advice needed to calm dog

angeldaisy

Okay, I've a collie cross who's 10yrs and is a nervous dog at the best of times. Thing is for the past 7-8 days there has been a bird scarer going off every minute starting from around 7am. He's absolutely terrified of this for around 3 hrs each morning until he becomes accustomed to the noise.
Anyone any suggestions on how to calm him, he's at the side of me now shaking and panting like mad.

Pumpkinseeds

Hi, around Halloween/Bonfire night in the UK I used to see advice to people to put a few drops of Bachs rescue remedy mixed in to the dogs food or water bowl to help calm them with fireworks. I'm on my phone so can't google it but it might be worth a try. I seem to recall seeing a plug in dog calming product somewhere too. I hope your dog settles soon.

SillyMangoX

The plug in thing mentioned above is DAP, you can get it in a plug in, spray and I think it comes infused into a collar too but I could be wrong. I've also heard good things about thunder shirts but I've never had a first hand experience of them. You can also get a drug call zylkene (sp?) which helps calm animals too, you should call your vet, they'll be able to advise you on any of those things, or else I'm pretty sure you can buy them online!

angeldaisy

Thanks for the advice thankfully he's settled a bit now, I did wonder about those calming jackets, but I don't know anyone who has tried them either. going to stick some rescue remedy in his water and see if that helps at all. Just don't fancy having to 'drug' him if at all possible. He's asleep now so at least he's not following me around:)

tk123

Thundershirts work really well - I have one for my dog and it made a huge difference when he was afriad. As a stop gap (you're not supposed to leave these ones on too long or unattended) you can use an elastic bandage and do a wrap like this :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N83oXBZy0KM

angeldaisy

tk123 wrote: »

Thundershirts work really well - I have one for my dog and it made a huge difference when he was afriad. As a stop gap (you're not supposed to leave these ones on too long or unattended) you can use an elastic bandage and do a wrap like this :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N83oXBZy0KM

Do you think a tightish tshirt might work? Might look out on old t-shirts and try it

maggiepip

Apparently Thundershirts can work - but you need to be careful the dog isnt just "shutting down" when its on as opposed to being calm. I tried one with my Collie last Halloween and it just made her "shut down" completely - this would do more harm than good.

tk123

angeldaisy wrote: »

Do you think a tightish tshirt might work? Might look out on old t-shirts and try it

I'm not sure tbh - the thunder shirt tightens/puts light pressure around the front or their chest and under their tummy in the same way the bandage does in the video. They come with a money back guarantee which is why I decided to try one - there was nothing to lose? I got one because my dog was really scared of the traffic and jumpy when we were out walking after he had an operation - the leg was still healing and I was worried he'd hurt himself. I was sceptical but it worked and made things LOT easier. I used a dap/Adaptil plugin and Kalm aid when he was on crate rest and they helped calm him too. Acutally a crate might be an idea if you don't have one since it's just what the dog needs when it's frightened - a den/safe place?

angeldaisy

tk123 wrote: »

angeldaisy wrote: »

Do you think a tightish tshirt might work? Might look out on old t-shirts and try it

I'm not sure tbh - the thunder shirt tightens/puts light pressure around the front or their chest and under their tummy in the same way the bandage does in the video. They come with a money back guarantee which is why I decided to try one - there was nothing to lose? I got one because my dog was really scared of the traffic and jumpy when we were out walking after he had an operation - the leg was still healing and I was worried he'd hurt himself. I was sceptical but it worked and made things LOT easier. I used a dap/Adaptil plugin and Kalm aid when he was on crate rest and they helped calm him too. Acutally a crate might be an idea if you don't have one since it's just what the dog needs when it's frightened - a den/safe place?

I've put one of my sons tshirts on him for tonight and will know in the morning if it makes any difference.
Can you buy the thundershirts in shops or are they just online?
Not sure about the crate? He's never used one and
I'd worry he'd get stressed over that as well! He has a bed in our bedroom that he goes into during the day which is quiet but he does like to keep checking in on me - think he's making sure I'm safe!!

RubyGirl

Do you know who has the bird thing going off. I think ISDW uses those thunder shirts with some of her rescues?

ISDW

Yeah, I've used the thunder shirts, and found them effective. Our vet sells them, Moy Vets in Ballina, just in case you're anywhere near there, they actually seem to sell them cheaper than anyone online, so even in you're not in Mayo, they accept payment over the phone and will send them out to you. Not allowed to put phone numbers up, but you can get their number from golden pages.

Sigma Force

Poor fella, one thing not to do is make a fuss of him when the thing goes off. ie when it goes off don't suddenly say to him awww poor doggy (or the like) because he might think it's something he should be afraid of. Instead when it goes off try and 'change the subject' even if you've to start dancing around like a lunatic for a few mins, making a big deal of a squeeky toy or something he likes to play with. As well as trying the DAP plug in or spray as well.

angeldaisy

I've reported it to the guards so hopefully the community guarda will go and speak to the farmer in question. It was going off from 7 this morning to about 830 this eve every 60 secs or so!
When it starts going off around 7am I'm usually asleep and get woken by rusty pacing the bedroom and trying to stay as close to me as possible, it's like he's protecting me from danger:)
He's like that until about 10ish when he seems to realise we're not in any danger.

What price are those shirts? I must give our vet a call in the morning and see if they do them if not I'll try the vet in ballina thanks.

angeldaisy

Well it's been going off since 7 again and the dog is again glued to my side but he doesn't seem as distressed. He's not panting heavily or shaking as much as before. Seems the 'hug' from the shirt works somewhat:)

SillyMangoX

Great news if he gets bad again you should look into DAP though, it releases the same scent thats made by a lactating bitch so they get all sentimental and relaxed!

angeldaisy

Rusty looking much happier in his shirt!


Him actually more than a foot away from me!!


How I've been woken each morning:D


Think I'm going to get the Dap thing anyway to have as a standby