I have been seeing a 6 year old Belgian Tervuren with a longstanding history of compulsive behaviour. She will obsessively lick an area of carpet for long periods of time. She also barbers her own coat behind the back legs. She has had thunderstorm and noise phobias, and on occasion has panic attacks. The owners have been to a behaviourist who tried out a course of Prozac, to no effect. She lives with another tervuren who is the more dominant dog and occasionally is bullied. Sometimes she is aggressive to other dogs in general.
My impression of the dog is that she is quite high strung and very nervous. Bloodwork is unremarkable, and aside from a dry coat, no significant abnormalities are present. Since I had both dogs to compare, I did notice that her tongue was a pale shade of lavender, and that her pulse compared to her housemate's was also strong in terms of amplitude, but did not seem to have as much depth or substance (sorry, not sure if that makes any sense). Owners are concerned that she is not particularly happy, and would be open to trying herbal products. What do you recommend for this patient?
Thanks, Kit