Dogs experience stress just as people do, and will express this emotion through destructive behavior, nervousness, aggression and gastrointestinal upset. If your household is experiencing stressful times, your dog will usually reflect your emotions. While there are pharmaceutical drugs available to help curb your dog's anxiety, you may want to investigate natural stress relievers, such as Rescue Remedy for Pets.
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History
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Rescue Remedy is the result of research by Dr. Edward Bach, a homeopathic practitioner from England during the early part of the 20th century. Dr. Bach believed that remedies for ailments could be found in nature, specifically flower essences. He placed an importance on treating the feelings and personalities of patients, instead of only addressing their physical ailments. Bach invented 38 flower essence tinctures that do not include the actual plant material, but the healing energy that he intuitively felt each flower emitted.
The Facts
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Each of Bach's tinctures work to reverse the effect of negative, harmful emotions. Different remedies may be combined to suit individual needs, including those of dogs. Rescue Remedy contains five of the 38 Bach Flower Essences: Rock Rose for terror and panic, Impatiens for irritation and impatience, Clematis for inattentiveness, Star of Bethlehem for shock and Cherry Plum for irrational thoughts.
Function
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When your dog is exhibiting signs of severe stress and anxiety, Rescue Remedy can alleviate symptoms. For example, Rescue Remedy can help newly adopted dogs ease the transition to a new home. Or, if your dog becomes stressed over loud noises, visits to the veterinarian, staying in a boarding kennel or traveling, addressing these stress triggers with Rescue Remedy can help prevent a severe emotional crisis from happening. It can also help alleviate grief when a companion pet dies.
Rescue Remedy comes in both liquid tincture and cream form. As a tincture, it can be give one of three ways. You can place four to six drops (depending on the size of the dog) on a treat or add it to her water, but dropping it directly on the tongue is more accurate because you know exactly how much your pet is getting. Giving more than six drops at a time will not harm your dog, but also won't help either. Rescue Remedy can also be mixed with water and sprayed on or around the dog for a calming effect.
As a cream, Rescue Remedy can be applied topically to the skin, such as in the armpits, groin or ears. The cream version also acts as a salve for dry, cracked paws.
Rescue Remedy can be given with any other medications, including conventional allopathic pharmaceuticals. It is a safe, benign therapy and the only effect an overdose will have is that it will simply not work at all.
Suggested treatment time is five days. For extremely stressful, ongoing situations, you can administer for 14 days or longer. If no behavioral changes occur, you are probably using the wrong remedy, and other Bach's Flower Essences should be investigated.
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