kbender

Eileen, please remove my name from the board. Thanks!

If I'm not mistaken, I believe she has 2 puppys (Popcorn and Pepper, right?). Also, my fear is the age of the toddler. Some children just aren't ready for a dog (or two?) till they get a bit older, especially one (or two?) that will be large and active like a BC.

I believe so. The profiles are a bit similar. Oh dear...

No chance of knowing who the manufacturer is? I was going to suggest sending a story and photo to them and see if they can send a new "George" and tell Thomas the "toy hospital" made him all better.

Has anyone tried Flavocin?

Glad to hear you're safe. As for the cats, why don't you keep cat-carriers handy for just such an occasion. Do you have a couple you use to transport them to the vet? For the short period of time you'd be in shelter-mode, that should be fine. We're just outside of Chicago and luckily only had a lot of thunderstorms and heard about quite a few downed power lines. Our dog was a mess during the thunderstorms. They seemed to come in waves. Just when I was finally getting her calm, they'd start again, all through the night. She and I only got about an hour sleep. I had to go to work the in am...she got to sleep in.

What a great idea, I didn't think of the library. Thanks!

She's afraid of confinement, no matter what. We've tried 3 styles of crates/cages and she refused all of them. With or without bad weather. We're working on it. We're up to the point where she's willing to get the front half of her body in, but that's all. One step forward, two steps back. It's just a matter of trust at this point.

Regarding the wrap, they do recommend putting it on the dog at other times besides before/during storms so the animal doesn't associate it with fear, I guess that's just common sense. My dog is a rescue that was already effected by storms by the time we got her, so damage is done. Now we're just trying to learn to cope and help her. As for talking to the vet, trust me, WE HAVE! He's at a loss for now. His only recommendation is drug therapy, but I agree in that the long term effects can be harmful. I'd rather find a safer alternative, if we can. As I mentioned in a post above, we tried an experiment with a shirt of mine and I think it helped, but not sure. A real storm would be the real test. In the meantime, over the weekend, I modified the shirt so it fits better and hopefully act the same as the anxiety wrap. Time will tell whether or not it will even work. But it's at least worth a try. I can appreciate everyones input on this on all sides. This is a tough situation for some of these dogs (and owners). We only want the best for these poor things and it's hard to know what to do sometimes. It's hard to get ours to settle down and focus on playing, training or whatever when she's terrified and running around. She's also afraid of a crate (maybe one was used as punishment by her previous owners, but we're working on this issue, too), so we can't get her to go in one "for safety".

Hi KrisK, I've checked online and found a few folks several miles from us that use TTouch, but on equestrian. Still worth looking into, though, in case they do any training, etc. on dogs, too. I'm definitely interested in learning more about this. Also, I've printed out some info I found on how to do this and have been trying it for a few days now and it really seems to help (at least, I think I'm doing it right). Our worry is if/when we are gone all day, she won't be able to benefit from TTouch then. The wrap theory might be the answer. Thanks very much!

I'm really encouraged by what I've been hearing regarding a wrap. So far, I have not heard or read a single negative review from anyone who's tried this. And it's a much better and safer alternative to the drug therapy, which is encouraging. Yesterday afternoon, I went through my workout clothes and found a spandex tank top that I thought might work, so I slipped that on her (arm holes were ackward on her, she didn't like that part). Later in the evening, there was some fireworks in a neighboring village, and it didn't seem to wake her from a nap. When we went to bed, I took it off her and then some kids down the street blew off some firecrackers. That upset her and we ignored her jumping on and off the bed and pacing the floor. She eventually settled down after about 15 minutes. During the night, she heard some thunder and woke us up, so I took her downstairs and slipped the shirt back on her. She immediately laid on her blanket and went right to sleep. We didn't have any rain, she just heard a passing cloud with some heat thunder going over (this dog has radar ears!). The real test will be an actual storm, but I was already surprised and impressed with just the shirt. Can a solution to these poor dogs fear really be this simple? Thanks for the encouragement and info on the wrap/cape!! This is has been a real dilemma for us, we've had to cancel appts. just to stay home with her and keep her from hurting herself whenever it rains. Maybe we found the answer.

I agree about the possibility of "latest schemes", which is why I posted the question to begin with. And I would have been more willing to discuss it with you two had you responded with a little more respect, rather than just shoot back a smart-a** childish remark. I've also heard about the TTouch and am currently trying that. But, I'm also looking for other alternatives like that which is why I posted the question about the wrap. As I've since stated, I've been researching this idea and was looking for others in the same position and who have done the same research.

First off, thanks very much to the 3 of your responded like adults! We've tried to hold and pet her, but that didn't seem to work, in fact, I think it actually made it worse. They say to never coddle a dog when it's behaving fearful, cause that sends the wrong message to the dog. I've also tried to cover her with a blanket, hoping the darkness would give her a feeling of safety. No dice, she's too busy running around like a maniac. We've tried music, Rescue Remedy, Benadryl and just plain ignoring her and trying to act like we don't notice. But that's hopeless when she jumps on and runs across the table after a loud boom of thunder (she's 45 lbs). I've been reading a lot of websites about this wrap (all positive reviews, so far) and just wanted to hear if anyone here had tried it or something similar to the wrap. To anyone who doesn't have this problem with their dog, you're lucky. But don't make jokes. I've been told of one dog who became so disoriented with fear from a thunderstorm that she put herself through a large glass window. She didn't make it!

Has anyone ever heard of this or tried it? It's a vest that dogs wear that's meant to help with fear of thunderstorms, etc. by putting pressure on certain parts of the body. It costs about $65.00 and we're leary to pay that kind of money if others haven't had any luck with it. Here's their website: http://www.sitstay.com/store/clothing/anxwrap.shtml Thanks