Doggie Downers

Gypsy has always been a "Nervous Nellie." I'm not sure if this is just something that is in her DNA or if it is a result of the way we raised her. Probably a combination of both I suspect. From the beginning, she has always been happiest when she is with us, not by herself. To this day she hates it if we leave her behind while we go out. If it is hot or rainy we leave her in the office. She has a bed in there and she can look out the front windows. When I tell her to go in the office, her tail drops and her head hangs low. Lately, when we return, we can hear her crying and whimpering. If we leave her with friends or even family, she does the same thing. The last time I left her with my sister in a house with a few kids and another dog to play with, all she did was pace back and forth, crying until I returned. I think with age she is getting a bit more insecure.

Gyp is getting increasingly nervous while she is outside too. When we put her in the yard by herself, she paces back and forth between the back door and the deck. She sits and stares at the door and then paces to the deck and stares in the window. She then goes back to the door. She is wearing a path between he two. If I go out back and join her, she jumps (literally) for joy and grabs Dino and wants to play.
We talked about all of the above with our Vet that just happens to live across the street. How convenient is that. Plus she is the owner of NOBELLS. Anyway, she suggested we put Gypsy on a mild Doggie Downer to try to take the edge off. I don't really like the thought of medicating my dog for something like this but I am not sure we have another choice. We began giving her just a tiny dose on Friday to see how she responds. I'm not so sure I see a difference in her yet. We will give it a few days and see how it goes. We just want Gypsy to be happy and less stressed out.