The prescription bottle reads, "Take one-half to one tablet by mouth one hour before fireworks," but by midday July 4, the Xanax wasn't helping a 7-year-old cattle dog named Camille.
Dr. Katie Reese, a veterinarian in Bozeman, Montana, prescribed the Xanax because Camille is a nervous prick-eared dog who needs anti-anxiety relief to deal with the loud booms and explosions that come with celebrating America’s independence.
That can be especially traumatic for animals over long three-day Fourth of July weekends like this one.
Under the best circumstances, Camille carries herself with the wary, edgy demeanor of a cop walking a beat where she’s been jumped before.
Camille has been taunted by squirrels throwing nuts and magpies dive-bombing her in the backyard. Those experiences did not require medication, but come the Fourth of July, Camille is ready for the semi-calming relief of Xanax.
The medication belongs to a class of drugs called benzodiazepines, primarily used to treat anxiety disorders and panic attacks. It’s prescribed for humans and dogs who really don't like the unpredictable loud noises that come when thunderstorms roll through and when fireworks are fired off.
That's exactly what happened in Bozeman on July 4, sending Camille diving for cover under a desk despite wearing her "Thunder Shirt," a velcro wrap designed to make her feel emotionally supported during fireworks and thunderstorms.
For more than an hour, the sound of fireworks in was replaced with the random roar of a passing thunderstorm.
"Some dogs, like if you drive over a cattle guard and they don't like that noise and that feeling, they'll be afraid to go in the car from that point forward," Reese explained. "Some breeds are more anxious than others because of what they've been bred for.”
As a hyper-vigilant cattle dog, Camille is prone to monitoring everything all the time.
That’s about the opposite as golden retrievers who, as Reese put it, "don't care about anything."
The difference comes down to breeding and personality, though Reese admits she's seen "golden retrievers who are like crazy anxious about everything" too.
After the thunderstorm passed over, Camille just kept panting despite her Thunder Shirt, so it was time for another half tablet. Then she retreated to the darkest, most remote corner of her home.
Pill For Pows
Anxiolytics are medications used to treat anxiety in humans and animals, including dogs.
Reese explained that unlike other anti-anxiety medications like Prozac, which needs to build up in the bloodstream over time, Xanax works quickly for specific situations.
"You can't use Prozac on an as-needed basis because it needs to get in your bloodstream and stay at a steady state. So, it's not good for this purpose,” said Reese.
Whether it’s an anti-anxiety medicine or a sedative, employees at Homestead Hound Kennel near Hoback Junction, Wyoming, need to know how to treat the idiosyncratic responses of different dogs during the loud crackles and pops of the Fourth.
Homestead Hound owner Elizabeth Hendren deals with nervous dogs every Fourth of July by playing music louder and keeping windows closed.
Dog owners sometimes bring medication for particularly stressed pets, but Hendren has noticed something interesting helpful about bringing nervous dogs to her kennel.
"We do have a lot of dogs here that aren't as stressed, and I think seeing other dogs not be stressed helps the ones that do get a little bit upset," Hendren said.
The kennel handles about 20 dogs at once, perhaps projecting a pack mentality that can calm anxious animals.
When asked about the most outrageous fireworks responses she's witnessed, Hendren admitted she hasn't seen the extreme cases.
"I think the worst we've gotten is a dog kind of gets a little bit shaken or kind of, like, he wants to hide under stuff, but usually they're able to be coaxed and comforted,” said Hendren, who has done her homework when it comes to getting her kennel dogs to chill.
“I read a study in Europe that soft rock, reggae and classical music are kind of top picks for soothing music for dogs and shelters,” she said.
For dogs that need extra attention, Hendren moves them to the manager's house for more personalized comfort. The kennel even has a special "puppy playlist" of instrumental music.
The clientele includes memorably named dogs like Cheeseburger, Pickles and Chewy, plus a family with dogs named after different types of alcohol — Whiskey and Scotch.
Then there were Smith and Wesson, whose specific attitude about loud noises was not known.
Extreme Responses
When fireworks anxiety leads to erratic behavior, sometimes the dogs wind up in Reese’s clinic.
"I've definitely seen a dog that jumped through a plate glass window," she said, describing a fireworks-inspired accident during her 10 years practicing in Boulder, Colorado.
"They usually are trying to destroy the space that they're in in order to escape the noise,” she said. “So, they think that if they can get out of the kennel, out of the house, out of the yard, the noise will stop."
That sounds like Tuff.
Lynda Rammell's family had a great dane named Tuff who really did not like fireworks.
As part of the team who run Wyoming Veterinary Center in Rock Springs, Rammell helped deal with Tuff when the sound of exploding fireworks sent him into a panic. He couldn't be left alone in a room because he would destroy it as the explosion-induced anxiety set in.
"We did try earmuffs," said Rammell, who remembered Tuff getting a sedative injection so he could sleep through the loudest parts of the Independence Day holiday.
Then there was Rammell's black Lab Beau, who loved fireworks, "Because he thought that meant it was time to go hunting," remembered Rammell.
On the Fourth of July, Rammell made sure Beau was secured inside. Otherwise, he would run around the neighborhood chasing fireballs shot out of Roman candles like they were meant for playing fetch.
"He would try to bite them," said Rammell, who said dog owners started showing up this week at Wyoming Veterinary Center to pick up prescriptions for Sileo, a medicated gel that is administered between the cheek and gum of the dog.
It helps to calm dogs during stressful situations like loud noises without causing excessive drowsiness.
Rammell said it also works with dogs who need help relaxing while traveling.
‘No Magic Bullet’
The reality when it comes to reducing the stress fireworks and thunderstorms can cause, Reese said that, "There is no magic bullet." Even with medication, the best pet owners can hope for is damage control.
"Instead of them destroying the house or jumping through windows or whatever, they'll have their breakdown in a closet instead,” said Reese.
Reese's personal preference would be "to outlaw fireworks because so many dogs and so many humans have a really hard time with them,” she said. “At least like the indiscriminate use. Maybe one night and done, but this, like, two weeks of fireworks is a big problem."
In the meantime, cue the Captain and Tennille, that soft rock power couple whose music lives on as audible relief for doggie fireworks trauma.
Or, maybe the Fourth of July is a good time to get away from it all and take the dogs into the middle of nowhere where it’s quiet, and there’s plenty of that in Wyoming and Montana.
As evening approached July 4, Camille's curled up to the sound of the Captain tickling the keys and Tennille singing “Muskrat Love.”
Whether it was the Xanax or therapeutic power of soft rock, Camille finally found relief as darkness fell. It lasted just a few minutes because that’s when the fireworks really started.
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
