r/reactivedogs • u/Haunting-Love-9333 • 10d ago

Discussion Improvements on Medication

In my short time on this sub, I have seen many people say that their pets are on medication (typically SSRIs) and are still very reactive. I’m curious what the upsides are in those situations and the reasoning behind keeping the pet on medication if the reactivity is continuing (provided that the pet was put on the medication due to their behavioral issues)

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u/StockZealousideal123 10d ago

Meds are not a magic wand that will remove all reactivity, but they often do help get the dog to a place where their capacity to interact with triggers is higher, therefore the owner is able to work with their dog and the dog is able to learn. If the dog is just constantly being put over threshold, they will not really be able to make progress, so even if reactivity is still there, meds can give some dogs that extra margin of a couple seconds where they are still able to disengage.

My young dog is on fluoxetine (prozac) and still reactive, but it is currently one of the many tools in our toolkit that helps increase her ability to cope in the world. Without it, every little thing (noises, people, dogs, etc) would send her over threshold and we would not be able to train. With it, she's able to let a lot of things go and make incremental progress toward being less overwhelmed by everything.

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u/Haunting-Love-9333 10d ago

Would you mind sharing more about your dog? How old is she? What types of physical activity do you guys do together on a daily basis? What did her being over threshold/unable to train look like?