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Things Your Dog Will Love: Thundershirt

The Thundershirt isn’t a dog toy but it is something they’ll love you even more for if they suffer from anxiety or other phobic behaviors.

The Thundershirt isn’t a dog toy.

It’s not something that dispenses yummy treats.

It isn’t even something that you’d think that your dog would like, but if they experience anxiety from storms, company coming, or crazy human holidays your dog will absolutely love the Thundershirt.

What the Thundershirt is, essentially, is a body wrap that helps the dog become less reactive to anxiety-causing stimuli using deep touch pressure.

Research done in the latter half of the Twentieth Century by Dr. Temple Grandin, amongst others, demonstrated that deep touch pressure had significant positive benefits for individuals on the autism spectrum and those with ADHD. Dr. Grandin’s background with autism inspired her initial research with animals and it was discovered that they can receive the same positive results as seen in humans.

I initially began using the Thundershirt in my own home because Porthos, our black lab-mix, can display episodes of high anxiety related to his OCD, blood sugar fluctuations related to his diabetes, and stress from his other diseases. I also witnessed how well it worked after I suggested that we begin using Thundershirts at ARF, an animal shelter were I consult in Beacon, New York. While we did see similarly positive results in the even more chaotic and reactive atmosphere of a shelter we also saw some Thundershirt eating (more on that below).

So, why would you want a Thundershirt for your own dog?

Well, you wouldn’t if you don’t live in a place that has thunderstorms, high winds, holidays with fireworks, holidays with kids in spooky costumes knocking on your door at night, hunters in the woods behind your house shooting guns, etc. I think you get my point.

The Thundershirt is a great tool to add to our positive reinforcement training bag of tricks and it fills all my personal criteria:

It more often than not does what they say it can do – there’s a definite improvement in reactivity when dogs are wearing it. It is recommended that they first be acclimated to it by having them wear it when they are doing something they love – like taking treats, playing ball, or tug. This allows positive associations along with the physical benefits of the snugness and will help prevent them eating the Thundershirt.
It’s reasonably priced.
I always prefer to exhaust the non-pharmaceutical options available to combat anxiety in dogs before referring owners to a specialist for medical intervention.

One suggestion we have come across – especially in the shelter setting – is to remember that even for kids on the spectrum this kind of pressure has a limited time of effectiveness. Therefore remember that your dog’s Thundershirt will probably only be effective for an hour or so at a time. Simply remove it, give your dog something great to do, and a little while later it can be put back on them.

I find the Thundershirt to be a really good investment for anxious dogs and I think you will, too.

(Please note: if your dog has high anxiety please see a behaviorist before trying things out on your own.)

Hot Dogs – Summer in the City

Summer in New York City is brutal for dogs.

My phone says it’s 87 degrees as I type this on June 20, 2021, 3pm. (Just wait until July and August…)

This afternoon I was walking south on Amsterdam Avenue when I saw a cute fluffy dog headed north. We were both waiting for the light to change at Ninety Seventh Street. The dog caught my eye because it was wearing a head halter and if those are too tight, a dog can’t pant correctly which is a problem in the heat. But that seemed fine and the dog was panting appropriately.

Then I saw the feet. The dog stood on the dark asphalt waiting for the light to change then began to lift one paw up off the pavement, then rotated to the next, and the next until the light changed. At that point the dog hopped like a person walking across hot sand. The owner was not paying attention and was unaware of her dog’s discomfort.

The Vets-Now website has an article outlining the dangers of hot pavement and just how hot is hot…

If the outside temperature is a pleasant 25C (77F), there’s little wind and humidity is low, asphalt and tarmac can reach a staggering 52C (125F).
This can rise to 62C (143F) when the mercury hits 31C (87F).
It’s worth bearing in mind that an egg can fry in five minutes at 55C (131F) while skin destruction can occur in just one minute at 52C (125F).
Iain Harrison
Iain is Vets Now’s senior communications manager.

What to do?

Go out early.
Go out late.
If you have to go out in the heat of the day – be quick about it.
Look for the shade, and don’t have your dog standing on the dark asphalt.

Luckily for Pax’e, I don’t tolerate the heat well, so she is always hiding with me from the sun in the shade of buildings, trees, scaffolding, and awnings while we avoid the dark asphalt like it’s flowing lava. Another lucky break for Pax’e is that her feet have long hair covering the foot pads. This can act as a kind of insulation against the heat of the street and it requires me to wipe/wash her feet every time we come in. She may disagree that the washing is a benefit, but it helps with cooling and lets me inspect her feet.

There are hosts of suggestions to be found online that offer remedies for dog’s feet on hot pavement. These can include booties, stickies, paw wax, and passive techniques like stay out of the sun, don’t stand on the dark asphalt with your dog, cool their feet when you come in. And…

…Pay attention to your dog’s behavior and believe what your dog is telling you.

Dante told us…

When NYC summers were too hot for him…

…he’d climb in the cool porcelain tub and fall asleep.

Nails part #1

Here is one of my favorite students, Bandit, taking care of his front nails himself on the sanding board. As you can see, he is enjoying himself.

Taking care of our dog’s nails can sometimes be an arduous task but it is a necessary one.

Bandit Stool trick — “Couldn’t I just sit here on this stool looking cute until you forget about that whole nail thing?”

If a dog’s nails grow too long, the nails push against the ground every time the dog puts weight on his or her feet which affects the movement of different joints by shifting the alignment of the leg bones and that can cause our dogs pain and lead to arthritis. It is hard to imagine that long nails can cause our dogs hip, knee, spinal pain and more, but it’s like that old song, “…shin bone connected to the knee bone…”

Sometimes our dogs allow nail trimming with little protest, but more often than not, if we have not trained our dogs to tolerate (and even love) nail clipping or dremmeling, they are only putting up with it.

“Love it?” You say?

Indeed. Before my fringy dog Pinball came along, all my dogs had their nails demmeled. They came running when they heard me taking out any power tool, disappointment showing on their faces when it wasn’t the Dremmel, but my saw or nail gun instead.

But, when it was Dremmel time, it was party time!

Because Pinball had such long fringe, I could not Dremmel his nails. The fringe from his tail got caught in the sanding drum early on in his nail dremmeling career, and that was enough for all of us. Instead, I had to clip his nails, which is not my favorite. I’ll admit it, I am a “quick wimp” and because of my fear of clipping his quick, I never cut too much away. This left his nails always a little too long.

It was time to teach him the sanding board.

Here is one of my favorite students, Bandit, taking care of his front nails himself on the sanding board. As you can see, he is enjoying himself.

“Nails part #2” will instruct you on how to build a sanding board.

“Nails part #3” will outline how to teach your dog to love sanding his or her own nails on your very own sanding board!

Stay tuned!

Chocolate does not convey love for your dog…

The toxicity of chocolate is relative to the size of your dog and the type and amount of chocolate ingested.

Because it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought it might be good to remind everyone that chocolate is not safe for dogs.

PetMD has a great calculator to help you determine when it is time to get your dog to the veterinarian if your dog has had some chocolate. The toxicity of chocolate is relative to the size of your dog and the type and amount of chocolate ingested.

For example my favorite candies are Reese’s Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter cups. I did a little science experiment on them and one of these candies has about 1/4 oz of dark chocolate.

My dog Pinball is about 35 pounds. Like so many dogs he loves peanut butter and will not be bothered by the fact that there are wrappers and even some dark chocolate to get through in order to find the coveted peanut butter.

Based on the PetMD chocolate calculator, if Pinball got one of these candies, I would not have to worry. I would watch him closely because at his weight with the amount of dark chocolate in one small dark chocolate peanut butter cup, there would be no symptoms expected. But, because every body is a little different, I would keep an eye on him, AND make sure he got NO MORE.

By the way, it is the compound theobromine that is the culprit here. Theobromine can also be found in things other than chocolate. A few of them are: tea, coffee, cola products, acai berries, coco mulch for the yard, and probably others.

If Pinball were to get 1 oz of baker’s chocolate, I would call the poison control hotline if my veterinarian were not available, and probably take him in to see the veterinarian or emergency veterinarian right away.

There are a number of pet poison hotlines, some charge a fee, and others don’t. Look online to see what works best for you, and here are a couple:

– Pet Poison Helpline

– ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center

For Pinball’s 1 oz of baker’s chocolate, mild to moderate symptoms would be:

Vomiting
GI Upset
Hyper Tension
Hyperactivity
Restlessness

2 oz of baker’s chocolate would cause moderate to severe symptoms:

Vomiting
Tremors in muscles
Abnormal heart rhythms
Elevated heart rate
Hyperthermia

3 oz of bakers chocolate would cause severe symptoms:

Vomiting
Tremors in muscles
Abnormal heart rhythms
Elevated heart rate
Hyperthermia
Seizures
Collapse
Death

When we compare this to 3 oz of milk chocolate which would be expected to cause mild to no symptoms, it is dramatic the difference the type of chocolate can make in terms of toxicity – so – Remember if you have to call the veterinarian, he or she will need to know:

– Dog’s weight,

– Amount of chocolate,

– What type of chocolate

In short – no chocolate is good for your dog, but the darker the chocolate the less your dog will need to ingest to become very sick and potentially lose their lives to a simple piece of candy.

On Valentine’s Day, show your dog you love him or her with a great wild walk in the snow for those of you in the north, or a peanut butter kong, or both. But keep your chocolate up and away.

And for those of you with young kids, send the dog out of the room until the kids are done with their chocolate – save everyone the anguish and let your kids enjoy their treat without worry.

Sprayed by Skunks in Montana

To help your dog avoid being sprayed by skunks, have a handful of distance commands to keep your dog from getting into skunk trouble.

I recently received a question about a dog who keeps getting sprayed by skunks in Montana.

Our dog keeps getting sprayed by skunks. She’s a terrier mix and loves looking in culvert pipes and exploring. We live in the country in Montana and there is so much a curious dog can get into trouble with. She used to not come when we called her. But we’ve been training her with treats and she’s gotten much better at coming when we call. We hate to have to keep her on a leash when we go for walks. Can you make any suggestions?

Thank you, Jennifer

If you enjoy walking your dogs off leash, it’s important to have a handful of distance commands.

The recall or “come” command is at the top of this list. It is the most common in terms of getting your dog back to you and out of harms way.

A “leave-it” at a distance is almost as important. Start by teaching “leave-it” close enough to you so you can reinforce it with praise and rewards. The command is solid when your dog turns away from whatever they have found to get their reward from you.

All of the commands listed here will have to be rewarded with food in the learning stages, and then intermittently forever depending on the dog and the surroundings.

“Sit” or “down” at a distance will allow you to freeze your dog in place for a second or two while you figure things out, or the danger (i.e. skunk, etc.) passes. These could be used anywhere or anytime you need to simply put your dog into a holding position. You will need to be able to reliably request these commands when your dog is close to you. Then you can start to request them at distances farther away from you until you can lock your dog down matter how far away they are.

Some dogs do better with a “stop” command at a distance rather than “sit” or “down.” If they can “stop” their action, but can’t follow other commands in the heat of the moment, that’s fine. Essentially the “stop” command like the “sit” and “down” halt all actions until you tell your dog to do something else.

“Sit,” “down,” and “stop” all have to be trained when you are near your dog so you can easily reward them. Then you can start using a long leash, ten feet, fifteen feet, etc. With this, you can begin to increase the distance you ask your dog to preform these commands. Once your dog is reliable at longer distances, they are ready for off leash work.

Hopefully these ideas will allow you to help your dog avoid getting sprayed by skunks in or out of Montana.

As for Dante – well…

He loved skunks!

Hope that helps and remember, there is just something that dogs LOVE about skunks so keep that skunk wash handy.