Is your dog afraid of thunder? Dogs who are afraid of thunderstorms can be a challenge, even impossible to comfort. I’ve tried everything to calm Zion during thunderstorms with little to no success. I’ve spent many a sleepless night trying to comfort a frantic dog, often ending up on the floor with him in a big bear hug. I tried the Thunder Shirt, which is said to help SOME dogs, not all. Designed similar to a product for autistic children, the Thunder Shirt is supposed to simulate a “hug,” pushing on pressure points to create a calming effect. Well, Zion was one of the “not all” dogs and I ended up selling his Thunder Shirt to someone at the dog park. I tried calming sprays, calming oils, CBD oil, which all helped a little bit… but so little that I may have been convincing myself.
Well, the news said there’d be thunder on Saturday and since Zion now has heart disease, and in light of our emergency vet visit on New Years Day, I knew I had to get serious and find a solution. I went to my vet. I try to care for my dogs using natural methods when at all possible, but given the life-or-death nature of the issue, I broke down and let the vet give me Diazapam, a tranquilizer. I was nervous about how Zion would react, since he had a bad reaction to Tramadol years ago, (he just looked really really scared and confused.) So I only gave him HALF the dose the vet recommended.
I worked like a charm! But boy and I glad I only gave him half! Zion turned into a wet noodle. The poor guy couldn’t even stand up, his legs just buckled underneath him. So, the whole thing scared me more than a little bit, but we are definitely on the right track to a solution. I think next time I’ll give Zion a fourth of a dose. (He’s fine again this morning.)
Moral of the story, we use way too many pharmaceuticals and natural products are great, but every now and again, a doggie tranquilizer can be exactly what’s called for!