Friday, January 2, 2015

Ghosts in the Eyes


You know Skip, right?  He's our dog?  

Well, besides being awesome, he's also pretty high strung.  When multiple visitors come to our house - or any kids that don't live here - he has to go to the attic in his crate, where he barks incessantly and feels terrible.  I know he feels terrible because he quivers and makes low noises and appears to be generally agitated.

Today, both of our human children have friends over.  I decided to get Skip a little gift to see if he'd be able to chill out.  It's called a Thunder Shirt.  Have you heard of them?  The guy at the pet store said it would "take him down a notch."  I put it on, and he stood exactly still, exactly as he is in this picture, for five minutes.

When the friends came over, he seemed agitated and barked while also standing still.  

So, I put him in the attic in his crate with the shirt on. He barked a lot up there.  I'm not sure the shirt has completely changed the anxiety situation.  I went up there and put his leash on him and walked him around the house.

"Look," I said, passing Mac's room.  "Mac and Alex are making a poster for their band."

"Hey," I soothed.  "Shef and George are playing a violent video game.  There's nothing to worry about."

Still, he's turning in circles and whining a little.  I'm not sure what else is to be done.

2 comments:

mm said...

Maybe the Thunder Shirt takes some getting used to...

LH said...

First off, get rid of the thunder shirt. That's cramping Skip's style big time.

Secondly, I like the idea of walking him around and talking with him reasonably.