We've tried ace...nothing...benadryl nothing...the both the vet and the pharmacological specialist said that with things like ace and xanax not working, it's not even worth trying valerian root, melatonin, etc...she said they've seen dogs like this before, and sometimes they just have to play around to find the correct medication that will finally knock him out....We started on a lower dose of xanax, but it had no effect on him...so we worked our way up...last night was the first dose of 2 mg.
Let's put it this way...they tried to give him dormitor at the vet one day to do a procedure, and it had no effect on him...they ended up actually having to give him propofol to knock him out...and with that, when he woke up, most dogs are still a little groggy - no, he spent the day circling and jumping in the kennel run!
Here's the problem, Nemo tore his ACL...partial tear...I took him to a specialist...considered one of the top in the country - especially for working dogs (in fact, they get referrals from all over the country)...With his age, and the fact that it wasn't a full tear, we opted to try therapy. Prior to the surgery, we did remove some of the fluid to send out for a cytology, and they gave him a cortisone injection. We've been doing laser therapy for a few weeks, and we decided to put him on the treadmill for the first time. This was Tuesday. He did 3 minutes on the underwater treadmill, and came out and was fine. We even did the gait analysis on him after that, which showed he was using both back legs equally...well, later that night, he was lame on that leg...
So, now, we're really working to keep him calm so he doesn't do further injury...but he's an idiot (even prior to this he was the highest energy dog in the house)...
The other issue is this: they have to be very careful with what they put him on because many "normal" drugs can affect his sense of smell a bit. In most dogs that wouldn't matter...in him, he's fully trained for narcotics detection (and we're going to head to NC this summer to finish MY training on him, and get us certified)...that's why they're in consultation with a pharmacological specialist, as well...they just don't want to mess with that....
I'm shooting Dr. Faith an email right now...she's going to call in a prescription of robaxin for us...and I'm going to tell her about my dumba$$...in the meantime, I'm not giving him that dosage of xanax again...