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.
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