Reflections on the Fourth

On some level, I feel bad for my friends for whom Thundershirts don’t work because at our house, they continue to be worth our dogs’ weights in gold.

This year was enough different from last year that I thought maybe I was remembering it incorrectly, so I went back and read Surviving the Fourth, my post from this time last year. It reflects what I remembered- June’s search for somewhere safe and her eventual denning, and Larry’s inability to settle until I was in bed and under blankie with him.

This year was different. The day started off with more people than normal in the streets and making noises, so the Thundershirts got put on early- like 9:30am early. For much of the day, I would say it seemed like the shirts were not having any effect- the dogs were just as crazy as normal. It wasn’t until bedtime, when they continued to behave as normal – Junebug chewing on a pillow at C’s feet, Larry cuddling with me for a bit and then going to settle in one of the dog beds –even as our neighbors were setting off fireworks with big enough booms to shake the house, that I realized how well the Thundershirts were working.

It was the Fourth of July. There were people out and about in front of our house all day, loud, earth shaking booms that night, and my dogs treated it as a normal day- something they were not able to do last year.

Larry is a crazy terrier, high strung with a ridiculous amount of energy. Nothing is ever going to be able to change that, but with the Thundershirt on, the edge, that extra bit of stress that normally comes with the fireworks, was not there.

Really, I could not have asked for a better result. It was the Fourth of July, with all that entails, but for my dogs, it was just another day.