Many dogs suffer from a fear of thunder. Your dog may suffer from an
irrational fear of storms. Signs of this fear can display as trembling
and shaking, hiding in areas such as under beds or under furniture,
trying to get close to you, howling, barking and panting & drooling. Dogs have
been known to flee in storms. They will break out of yards and run not
knowing where they are going. They can destroy walls, gates, doors and
furniture and fittings in
their fear to escape the noise of the storm (or fireworks). During a
storm their anxiety and stress levels are very high and it is difficult
to calm them.
It has been discovered that by
wrapping your dog in a firm snug fitting garment you can alleviate
much of his anxiety and stress. The idea is to apply constant
pressure over a large part of your dog's body. It has been
claimed that anxiety levels have been reduced in up to 85% of
dogs using this method.
You
could use a close fitting doggy T Shirt. It depends on the size of
your dog but children's clothing is often suitable. Swim Shirts
(also called Swim Guards) are elasticised and can apply firm
pressure to your dog's body.
Whatever garment you choose the effectiveness
depends on the fitting of the clothing. For example a loose
fitting shirt is useless. The garment must be snug fitting so
that it can apply a firm pressure.
There are a number of commercial garments available for example: The
Thundershirt as pictured above or
The Anxiety Wrap as pictured at right
The Anxiety Wrap TM
Firm fitting garments have also been used successfully in
the aid of
Separation Anxiety and other anxiety related behaviors in dogs.
You
could use a close fitting doggy T Shirt. It depends on the size of
your dog but children's clothing is often suitable. Swim Shirts
(also called Swim Guards) are elasticised and can apply firm
pressure to your dog's body.
