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Trazodone for dog grooming anxiety not working. Can I increase dose?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Lhasa Apso | Male | neutered | 3 years and 3 months old | 16.2 lbs

My Lhasa Apso takes 50mg of trazodone for anxiety while being groomed or brushed, but it’s not working well enough. He still attempts to bite and jerks away from the groomer or me while I’m trying to brush him. Can I increase his dosage of trazodone to 75mg? He is currently 16.2 lbs and is 3 years old. No health concerns otherwise.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

Published on August 12th, 2018

Hi there. Trazodone has a wide dosage range, so it's certainly possible that you may have room to safely increase Cupid's dose - however, you should never make any changes to the dosage of a prescription medication without talking to the veterinarian who prescribed it. So I would suggest calling Cupid's regular veterinarian to talk about your concerns. He/she may recommend increasing the trazodone dose, or may suggest switching to a different medication altogether such as gabapentin or Sileo.

A training plan to help Cupid learn to stand calmly for grooming would also be helpful, since there's only so much that we can accomplish with medication alone. If you're not sure how to do this, I would recommend getting in touch with a good reward-based trainer in your area who can help you get started. You can search for one nearby here: www.ccpdt.org

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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