Chewy is one of those dogs that has a little anxiety from time to time. Usually it is really manageable and he is a happy dog. But, there are those other moments where it gets a little out of control.
Thunderstorms are his weakness and really throw Chewy for loop. He starts panting, shaking, pacing, and needs to be as close as possible to us. This usually means that he is in our bed, on top of our pillows (which our heads are lying on as we try to sleep).
After the crazy storm that lasted most of the night back in June, we immediately began researching what we could do for him. I madly googled, talked to a few friends, and we settled on getting him a Thundershirt. Andy rushed over to Petsmart to check out what they had. The salesman laughed and said that Andy was just in time and probably made it before everyone got off work and headed in the same direction for the coveted item. He bought the last extra large in stock and was on his way to try it out on our big guy.
We tried the shirt on immediately so that we were prepared for the next big storm. It fit great and Chewy seemed to kind of like it. Score! We have been equating it to swaddling a baby because it is nice and snug around his whole body and seems to calm him down just like babies are when they are in their little cocoon.
As if nature had a plan, there were no more storms in Colorado and we never got to try it out. Luckily we were smart enough to pack it for our trip back to Minnesota because there was a doozy of a storm one night! It was actually when we weren't with Chewy and my mom had to figure it out on her own. She got him in it and he immediately settled down and lay on his bed. What a drastic change from the scaredy dog we knew!
It makes me feel so good that we could help Chewy through his anxiety and give him a little relief. It's a little thing that helps me believe that maybe we will figure out this whole parenthood thing and be ok at it!
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