folo

About 7 am today thunder came rolling through our little Texas valley, which was the cue for our Golden Retriever, Dizzy, to leap panting and whining onto my still-sleeping head.

And that was my cue to root around to find and dress her in her “thunderwear,” a snug-fitting jersey garment that has near-magical power to relieve the thunderstorm anxiety she has developed as she has gotten older.

Without her thunderwear – technically, an Anxiety Wrap – Dizzy is a panting, drooling, pacing basket case when storms roll in. Snugged into it, she handles the flashing and the booming with only mild interest.

I put a picture of a Golden wearing one (not one of our dogs, ours are prettier) in the right sidebar after Lotus suggested that some of the Southern dog owners who read this blog might be interested in knowing about it with storm season upon us. If it’s something that might help one of your dogs, Lotus gets a commission on it or anything else you buy from Dogstuff, which hosts folo on its server. Anxiety Wraps come in all sizes – you select them by measuring your dog’s chest size.

The Anxiety Wrap uses a technique called “maintained pressure” to aid in calming your dog. We were skeptical at first until we saw it work on our own dogs and on rescue dogs who were fearful and anxious in new circumstances. Our friend, Dr. Shereen Farber, who runs Canine and Equine Rehabilitation Services in Indianapolis, says she has used the wraps successfully in all sorts of anxiety situations, from nail-trimming and ear cleaning to storm fears and separation anxiety. She says they also improve a dog’s focus in new training situations. She doesn’t manufacture them – she’s just a satisfied user.

Downsides? They’re a bit pricey and not returnable, so if they don’t work for your dog you need to pass them on to a friend or your local rescue group. Based on what we hear from our customers, the wraps work for 90 percent of all dogs, but a few are resistant to the effect. We also had one customer with disabling arthritis who was unable to work the garment onto her dog’s body – it’s more a sleeve than a sarong. If you buy one for thunderstorm anxiety, they work best if you dress your dog before the storm rolls in – otherwise, like Dizzy – they might wake you unceremoniously to tell you it’s time.

Anxiety Wraps most always work as intended, though, and they can vastly improve the quality of life for you and your pooch – the storm continues as I write this, but Dizzy is sleeping calmly at my feet.