The Wonder Drug?

I was going to wait until Tuesday to post this, but since we've got a lot of agility news potentially in store for the training update, it seemed like there was no time better than now to share my musings on this subject.

It's no secret that I struggle mightily with the decision to add medication, supplements, nutraceuticals, and other calming substances to Marge's fear-fighting arsenal.  I thought it was the scariest thing ever when I even added something as benign as melatonin.  I tend to worry about the side effects, or whether they're really necessary, or if I'm simply not diligent enough with behavior modification (I try, though).  

I was all set to try Marge on a full-blown psychoactive medication (probably amytriptyline or clomipramine) when the blood tests came back negative for thyroid problems.  But, I lost my mind researching, my vet wasn't totally sold on the fact that she needed them, and neither was I.  

Long story short, I'm not quite ready to turn to medication.  It's not because I don't think they work - I know many people who have had great success with them.  I feel like my hesitance to go to the real stuff lies partially in the fact that she's not scared a great majority of the time, and also the fact that I'm not here all of the time to monitor her (call it stupid, but I guess I just feel a heightened sense of responsibility if my dog is taking psychoactive medication.  It's a shortcoming on my part, I suppose).  It is just a big step to take.

Last time we spoke, the doc basically gave me license to start exploring the vast world of nutraceuticals.  St John's Wort, Valerian Root, and tryptophan (5-HTP, which I almost wound up trying) were some of the things that he mentioned.  Granted, he does not know a whole lot about these kinds of things, but the fact that he has listened to my suggestions and researched things for me in the past (melatonin) is what keeps me with him, at least for now.

L-Theanine is an amino acid found in many animal calming products, such as the famous (and expensive) Composure Liquid.  It is used in humans as well as an anti-stress, anti-anxiety supplement.  It is marketed specifically for pets in chewable tablets under the name Anxitane.  However, as with melatonin, because the dosage was exactly the same and there were no outside active ingredients, I opted for the much cheaper human tablet version.  

Marge has now been on 25 mg twice a day (about half the suggested dosage for her size) for about a week.  Since these things are, admittedly, significantly less studied than true medications are, I wanted to play it safe with a smaller dose.  

Though it's been only about a week, I do think I am seeing some changes.  

For one, Marge doesn't seem to be taking notice of things as quickly.  Or, I'm simply mistaking her aloofness for general disinterest. 

Tonight, for instance, Louie and I walked her up the main street near my house.  Though not many people were out, two girls did walk by, talking rather loudly, and, at the closest point, were about two or three feet away from Marge.  The whole while, Marge was standing at a telephone pole sniffing to her heart's content.  It took her considerably longer than usual to pick her head up and look at the girl, and, after staring for a couple of seconds, put her head back down and continued sniffing.

I don't think this was sniffing as a calming signal.  Nothing about her body suggested she was paying any attention to these two girls, even though they continued to approach her.

I've also seen a recent resurgence in her very important ability to make eye contact with me when passing people or interesting things.  I'm not sure if this started simultaneously with the beginning of the L-Theanine administration, but it's still something to think about.  

Otherwise, she has not reacted terribly on walks in quite a while.  She HAS had a couple of hackles-raised, tense moments, but she's been easy to keep under control and reassure that everything is okay.  She had one flighty moment today when she heard someone in the field blow a whistle a little too close to her for comfort, but, after initially assuming her I'm-high-tailing-it-home attitude, she settled down enough so that she walked by relatively calmly and was able to take treats.

It's still too early to tell, but I'm holding out hope that this little pill just might be the extra oomph she needs to get her by.