We have been advised by the teacher at the dog training classes to give our 8/9mth old staffy cross Serene-um to calm him down. What is it exactly and does it work? This product seemed quite expensive, especially when we have been told to give him 4 tabs per day. I'd like some feed back from general jo blogs and not a trainer who is trying to promote it, before I go to, prehaps, the wasted expense of this product. I saw another treatment called, Vetzymne Stay Calm. Has any one used this formular? I hope some-one can shed some light on these products and their affectivness. Waiting for your replies. Thankyou.

i use WENDALS HERBS DOG CALMER which is not expensive £8-95 FOR A BIG TUB, you will need to put into your blender because my dogs found the herbs to big so put them into my blender and they came out a nice fine powder. hope that helps

Hi, we used this on one of out dogs who had nervous aggression, it did make her a little bit more relaxed but not enough for us to keep buying it and over time she has got alot better with continued training. What exactly is wrong with your dog does he just get over excited, usually you can remedy the problem with training and lots of praise and rewards, this worked for our dog.

There are many products on the market for calming dogs; dogs need to be in a position to learn before training/behaviour modification can take place and in the case of excitable dogs some preparatory work may need to be done. For example food can be an "excitor" and you may need to adjust the dietary intake. If this is fine then products such as the ones described or scullcap and valerian or a number of other proprietary mixes may be of benefit to your dog. Sometimes a dog has multifactorial problems which can take some considerable time to work out. My rehomed dog has dietary and environmental allergies as well as the canine version of ADHD; it has taken a year of concentrated work re diet, behavioural modification and homoeopathic intervention to get him to a reasonable dog! (However his case is a little extreme)!

Many thanks for all your in-put to my query. I am of the opinion as well that we have got a youngish dog still, who we have only had 3mths(he's a rescue) and that as he becomes more aware of what is and isn't exceptable behavior he will begin, in time, to calm down slightly any way. Being a staffy cross he will always, we suspect, be the life and soul of the party. Thanks again, any further info will be appreciated.

i find rescue remedy works well. it isnt exspensive and lasts ages.

This is interesting - Nosferatu, my son has ADHD and living with him has been hell on wheels at times, what are the signs in dogs and how are they distinguished from normal puppy/teendog behaviour/stress reaction?

How can I explain my dog? He had a permanently deranged look in his eyes, was a serial pacer, shredder, barker, whiner, scratcher in fact never stopped moving, would never lie down or rest indoors or in the car. Had to put him in cage to get him to stop moving about. Bearing in mind he was my fourth Weimi and I compete with them I am familiar with the difference between a dog that wants to work and one that is completely off his head (LOL). Hysterical at the approach of anything strange; Always came up with some displacement activity and had the concentration of a gnat. Otherwise he was fine :).

Lorelei
My 11yr old daughter has been diagnosed with ADHA since she was 6 yrs and so I know all about over excitement. But how typical is that, that we have now rescued a dog that it would seem is suffering from the same sort of condition. I expect that all these fomulars are a bit hit and miss as with the natural remidies we have used with our daughter. With regards to our daughter we find that medication plus 2 other alternative medicines/theropy work best and this would probably be the case with the dog as well,that know one thing on its own works entiely.
Lorelei I do sympathise with you. It is such hard work. So often you feel like you are hitting your head against a brick wall, having tried absolutely everything that the so called proffessionals have offered. And prey tell how many of these so called proffessionals have actually had or got first hand experience of the condition to be able to sit there and say, "Oh I know how you must be feeling!!!". Oooo they do annoy me. You just have to be strong and take each day and night as it comes, and weeping buckets also helps.
lol
nicolinena

I think its a lot harder for girls with ADH as they may not be noticed if they lack the hyper component of the disorder and tend to get more negative reactions because they are going against female stereotyping. We use the dreaded Ritalin after trying everything else including complementary therapies paid for by his primary teacher and it gives Gothboy a break. Have you applied for Disability Living Allowance for your girl? Claim it as it can help pay for all the extras you might need.

Bless the pooch, hes landed on his feet having people who can love him and givehim the structure he needs - we find having the dog has helped Gothboy ( aka Nosferatu) calm down and increased his self esteem. And they have this weird understnading....:)

Lorelei, our daughter has just been put on Concerta XL, 54mg once per day. It is a realitivly new perscribed form of the treatment to help ADHA in the uk. It is a slow release form of Ritalin. She also takes 3 Effalex, evening primrose oil capsles a day and has Craneal osteo-opathy(head massages) for 45mins every 3 weeks. We ahve found that this combination of treatments help to maintain a more exceptable level of control. We always find that she is always worse when she is not at school as she so needs the structure of that enviroment to keep her attention. At 11 yrs though and hormones now on the increase in her body, all of what we try more often than not all seem in vain. She is such a loving child though and despite it all has some very endearing qualities. She has very few genuine friends and because of this has found the dogs a great comfort to her, they dont call her names and they are always there wagging their tails no matter what. This is as well why our 2 dogs are so brilliant in my eyes, because they both cope with our hyperactive child and all the disruptions that that brings with it. I'm sure you know what I mean, the contstant arguing, the shouting, the high pitched unusal noises and generally unpredictable behavour that goes on. Yes we do claim for her and that goes towards her treatments. Obviously her Concerta XL is covered by the NHS, but the alternatives we pay for. And then there is the torn and damaged clothes, school books etc. It really can be an absolute nightmare at times but we love her dearly. This all added to the episode I experienced today with that other dog on its retractable lead. As a parent you cant help but blame yourself for it all from time to time. Although you know it is no ones fault. My thoughts go out to you. Keep on smiling(very difficult I know), its the only way.

Gothboy is 15 now and has loads of friends but when he was 11 it was a different story. He did get bullied and blamed for it by the school and exploited by no good bums who set him up for the mischief then ratted and we did have a phase of weapon carrying...... But he has blossomed ( if thats the right word!) into the neighbourhood UberGoth and now has a devoted following so take heart! I admit to being the mother of Satans Filly ( aka Devil Daughter post) and feel 11 year old females without ADHD are hard to put up with.

seren-um did not work for my dog either i thought it was only used for firework night ect not a long term use for generally calming dogs down maybe im wrong though i did come across something called canikalm a herbal calming powder that did work