11/11/2025
Medication for anxiety can be helpful for many dogs, but it’s often not a ‘cure’ on its own when it comes to grooming.
Even as recently as a year ago, when asked, I’d have said I hadn’t seen much benefit personally.
But the more dogs I’ve worked with — and the more I’ve needed owners to involve their vets — the more I’ve seen some genuinely positive outcomes, where medication has made a real difference for a dog.
Lovely boy George has extremely high anxiety when it comes to having his paws handled. He’s had a full vet check and a shave under sedation, which gave us the chance to start again from scratch.
The medication prescribed by his vet doesn’t sedate him — he’s still very much himself — but it takes the edge off just enough for us to work in a calmer, more positive way that he can actually learn from.
It’s not a cure, though. We’re still focusing on desensitising, building confidence, and helping him learn that paw handling doesn’t always have to feel so overwhelming.
Even with medication, dogs can still have harder days. Fireworks, changes in routine, or even just how they’re feeling that day can make things trickier — and that was definitely the case for George on his latest visit.
There’s no quick fix for dogs like him, and sometimes progress doesn’t look neat or linear — but it’s the kind of progress that happens in real life💛🐾
