Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Supplements Calming Care Dog Supplement, 30 ct

I was deeply skeptical about this supplement. I'm writing a review because it has helped our sweet little guy so substantially that I want other owners to know about it as they might have a similar situation. We have a 7 year old Coton de Tulear, and this product has significantly reduced his anxiety behaviors and improved his overall wellbeing. He's been on it for about 2 months now, and within a month we noticed he was more relaxed, snuggly, less anxiety barking, and most surprisingly that he is more playful -- back to his original/real self. He also loves eating the supplement which is liver powder and one strain of bacteria known to help with IBS. Backstory/longer version: Our little guy started having stomach issues when he was about 8 months old. I think what kicked it off was a freeze dried raw salmon pellet topper that I added to his food on a whim (bacteria freeze dries quite easily too). His stomach issues worsened and worsened to the point that I was at my wits end. My brother renamed him the "doo doo demon" on one occasion where I was out for a period of 90mins he pooped all over the house. It was a nightmare. Everything and anything would upset his system, and we cut out all treats and chew sticks. Finally the vet and I put him on a daily digestive health supplement - Proviable - and this 80% turned the situation around. We went for almost half a year without a major diarrhea episode. I highly recommend Proviable. However, it didn't completely solve the issue. He would still periodically have a "doo doo demon" episodes, and he still wasn't his old self. Most of the time an episode occurred when someone decided to give him some kind of treat or human food on the sly - a couple bites of fish or he snagged something dropped by a child. But there were a few occasions where we could not identify the trigger. Around this time I began noticing that the anxiety behaviors were worse when his stomach was upset. He also seemed like he was becoming a grumpy little old man kind of dog... A helpful extended family member (who dealt with his anxiety and stomach issues) came across this and we added it in thinking it couldn't hurt. I did not expect to see much change given we had him on proviable, and we'd done so much work to get his GI system stabilized. It's been remarkable to see how much better he feels. We first noticed that he was more snuggly and more affectionate. I often described Coton's as "cat dog" in temperament --- they want cuddles but on their terms. He is now seeking out and initiating far more snuggling (and with multiple family members). He is far calmer and less jumpy when we roll him over and rub his tummy. He's less aggressive in terms of barking at the delivery men and less jumpy in the park with big dogs. His digestive system is healthier and we've had 0 episodes even after he's snagged some dropped human food (toddler...). Also it feels like he's reverse aged because he's now seeking out playtime with multiple family members and goofing around/engaging with us. He's just happier. It's fantastic. I'm really grateful that we found this and that he's doing so much better.

I got this for one of my dogs, Jack, who can be pretty anxious and nervous, and this has genuinely made a noticeable difference for him. Sadly, Jack had a rough life before joining our household, and he definitely has some lasting effects from whatever happened to him. He’s getting better every day, but this has helped considerably. I can gently correct him for misbehaving now without him reacting like the world is ending or like he’s afraid he might be hit. He’s also much less likely to run and cower in a corner when something unexpected startles him. For us, that’s a pretty significant improvement. It comes in individual powder packets that are easy to open and sprinkle over his food. He eats his meals normally with it mixed in, so adding it to his daily routine has been simple. What I like most is that it doesn’t seem to change his personality or make him lethargic. He’s still completely himself, alert, playful, energetic, and increasingly confident. He just seems considerably more settled and better able to handle things that would normally make him nervous or worked up. I wasn’t really sure how much of a difference a nutritional supplement like this would make, but with Jack the improvement has been noticeable. Obviously every dog is different, but this has helped him a TON. Based on our experience, I’ll absolutely continue using it. For the attached images, one is him out on an adventure with me happy as can be, and the other on his dog bed is the week we got him, when he wouldn't even eat. You can visibly see a change in him between those images, taken 4 weeks apart. #ILikeDogsMoreThanPeople 🤣

Really settles our 3 energetic fur babies down in evenings. We give with their dinner and they are simply a tad more calm

There’s a lot of evident misunderstanding about this product in the reviews. 1. It’s not a probiotic for digestion; it’s for anxiety/helping to keep your dog calm(er than they might be otherwise). If they need a probiotic for digestion, that will have to be given separately; my dog gets both. 2. This will not be effective if you only give it occasionally, e.g. on the day of a vet visit or when there are fireworks. The directions on the package and in the product images here say “may take up to six weeks for full effect.” So don’t give it a bad review if you only give it for one day or a week and think it doesn’t work. Now for my actual review. My dog is reactive to other dogs while on leash; I believe it stems from a combination of frustrated greeter and anxiety/fear. She’s also a strong leash puller and the reactivity often kept her in a state where she was not receptive to training on the pulling issue. I was just about ready to try medication but I happened to hear about this supplement, so I gave it the full six week trial. I was not expecting a magic bullet here; all I wanted was something to “take the edge off” enough so that the dog is not permanently above threshold and unable to focus for the rest of a walk after she sees one dog. We’ve just passed the six week mark, and I *do* think it’s having the effect I was hoping for. She definitely still can have a meltdown if we can’t avoid passing very close to another dog, or if one barks or growls at her; but for instance when we passed a calm dog on a tie-out in his yard while we were on the sidewalk, she whined but did not scream and didn’t even pull very hard. This is progress! Moreover, in the absence of any triggers (dogs, cats, wildlife, noisy vehicles), she has finally started catching on to the check-in method of training to stop leash pulling. I had been trying that and various other methods for three years with virtually no effect. So by my assessment, the Calming Care did not magically fix everything (and I wasn’t expecting it to), but it seems to have brought us to a point where training is possible. She’s always been a handful at the vet as well, but we haven’t had a chance to test the effect of this product in that situation yet. I’ll try to remember to update my review when we do.

I don’t even know if it works yet we have started a multitude of different things to help my dogs anxiety. he is a 13 year old german shepherd chow mix and one hell of a picky eater he starves himself when we feed him breakfast because we only use one packet at night and he loves the taste of this stuff more than anything we’ve fed him including wet food if you put wet food and a bowl with this topper on it he will pick this every time.

This probiotic works VERY WELL in perhaps most dogs. We are so much a product of what is colonizing our guts, human and beast alike! We don't even realize that what we eat AFFECTS WHAT WE THINK (this is an entire field of research and it is fascinating and well established!) This is a HIGHLY DESIRED PROBIOTIC, but PURINA IS CHARGING TOOOO MUCH FOR THIS PROBIOTIC ... (current pricing January 2024 is over a dollar a day! Available in January 2024 in other packaging for less than 25 cents per day!) ...simply because of their name, the perceived exclusive access, and some broth flavoring. >>> Instead, search for Probiotics Bifidobacterium Longum BB536 ... Available here on Amazon, and save yourself a lot of money, and send a message to Purina that we consumers can research medical literature and figure out that Bifidobacterium Longum BB536 is the EXACT SAME probiotic! Some bacteria have been given a different name in the past to now, the same as plants can have more than one botanical name -- actually they have an older name and a corrected updated name. It is common for example in te plant trade for nurseries to not give up an old botanical name and yet current scientific literature has the new botanical name. So one must know both names to learn accurate information about such particular plants. That is what is happening here. Research it for yourself if you desire on Google Scholar and other published science search sites. It did take me a day of research to figure it out, but I had a hunch that since I could not find this name ANYWHERE --- WHY IS THAT??? -- that there was perhaps another name at play. Why would Purina be the ONLY access to a particular probiotic??!!! That answer is: THEY ARE NOT THE ONLY ACCESS. And what else is happening here is that Purina has found a lifesaving control for anxious pets, and priced it obscenely high. Search for BB536 and save yourself a heap of money. Break open the capsules and sprinkle on pet's food. Watch their calmness levels increase. Highly recommend the probiotic. I do use other of Purina's products for quality at a decent price. Wake up Purina and stop gouging the public.

This is a great product and has really helped calm my dog down but unfortunately the product was expired when it came this last time. Hopefully they will send me a new one.

I purchased these for my anxious dog to help take the edge off, and while I didn’t see a noticeable calming effect for him personally, I still think it’s worth sharing our experience. My dog (about 100 lbs and a bit of a menace 😅) managed to get onto the counter and ate all 30 packets at once. Thankfully, it did not harm him at all, which honestly gave me a lot of peace of mind regarding the safety of this supplement. That said, even after that accidental “mega dose,” it didn’t make him any calmer, so it just may not be strong enough for dogs with higher anxiety levels. I do appreciate that it’s a gentle option and a nice thing to try for dogs who need mild support, even if it wasn’t the right fit for mine. Safe, easy to use, but results may vary depending on the dog.

Within 4 weeks of using this, my dog’s anxiety noticeably decreased and her appetite improved, (she’s usually a very picky eater). When I ran out for a few weeks, her anxious behavior and poor appetite came right back which made me realize how much this product works. This product is amazing. Highly recommend!