, I agree about drugs being the easy solution for those who know little to nothing. I'm sure there are cases where they really do work, as there are in humans, but my huge issue w/them is that we are so accepting of dogs who NEED meds to function. Good Lord! What are we breeding? How low can our standards get?!

I have a neighbor w/2 medicated dogs. Makes me shudder. Classic case of an intelligent person w/mental health knowledge putting human traits on dogs and treating them for such. The one dog is "nervous" (read: POS nervebag). The other one is "anxious and barks too much" (read: it's a freaking BEAGLE).

They switched the nervebag's meds when she attacked the dachshund over a treat (no broken skin), deciding that the med must be making her "aggressive." UM, attacking another same sex dog over a treat is about as normal as you can get, especially in a household where a correction has never been endured. I said that was the ONLY normal thing I had ever seen or heard of that dog doing, but I wasn't taken seriously and she persisted to explain to me that if she had broken skin on the other dog they would've put her down. HUH?

I left the premises when conversation drifted toward medicating my goofball horse for ADHD........................

Sorry to digress, but Matthew, you hit a nerve w/me when you mentioned that drugs are the knee-jerk response from people who don't know squat about behavior.

The vet does not live in the home. He/she, IMHO, should not have ultimate authority on deciding to medicate an animal that he/she has no idea how it's treated/disciplined/trained etc.

There are people who have dogs on meds for anxiety, aggression, whatever...and they BREED them. It's no wonder we can hardly find a decent, stable dog nowadays. TRY CORRECTING THE DOG FOR A CHANGE! And treating it like a dog! They might be surprised how well it works!

Could not have said it better.

when I take Tequila it makes me aggressive

Lisa,
I've read a few studies regarding medication useage to curb severe aggression ( under clinical guidence ) and the most favorable outcomes were with the SSRI class of meds - with the old standard Prozac being the most studied.

I had a few of my clients dogs in the past started on that medication and it help some ( the results varied, of course ) with about 50% of the dogs showing some type of behavior change.

While I think that it would be useless without a co-current training and management regime, I wouldn't say no to its use in dogs with severe behavioral issues.