Anxiety wraps?

[Carina43]

Has anyone here tried this?
http://www.alldogsschool.com/anxietywrap.htm

I know it seems a little woo-woo, but I am getting one for Daphne. Perhaps it will calm her. She is a poorly-wired shelter dog (I believe) from an unknown, but clearly not really good background. We think she may actually have pitbull in her mix, evidenced by her hyperness, high prey drive, love of digging huge craters, and some physical characteristics.

She has a doggy form of ADHD. She does not generalise commands or rules at ALL. She seems to have an inability to focus on anything; two beginner obedience courses just made her so wired and stressed that I decided she would just be a house dog and boy toy that we would manage instead of try assimilating into the general public. I was biking with her over the summer, and she did fine but I could NOT make her ignore distractions, so I had to be careful when & where we biked. She licks compulsively - carpet, crate, whatever. She is a world class destroyer of whatever. She still piddles submissively sometimes when guests come over, and I have never been able to teach her a down without her rolling on her back and looking worried. Despite the fact we have NEVER hit this dog, she sometimes acts as if we might - and we've had her almost two years!

On the other hand, she is sweet with Mick's kids, very much a velcro dog, is really pretty :) and seems to have a DESIRE to please (I know many say dogs don't, really) but just cannot figure out how. It's just like she operates from her limbic system all the time, without the ability to have controls.

Anyhow - I feel like a bit of a bad dog mom because I've not been able to figure out how to teach or calm her very well! Although she is 1000% better than when we first got her.

So. I'm trying management techniques, and wondering if anyone has tried one of these anxiety wrap thingies. I figure it might be worth a try!

[LavenderRott]

Haven't tried one but let me know if it works. Mom's grey has to be sedated through thunderstorms, maybe this will help her.

[mmgy]

Have long considered whether this would ease Homer's mind!!

But, decided that it wouldn't be safe outside, and after all, he was pretty old already when they were invented .

Keep us up on how it works!

[Judi W]

Well, I did see a dog wearing one of the contraptions today at a seminar! How coincidental.....

It was a Giant and I asked the handler if she thought it was helpful. She said she did. For what it is worth.

[Carina43]

Well, I am ordering one before I go to work - when it gets here I'll let y'all know how it goes!

It seems they market it specifically for thunder-phobic dogs, and Daphne pays no attention to those. But I imagine the principle is much the same for general nervousness and wigged-out-ness. :)

[Brooke&Ryan]

Carina---

I'm really interested to hear how Daphne does with one of these wraps. I've heard people mention them before on here....but I'm interested to know how they work. Keep us updated. My aunts dog might be a good canidate for one of those....

:)
Brooke

[Miabella]

Hey Carina, you've probably already read it, but in case you didn't, the Whole Dog Journal had an article on these wraps a few months back.

[spidey]

I hadn't heard of this before (I love rottweiler.net!). Please do tell us how it works.

[lblax]

well i went to the site and it looks like the sillies thing ive ever seen maybe it works and maybe not but either way your dog will look well you know lol i would think for the dog wearing one of these would be worse than well just about aNYTHING

[Bruce Lanthier]

I read a story about something similar to this a long time ago. It seems that pressure helps cattle during branding/tagging/shot(?) season. They found that the cattle are less anxious when there is pressure placed on their sides while they are in the chute. The story wasn't really about cattle but this guy (I think he was autistic too) saw what they were doing with the cattle and saw how it calmed them down. So when he started getting anxious he placed himself in this homemade contraption that would apply pressure and it would help keep him calmed down. He started making these things for other autistic people and they helped them too. I guess there is something about the squeezing pressure that calms or reassures the anxious person or animal. I read this probably 10-15 years ago so I may not be relating the exact story but I do know that it had to do with applying pressure to calm anxious beings. This wrap looks like the same deal. Pressure on the sides to help keep them calm.

[Judi W]

Having done my share of dehorning, shots and branding of cattle, I'd say that the cattle are not squeezed for humane purposes but to darn well hold them in place so the people aren't killed and since they can't move - of course they appear calm!!!! When being placed in a genuine helpless position, submission is necessary even if there is initial objections. This is also used with horses who tend to panic. They are placed in a box that fills with grain, imobilizing them and then desentized to whatever........

With humans, swaddling is a time honored thing for infants. It appears to mimic the comfort that babies have in their care being wrapped and held. So, it makes some sense that it would supply comfort. Dogs are never wrapped and carried or cuddled by their moms. They hit the ground and must with only an occasional nudge from mom, get to the food bar on their own. Ditto with the litter comfort, they must get themselves to the group.

[spidey]

With humans, swaddling is a time honored thing for infants. It appears to mimic the comfort that babies have in their care being wrapped and held. So, it makes some sense that it would supply comfort. Dogs are never wrapped and carried or cuddled by their moms. They hit the ground and must with only an occasional nudge from mom, get to the food bar on their own. Ditto with the litter comfort, they must get themselves to the group.

I believe swaddling is meant to mimic the feeling of being squished in the womb, not just the feeling of being cuddled after being born (the reason cuddling works is also because it mimics the feeling of being in the womb), in which case it does make sense that it would work for almost any mammal (except marsupials obviously). Since swaddling works to comfort even brand-new newborns, I think the comfort gained from cuddling and swaddling comes from mimicking the feeling of having been in the womb, not from mimicking cuddling after being born (since cuddling hasn't happened enough/at all yet to have become a learned response), if that makes sense.

Also, as I understand this theory, it's based on physical pressure being a way to overload and thereby "reset" certain nerve pathways, which breaks certain thought/behaviour cycles (also why it works for some people with autism and also, I believe certain anxiety disorders). Incidentally, this is also a part of why heat, cold and pressure minimize pain perception, because the nervous pathways which carry temperature and pressure are stronger than those which carry pain (yes, there's also blood supply and anaesthetic properties to heat and cold therapy, but the temperature response part is also a factor).

[Judi W]

Makes sense to me.

[Carina43]

Bruce - it was a high functioning autistic woman named Temple Grandin who developed that chute for the cattle - it apparently did more than just constrain them, but calmed them.

I think Spidey's rationale makes sense - I thought it seemed like a really silly idea first time I heard about it too! But then people used to think the notion of a round earth and men on the moon was silly too. :I

The worst that will happen is Daphne will look ridiculous and I'll be out $70. Worth a try though!

[DNeff]

I just finished doing a TTouch seminar and we practiced something similar using an ACE bandage. We had several dogs that got noticeably calmer during the session while wearing the body wrap.

Here's a link to a drawing showing the wraps http://animalwellbeing.homestead.com.../bodywraps.htm
This might be a cheaper option, though the anxiety wrap certainly makes it easy to put on and take off.

I would also recommend Linda Tellington Jones' book "Getting in TTouch with your Dog".

I also think the body wraps help improve coordination and body awareness for awkward or fast growing dogs like the rottie. Especially when used with the obstacles in TTouch. It's very interesting work.

Good luck!

Dawn + Osa
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