Can I give my active dog Benadryl to calm him for his first flight?

Benadryl is generally quite safe for dogs so it's unlikely that this would cause any harm; however, it rarely does much to help with anxiety in my experience. A better option would be to talk to your veterinarian about prescription anti-anxiety medication such as alprazolam or trazodone - these medications are much more effective for anxious pets, and can be used as-needed for car rides or other situations that may cause stress :)

Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach! I have had success using Benadryl as a light OTC sedative. Even though it is not marketed for use as a sedative, it is a safe alternative to the other options out there that are prescription. The dose that you will find is typically 1mg per 1lb of body weight every 12 hours. NaturVet makes a type of treat called Quiet Moments that contains melatonin and I've had multiple clients swear by these treats. I would try the Quiet Moments treats first and see if this is a good option for Scout. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available for consultation if needed.

Several different drugs are available for this purpose. The drugs I use the most often for this sort of situation include trazodone, alprazolam (Xanax), and acepromazine. The last of these drugs will not provide any relief for anxiety for Muttley, instead it will simply tranquilize him. The other two will have both sedative and anti-anxiety activity. Discuss the situation with your veterinarian and determine which option you believe will be best. Hope this works out. If your pup is going to be travelling in the cabin, for the sake of the other passengers the use of the tranquilizer may be the best option.

You can definitely try a Benadryl before the vet visit but if the problem is this pronounced, I would talk to your vet about stronger medication at home. They make several medicines such a trazadone, diazepam, or gabapentin that are now being used prior to anxiety such as vet visits and fireworks that can help. You can also use a white noise machine at home during storms and fireworks as this can help mask the noises to ease her

Benadryl can work but for aggressive dogs most likely not. I would recommend contacting your veterinarian to see if you can get a one time dose of a sedative so that the veterinarian can safely examine him. We allow for a one time single dose of a sedative in order to facilitate examination of aggressive / fearful dogs. I hope this helps!

Hello. You would need to give a lot of Benadryl to calm a dog, & even then, it probably would not work. I would try to make sure that your appointment is at as quiet a time as possible. Call ahead to make sure there are no unexpected wait times & that you can get in & out as quickly as possible. Bring a highly valued treat, even if it is cooked chicken or a can of CheeseWhiz & give him plenty of treats going over. Make sure the technician takes a few minutes with Lance to get to know him & feed a few treats. The same goes with the veterinarian. Bring enough to share. If this is a pleasant experience, while it will not take away all anxiety, it will help in future visits. If Lance just goes ballistic, then reschedule the visit & ask your vet for some Trazodone that you can give 30 minutes before the visit. Hopefully, things will go smoothly. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

There are a number of medications that can help with separation anxiety, but we never know how a dog is going to react to a medication until we try it. Sometimes we will use prescription anti-anxiety medications because an over the counter medication like Benadryl does not work. And some dogs get hyper on Benadryl instead of sedated, so you always need to try it first. Here is more information on using Benadryl. https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/benadryl/ And here is more information on separation anxiety which also discusses medications. https://www.vin.com/apputil/project/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=19239&SAId=1&id=4952970 Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.