Bichon Travel Anxiety & The Thundershirt

Riley was always a good traveler for the first 11 years of his life.  He's now 14, and the last three years have gotten progressively worse.  I've been desperate to find a solution to calm his fears in the car.  I can deal with it for short runs around town but making trips over 1 hour in length has become a very unpleasant event for everyone in the car.  I think it's the fact that he's losing his vision and he just can't navigate his surroundings that well.  I took him to the vet to discuss my options and the only one I got was to try a low dose tranquilizer.  We left with a prescription bottle of Acepromazine and increased anxiety for me wondering what the drug would do to Riley.  When I heard about the Thundershirt, I thought it would be worth the investment of $40 since he already chooses tight spots.  Most of the time when I'm laying on the couch, he's wedged between me and the cushions.

Sometimes, he will even wedge himself between two cushions and pillows to find the perfect tight spot !

His favorite wedging spot in the kitchen is between the trash can

and the cabinet........

He's never been afraid of thunderstorms.  He does not even acknowledge them! He does have separation anxiety when he's not with me.  That's a whole nother story and many family members can tell many annoying stories about how Riley acts when I'm not around. 

Back to the travel anxiety.....I bought the shirt in a small and it fit him perfect.

I secured him in a tight swaddle per the directions.  Click here to get to Thundershirt's website for all the information.

Last weekend we made our first trip with the Thundershirt.  I have to admit that I did give him a dose of the sedative too.  But I was really worried about, so I cut the dose in half.............I was still REALLY worried about, so I shaved off even more of the tablet.  He probably got a little more than 1/4 of the dose he was prescribed.

He was more calm in the Thundershirt and once the little bit of sedative kicked in, he was totally relaxed and a loosey goosey for about 30 minutes of the 2.5 hour trip.  I could feel the tension leave his muscles as he relaxed and had a nice nap in the car.
So I can't say that the Thundershirt was the total solution, but I know it helped him a lot.  Maybe on another trip we will try just the swaddle wrap shirt and see how it goes.

March Snow

Another heavy wet snow last night.  That's three in 4 weeks.  Riley is tired of it (and so am I).  The wind always makes  big drifts around the front porch....

Riley is not a fan of it...........

And I'm not a fan of the snow shovel !

Bichon Funnies

I'm still crazy about this Instagram.  I love taking pictures and changing them up.  Riley is my main subject for now.  I do need something more colorful to work with though.  Something with reds, blues and yellows. 

Above is Riley doing some "shoe snoozing" in the wash room.  He knows if he sleeps on my shoes by the door that goes out to the garage.... he won't miss me if I happen to leave without him.

Below is from today.  I gave him a treat while he was at the office with me and he had the best time playing with it before he ate it.  He probably had a five minute barking and growling conversation with it while he was tossing it around the room.  Guess he showed the Purina tbonz who was the boss !  That big lump behind his dog tag is a fatty tumor.  It's been growing lately.  Hope it does not get too big.

My Friend, Where'd You Get That Silly Grin

My friend, where'd you get that silly grin?

Has it been always there above your chin?

And I would do anything for you...

I'd do anything for you, for you and that silly grin



My friend, where'd you get them big ole ears?

Man, them ears go on for years and years.

And I would do anything, I'd do anything for you

For you and that silly grin

For you and that fuzzy chin

For you and them big ole ears

For you and all years

You are my friend

Lyrics from DOG TALES on PBS every Saturday

Love that show !!!!

Dogs In Corners

Dogs love corners and this dog is no exception.  Since he is now king of the sectional couch, he has claimed the corner as this throne....

It's so funny to watch him get comfortable in his corner.  He circles and scratches and maneuvers in many directions before getting it just right.......

He claimed his territory and he does not share it !

Sleepy Bichon to Total Bichon Madness

Yesterday afternoon, Riley was napping on the couch, taking full advantage of the softness of these new pillows........

Remember this old dog sleeps about 80% in a 24 hour period.  The other 20% percent, he's eating, doing his business of sniffing out the yard, the kitchen floor, getting belly rubs or generally being mischievous.

Since he "appeared" to be in a down time moment, I wanted to spread all my completed quilt blocks out on the floor and work on the placement.  I had them all arranged how I wanted and had taken the top row to the sewing machine.  Riley was still snoozing when I walked out of the living room.

And then I hear him jump off the couch and start growling and barking.  He was picking a fight.  Picking a fight with my fabrics................He was still growling when I grabbed my camera and took this picture........Little did I know, when I thought he was napping, he was really laying there on the couch, overlooking my careful placement of each block.  He was working on his own layout in his head and waiting for me to leave the room....

He destroyed my design.   It was his mission to scramble them all.

And he was pretty proud of his accomplishment...........

Back up on all fours, he's now ready to pick a fight with me.  He's daring me to touch my own quilt blocks...........

We had to have a short talk on biting my fabric.  He seemed to think it was okay to yank on these blocks with his teeth.

Such a goofball.  Gotta love an old dog who still gets an occasional spurt of energy.....

Bichon Personality In Pictures

Kelly at Kelly's Korner Blog is hosting her weekly Show Us Your Life.  This week it is "Share Your Pets".  One of my favorite topics!  Being a bichon lover it was very hard to narrow down my pictures.  Riley was born in 1999 so a ton of pictures have been taken of this little guy in the last 12 years.  Above is my favorite puppy picture and below is a picture of me and him taken a few months ago.  He's changed a lot in twelve years........

He's always loved his stuffed animal toys.  He has never showed an interest in the hard plastic toys.  His main objective is to remove all squeakers!

I tried to pick out pictures that express his personality.  He loves to put on a show and get others to play with him.....people that is.........not other dogs.  He's never really cared for the idea of playing with another pooch.  He KNOWS he rules the roost and that all things are his.

This toy duck "quacks" and he's pretty good at biting it in just the right place to get it a quacking!

His expression in this picture below shows his annoyance of having to wear a costume!  He's thinking "are you serious?  get this off me...now!"

Running through the house with a bison..............love it when I capture a picture of his ears flying behind him as he is running!

Here he was growling and begging at the same time to get this toy to play with him......

Riley's favorite place to snuggle is in a basket of warm clothes fresh from the dryer.  Even if it's 100 degrees outside he will jump in the basket when I sit it down.....

Playing with his toys again............

Relaxing during a car ride.  Riley prefers the front seat.  He crys and whines if he gets put in the back seat.........

This warm clothes basket has him almost asleep.....

And lastly his nightly routine of making the perfect spot to sleep for the night.  He might turn around 15 times before he stops his nesting.  He's one very picky dog when it comes to getting comfortable........

Bichons are the best.  Full of personality, fun and cuddles.  They are very much people loving dogs. 

Dermapaw To Stop Dog From Licking Paws

Riley has been having a rough few months with his allergies.  Our part of the country has been dry and very hot and something outside has really been bothering him.  He has been on so many antibiotics and steroid shots in his lifetime that I wanted to find another solution for his itchy paws.  I searched the Internet and found Dermapaw.  I liked their story, their ingredients and their solution for keeping the socks on the dog's feet.

Riley has been relentless on chewing on his feet so I'm hoping this will bring him relief.  Dermapaw suggest putting the salve on at night before putting the dog to bed.  They give detailed instructions on how to adjust the elastic strips and the booties which was very helpful.  They even have YouTube videos to watch.

I followed their instructions to the tee and Riley did not disappoint.  He did everything Dermapaw predicted the dog would do.  He became relaxed, found the cream soothing and gave me no problems........

Not once did he try to pull of his socks.  He settled right down and never acted like the socks or the elastic harness was bothering him...

He was not restless like he usually is and it was a peaceful night with lots of sleep....

Tonight we will do a repeat and continue to do this every night until the jar is empty.  He was back to licking his feet all day today so I'm guessing the salve had worn off and the more days I continue to use this product, each day will show improvement.  So far we are off to a great start.