Swaddling our baby

Elliot is suddenly terrified of storms. It began when our neighbors lit off fireworks a couple of years ago in front of our house. Since then it has escalated with each storm and now that we are in the stormy season in Florida, yikes. Last week particularly was stressful. For him and for us.

The chances of storms were 70% or greater each day. Nothing ever lasts long in Florida, but those minutes or hours? They are heartbreaking to watch. Elliot becomes someone we don't recognize. He whines. Pitiful little noises that come from deep within and he just wants to be near someone. Usually me. One night it was Madison. She was up for several hours with him stroking his fur and whispering assurances. It got so bad that we'd have to drop what we were doing just to comfort him. I began researching comfort vests on Amazon.

SueG: "My friend finally put one of her shirts on her dog when she left the house because he got so anxious when she would leave. Maybe you should try that."

So we did. On a day where the storms came on and off all day. He'd cry at heavy showers. Whine at any thunder. Poke, poke, poke. I couldn't get a thing done. Finally, Madison and I put one of Tom's shirts on him and tied it around his waist. He didn't know what to do. He stood and looked at us pitifully, and then he lay beside where I worked at my desk.

We watched him for a few minutes. No whining. I went back to work. A few minutes later, after another clap of thunder, I turned to see how he'd handled it.

We kept checking on him periodically to make sure he was still breathing and we hadn't killed him. When the storm passed, we took it off of him. The next day we put it back on when it stormed. Immediately, the whining ceased.

My research on this stated that it's like swaddling a baby. Some vets believe that the Thundervest, the first of its kind to be marketed and sold for this issue, hit certain pressure points that released a soothing chemical in the dog's body. The same principals can be used with an ace bandage as well. I haven't put the shirt on properly to accentuate those pressure points, but I've read how to do it so that next time I'm better prepared. Not that the shirt itself hasn't worked thus far.

Eventually, just like the first time we used the shirt, Elliot relaxed enough to sleep. Weird. I can't believe it works but so far so good.

SueG (text): "How did it work?"

I sent her the picture of him keeled over.

Me: "He either is dead or he's relaxed enough to sleep."

SueG: "You're welcome."