Hi all, looking for some advice.

SHORT VERSION:
I have a 7 month old basset who I rescued two months ago. She wasn’t socialized as a puppy, has no history of known abuse (the couple rehomed her simply because of their declining health and were no longer able to physically or financially care for her anymore). However, for over the past month, she has been exhibiting extremely fearful behavior and is scared of pretty much anything and everything outside. Vet prescribed trazodone to be taken every morning, but I’ve found this just makes her sleepy, and while it helped some at the beginning, now it seems like she’s more hyper vigilant when outside, which makes training almost impossible, and it seems to be having an adverse effect. We have a behaviorist appointment later this month, but it’s going to cost $125 just for an evaluation, and I’m worried we can’t wait that long because I don’t want the fear to worsen and her trazodone is almost out. Has prozac been beneficial for dogs with intense fear behaviors? How can I expedite this process?

LONG STORY:
Almost two months ago, I brought home an at the time 5 month old basset puppy. The first few weeks were great–she loved going on walks, meeting new people, being outside, and exploring all the newness in her new city. If there was an adventure, she was up for it.

Then one week, everything changed.

There were two incidents (one at Petsmart and outside of our apartment) where there were sudden loud noises, leaving her startled pretty badly, and ever since then, she hasn’t been the same. She has good days and bad days, and every time I think we’re making progress, then a new fear arises, such as now she is afraid of anyone walking by us, car doors shutting, sudden noises, cars starting, basically anything outside. Just the other day, I was so excited because SHE wanted to willingly walk past where we usually walk, well then she heard a noise, and literally tried to BOLT across the street. I was literally so terrified because cars were coming, and she was fighting to get out of her harness to run, and thankfully the car stopped, but it was terrifying.

She won’t go on walks or even walk past certain areas of our street, and I’m really worried because we live in a college town, right next to the football stadium. Literally tens of thousands of people will be coming almost every weekend for the rest of the year, and I am so insanely worried about how her fear will progress. Her initial vet said to give her trazodone and take her to the tailgating area that will be swarmed with people, but how can I effectively train her when she is out of it on medicine and already sleepy? I’m just so at a loss of what to do, and I miss my sweet girl who was fearless and didn’t want to come in from a walk, and now I have to bribe her with treats just to take an extra two steps.

The vet we go to now has a behaviorist on staff, and she is scheduled to go later this month; however, she gets spayed on Monday, so I am unsure if she will be recovered enough in time for the behaviorist evaluation. The evaluation itself also is $125, so I am just feeling overwhelmed by all of this, as it’s much more than I ever thought I’d have to take on with her. I love her so much, so I’m willing to do whatever, but I really am just feeling so overwhelmed with it all and at a loss because she was the perfect puppy when I first brought her home and seeing her so fearful and scared of everything makes me so sad

Would she be a good candidate for prozac? If I called her vet do you think they’d prescribe it based on her history of traz and there not seeming to be any progress? Any advice?