Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets Calming Care Liver Flavored Powder Calming Supplement for Dogs

This Rough Collie has a fascination for school buses. When the buses come by the house or are stopped out front, she spins, paces, and barks incessantly. She is beautifully obedience trained and doesn't react to any other stimulus. She isn't reactive to dogs, other people, other vehicles, just the school buses. I wanted to try the Calming Care to see if it would help her get herself under control. I started with part of a packet to be sure is didn't cause diarrhea. Over the next few days I increased the dose until she was getting the recommended dose. At the end of a week of the full dose she began to exhibit a very exaggerated startle reflex. Any sharp noise would cause her to cower or cringe and shiver. This went on for a few days and it was sad to see. So I stopped the Calming Care. After a week of not using the product, and with no other changes to her diet or environment she reverted to her usual bouncy happy Collie self. I was curious so I started the product again. Started with half a packet and worked up to the full dose. In three days she began to manifest the same high startle reflex, cringing, and shivering when sharp noises occured. So I stopped the product again. And in a week she was back to her old self. Back to barking at the school buses but it certainly was preferable to having her demonstrating the high startle reflex and being so afraid. She is an adult Rough Collie and she is tested as an MDR1 dog. Maybe this makes a difference with using the product. If you have a herding dog perhaps it would be wise to do some research into the products that are not appropriate for dog with the MDR1 gene mutation. You can find information by Goggling MDR1 dog breeds and medication sensitivity.