Clomicalm- reviews?
 

A little back story (sorry, I've been a gone a looooong time).

So, we've owned our male Yorkie for about 4 years and have had steady problems with his behavior for nearly all of the 4 years. Some of his problems include (but not limited to):

1. Barking, screaming, yipping and this obnoxious chortling noise, if he is not right next to you.
2. Trying to escape from his cage by digging (always unsuccessful).
3. IBS, it hasn't been diagnosed, but I'm almost 100% positive he has it.
4. Bouts of aggression, food, toy and animal related.
5. Excessive marking.
6. Dominance behaviors such as mounting (only other males).
7. Extreme jealousy.
8. Becoming vocal and very jealous if he sees Mommy and Daddy kiss or hug.
9. Constant milling around, I can't describe it other than he just won't relax.

I've tried positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and just ignoring his outbursts, none of these have worked. He's confined to a cage while we sleep and work (I'm only gone at most, 6 hours a day). He gets moderate exercise and he is fed a premium dog food. He was also neutered a few months ago, in hopes his neurotic behaviors might be come a little more manageable.

Because of his behavior he isn't the most pleasant dog to be around. I haven't been able to cuddle with him since he was a small baby. He knows basic obedience commands, mainly sit and lay. I should also add, anyone who has had the pleasure of watching him for us for a few days, refused to ever watch him again. That's how much fun he is, even the biggest Yorkie fan I know, refuses.

So after a terrible screaming, scratching episode this morning before I left for work, I was at my wits end and called my vet. He recommended Clomicalm, has anyone had any success or experience with this? I'm ready to try anything at this point.

Clomicalm is Clomipramine, which is a tricyclic antidepressant. Off-label, it does have a LOT of uses including panic, anxiety etc - so it appears it might be a good option for your little guy (who is DARLING, btw, love his face!). When stuff like you mention above affects quality of life for both you and the dog, medication might be a really huge help. Please keep us posted - I'd be interested in knowing how he does. :)

Thanks, I'm really hoping this can help. When we had him neutered he was calm (due to the drugs) and so loving, it was wonderful. I felt like he was my baby again and then they wore off and all hell broke loose.

I feel like this is a last resort, I don't think dosing an animal with pharmaceuticals is the best idea. However, I'm throwing in the towel. After 4 years of this behavior every day, I'm ready to admit something may be terribly wrong in his head.

I'll update as I find things out.

BTW Wylie's Mom, my avatar is my female, my little boy is in my album. Your baby is adorable though! Such a cute face!

Oops :p - I'm sorry! Your little girl is gorgeous!! And now I'll have to run over to your album for a peek at your other little stinker :D.

I forgot to mention too...have you ever thought about working w/ a trainer? Sometimes that can do wonders.

As for the the pharma, I hear you. But I do believe that dogs, like humans, can have brain chemistry imbalances too. Sometimes neurotransmitters just don't work like they should and things go haywire. I don't see ya throwin' in the towel, I just see you wanting quality of life for you both, and that you care for your little fella. :)

Wasn't there someone else on YT that had this sort of experience with her yorkie? What was found was a chemical imbalance (likening it to some lead poison) and the dog was treated for that, but I don't know what was administered, but after a few short weeks it began to correct itself. I'll try and do a search.

found it. Take a look at post # 6.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...kie-drugs.html

Oh my gosh :(...what a sad description at first, but with a happy ending. I wonder what drug it was that was used to help him with his "sensitivity" (ie, the sand on his paws etc). So great to hear of him thriving. :)

I'm not sure, I guess the best way is to find if this person is still an active member and contact her.

It may not be the same condtion. But, everytime I hear about a dog with seperation anxiety, extreme behavior, etc., I think of this post.

I have a dog, one that I Championed, that was extremely hyper and noise sensitive. I couldn't even get a topknot up without him being wrestled and held still. He'd yap at anything, constantly on the move. Guess what I found out? And this is going to sound absolutely stupid and why did it take me so long to figure it out. The dog was talking to me, telling me he had to potty, he didn't want to do it in x-pen or on a pee pad. So, now whenever we do anything with him; bath time, brush time, dinner time or he begins to yap to the point of annoyance....we go out potty, then all is well.

A-HA :)! Sigh...if we could only speak dog....or be better interpreters.

When I fed kibble (I free-fed), Wylie would go over and and paw at his bowl about 9pm *every* night and I'd say "what? what? It's fresh!" -- finally one night I picked up his bowl to see if there was a bug or ANYthing in there. I moved the kibble around w/ my hands, then put the bowl down. He started eating immediately. He was trying to tell me he wanted his kibble "fluffed".

Well, from then on - guess who wanted his kibble fluffed every night at 9pm? :p

OMG, that's terrible, but I admit while his isn't that severe, he is treading dangerously close.

I do know that the quality of his life could be dramatically better. If he didn't stress about so many normal things he could be happy. At bath time, he freezes up and becomes rigid, refusing to move and yelps when the water splashes *ahem* down under. Sometimes he screams when you pick him up, other times he pees on himself while in the submission position. If company comes over he yips, screams and barks (the barking is like rapid fire, if that makes sense). Crating him until company can get through the door only increases his volume. Lately his new favorite thing to do is bark at nothing in the center of the backyard and upon correction, he barks just one more time.

Sometimes when all the planets are in alignment, he is a good dog, this is about 2 hours out of the week.

I know my life would be a lot easier if he was calmer. I really look forward to that.

I'm going to start him on his medicine tonight, I'll post an update in the morning. Wish me luck!

Do you think he's in pain, btw? Sometimes dogs will act this way if they are in physical pain too. With the urine and penile sensitivity, have you ever suspected a UTI or anything? He's not peeing/drinking a lot is he?

Oh! And GOOD LUCK! :D

That's so funny! "Fluffy" kibbles. On occasion Marilynn won't finish her food. We feed them inside their crates (because Melvin will steal hers) and remove the bowl after 20 minutes. If they eat all of it, which the do 90% of time, then great. If they don't the food is put up for the next day. One evening I went to retrieve her dish and let them out, and she had tipped her dish over and covered the kibble with her blanky. She gave me this look as if to say, "Oh, no thank you, I'll be eating my food in my cage later this evening." Sure enough at bedtime the first thing she did when she went to bed was eat a mouthfull of kibble and look up as if to say, "I told you so!"

LOL :D!!! They sure do like their routines, don't they? Wylie also has to take 2 of my socks to bed every night. I don't even know what that's about. He has the funniest quirks. Marcel just looks at him like "am I supposed to like socks? I don't get it" -- bc he likes to mimic his big bro. :p

I don't notice that he drinks any more than he ever has. He marks until nothing comes out. All.The.Time. I assumed this was because he is so insecure and felt the need to assert his dominance at every chance he can get. The yelping/screaming I chalked up to fear and nerves.

UTI is a good theory though, do vets test for that during check-ups or would I have to request it?

You'd probably have to request it. If able (like, if he pees on a tile floor), you can suck urine up into a clean, empty syringe (needle-less, that is) and some vets will let you drop off the urine, no office call. Just depends on the vet. It also saves your dog from having to go through a forced urine collection at the vet. :)

Alright, I'm leaving for the vets now. Cross your fingers and we'll see how tonight goes! It's also storming tonight (he hates thunderstorms, imagine that) so this will be a good test!

I hope the med works for you. Ill be watching for an update

Many years ago after my german shepard went to doggie heaven...my siberian husky was depressed. He lost his best friend. One day hubby and i went out...and we came home to him chewing on the water heater . It was gas mind you! He could have blown up the house plus we didnt have any water for 3 days. I call the vets and he put him on Clonicalm. It was the best thing we did. He was a great dog beforehand, but when his best friend died...he had a huge amount of seperation anxiety. As much as i hated putting him on anything......he really relaxed him to where he could enjoy life again. Good luck with your pup...i hope this works for you too!

Alright, I dosed him last night and here is the update.

At first he milled around outside with a listless look on his face, kind of like he didn't know what had hit him. He didn't beg, scratch or whine to come in. No incessant barking or talking back. It had rained so I let the dogs back in the house and put them in their crates to dry off. So far so good, right?

Wrong, my Mom came over and rang the bell, all hell broke loose. He freakin' looses it when someone rings the bell. He threw a fit, God awful noises came from his cage and I tried to calm him down. It kind of went down hill from there. He had an aggressive outburst with a toy and another dog, snarling and lunging at the other dogs face when they got close to him. I promptly removed the item in question from all thedogs and that was it for toys. The rest of the night I just tried to keep him as calm as possible and tried to interact with him and reinforce calm, positive commands.

Today is day two, he threw a fit this morning before I left for work. I'm holding out hope that things will get better and he'll learn that he doesn't need to dominate all situations and that the world is not ending just because he's in his cage. I'm sure the drug needs to build up in his system for a little while to see the full benefits of it. One of the side effects is "increased volcal outbursts," however, I think it's only temporary. I really hope it's only temporary.

Any suggestions for toy/food aggression? Am I doing it right?

Aw :( - I'm sorry it didn't go better. Anti-depressants can take anywhere from 3-6 weeks to be therapeutic, so even though you may see side effects immediately (ex. drowsiness), you won't really see the true therapeutic value until later. You may see some therapeutic reaction after about a week, but still not full value. Hang in there.

I don't have much experience w/ aggression, but, there are really talented, professional dog trainers who are members here at YT - and they always give incredible advice. You might want to scan the Training section, and also maybe start a thread there.

It will get better! :)

I have a renewed hope that this will be the boost he and I need to tackle these problems.

I'll scan the training section to see what I can dig up, thanks Wylie's Mom.

Yesterday was a little better, aside from the 20 minutes he spent making a noise akin to a dying baby Wookie. If it didn't happen so much it'd be funnier. If I could up load an audio clip I'd post it.

I'm incorporating treats into crating now, to try and make it more positive for him. I get a small handfull of kibble and make him sit for a kibble piece before going to his crate. I figure it'll knock two birds out with one stone (or a handful of kibble), a quick training session and a positive act coupled with the dreaded crate.

It's just so utterly hard to ignore him when he throws a tempter tantrum. That's my only downfall.