What's a safe way to sedate my aggressive dog for car trips?

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 :)

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.

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.

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

Hello, thank you for your question. I’m sorry to hear that visits to the vet are stressful for Luke. Yes, melatonin can be safely given to dogs. There are other medications that can also be used to help with anxiety prior to vet visits (gabapentin, Benadryl, acepromazine). I would recommend contacting your veterinarian to discuss which product they prefer and to get accurate dosing for Luke. Hope this helps!

No, no Benadryl. It's not used as a sedative and actually can have the opposite effect on dogs. It can make some dogs more hyper. Typically medication isn't needed for dogs when flying, even if they are very active. Usually the new sounds and smells keeps them quiet. You can speak with Rascal's vet to see if there are any medications that can be prescribed for him just in case.

I do not recommend giving human sleeping pills to Jammy. VetriScience Composure once daily calming chews are often very effective in treating anxiety in dogs and do not require a prescription. They are available on PetCo.com and Chewy. com. If they do not adequately calm your pet 30 min after dosing, I recommend making an appointment with your vet re: prescription sedative options including trazadone. Good luck!