Thundershirt Review- Day 2

Well, we're on to day 2 of wearing the thundershirt. Bamm wore his shirt off and on today so that he's not just wearing it in his crate. I don't want him to think that the T-shirt always equals the crate because then the shirt will begin to lose the value and purpose for which it's intended. He wore the shirt outside playing ball and inside relaxing at my feet. He wore it a few times for periods of about 20 minutes each.

We also spent a little time today doing some crate clicker exercises while he wore his thundershirt. First you click just for him going into the crate with the crate door remaining open. The next step is to close the crate door, take one step away, click the clicker and return. You keep doing the same thing moving another step away with each time until you're out the door and out of the room. You eventually build up how long Bamm can remain calm in the crate. It takes a while and it takes patience. Since his anxiety seems to charge up when I leave the room, I'm not rewarding him with treats in this exercise, which is different for me since I use treats in the majority of my training sessions when we're learning something new. His reinforcer is my returning to him after I've clicked for him remaining calm. If he starts to whine at a particular step then I start over from step one.

Overall he did exceptionally well with the crate exercises and I'm hoping tomorrow we'll have even more success. I'm trying to stay at a pace he is comfortable with though so if we don't progress forward much tomorrow that's ok. It's going to probably just take some time.

I did have to crate him while I took my shower today and during the time my mom's dog was out of her own crate. I gave him a little rescue remedy, put on the thundershirt and set him up in Cricket's crate with his new bone. Cricket's crate is a tad bit too small for him, but he seems to be a little more comfortable in there so while we work on building him up to staying in his crate in the office, I'm just going to crate him in Cricket's crate when I absolutely have to have him crated for longer periods of time. He ended up falling asleep and kept pretty quiet the whole time. The only time he started barking and crying was when the neighbor kid rang our doorbell, thanks kid.

So, as of now day 2 with the thundershirt has been pretty successful. I think the fact that I paired the crate exercises with the thundershirt helped out a ton. We're still not out of high water yet though. This anxiety behavior is going to take more than a day or two to curb. It could take months or even longer and I need to be prepared for that possibility. I'm trying to be super patient and try different things to help build up Bamm's comfort, confidence and reward him for being calm.

Tomorrow if the weather is nice we're going to do some fun games outside to stimulate him some more mentally before his crate time. My husband bought him a soccer ball and 4 orange cones so I can start teaching him soccer. We had a great first training session with the soccer ball on Monday and he's already catching onto it pretty quickly. It helps that he already knows a target command (touching with nose) so teaching him to bump the ball with his nose instead of biting it is turning out to be a breeze. Eventually I'm planning to have him do more than just knock the soccer through a goal with his nose. Would be pretty cool to teach him to weave in and out of the cones pushing the ball with his nose if I set them up in a row almost like weave poles. I'm sure I'll come up with some fun creative ideas.

I do not have a video to show of Bamm in his crate today. I completely blanked and didn't even set up the camera. I will do so tomorrow though.

Thundershirt Review- Day 1

A sudden change in Bamm's routine sent his separation anxiety to a whole new level. I'm exhausted trying to find new ways to calm him down. I've tried dramamine, rescue remedy, lavender collars, plenty of exercise and mentally stimulating games. I play music in the room with him usually and I'm trying to learn how to do TTouch to see if that will help. So far everything that I've actually tried has not worked.

We just recently moved to GA to live with my parents while my husband and I save some money before our final move back to Virginia. Bamm is dog reactive as is my mom's dog, Layla. Two dog reactive dogs in the presence of each other can equal disaster especially being that my border collie mix far exceeds my mom's little shih tzu in both weight and stamina. I worry that a fight may break out so as a precaution, the dogs are under a crate and rotate schedule, much to Bamm's dismay. We have been working on the dogs being around each other on leash whenever we can. We take them for walks together and they seem to do ok with that as long as they don't have to be right next to each other. Bamm is used to having his crate in the common room where he can go in and out as he pleases. Now his crate has to be in a closed room where my mom's dog can't get anywhere near him. Combine being in a new house with spending approximately 5 hours out of the day confined in a room alone and you've got a super stressful and anxious dog set in overdrive.

Bamm has always been a fearful and anxious dog for as long as I've had him. We've worked on confidence building and we've done training and games to help ease his anxiety. We had come a long way and he was doing so well. This temporary move to my mom's and sudden complete change in his normal routine has him feeling forced out of his comfort zone and it's caused him to relapse a bit in the area of separation anxiety.

I love this dog and it's always been my goal to continually set him up for success. This major set back has me feeling like I'm failing him big time and I'm frustrated that his crate is turning into a scary place for him now despite my efforts with crate games to make it fun and comforting. Now when I tell him to crate he pins his ears back and down towards the side of his head, tail between the legs and he'll turn his head away from me. When he is crated he cries, spins circles in his crate, jumps in his crate, pants really hard, flicks his tongue and paws at the crate door in effort to get out.

A few people I know who have had success with the thundershirt recommended that I give it a shot. You can check out their website at http://www.thundershirt.com/ . I'll be honest, I'm a bit skeptical of the thundershirt. Nothing I've tried so far is working so I need to go ahead and give it a shot. I've heard amazing reviews about it and they have a 100% money back guarantee within 45 days of purchase. What do I have to lose by giving it a try?

The thundershirt came in today and I introduced it to Bamm along with a handful of yummy dog biscuits. It fits him perfectly and he wore it around the house for a little bit modeling his new fashionable merchandise. Cricket followed him around thinking his new addition was a tug toy, oh dear.

Finally the moment came. It was time to crate Bamm. I told him to go to his crate and he tried to go into the puppy's crate instead. Seriously Bamm? Her crate is way too small for him, but he seems to always want to go in her crate. Once he was safely crated in his own crate and I had set up a video camera (I'm going to video tape him while I review the thundershirt), I shut the door and crossed my fingers. All I heard on the other side of the door was complete silence. Maybe just maybe this piece of fabric really is everything people make it out to be.

No sooner had I reached the bottom of the stairs I heard a whine. My heart sank. I know I can't expect a quick fix and that helping Bamm work through this is going to take time and a lot of patience on my part, but a small part of me might have been hoping for a thundershirt miracle. After reviewing my tape I do see a change in how much anxiety he shows. After day 1 with the thundershirt he still proved to be super anxious in his crate. He whined, panted, flicked his tongue a few times, moved around a bit and pawed at the crate door. He wasn't jumping and spinning non stop in his crate as he usually does so there seems to be some improvement even if mild.

Click play to watch Bamm in his crate with the Thundershirt on. I'll be taping as often as I can while I review the thundershirt and as I try other methods to help him feel more comfortable when he is crated alone.