How CBD dog treats from Treatibles can ease summer stress

What summer means for you is not everything it means to your dog.

To you, summer means cookouts, beach visits, freaking heat, the Fourth of July.

To your dog it means lots of human activity, staying home alone, lightning and thunder summer storms, the Fourth of July's fireworks.

Now any dog can get a little stressed in summer, but if your dog is like my Jasmine, you know summer can be an extremely tough time.

So lets talk about ways you can help your dog all summer long, and using Treatibles® CBD Pet Chews to help your pet combat summer stress.

DISCLOSURE: This post is sponsored by Treatibles CBD Pet Chews, but all opinions about the product are mine.

Global Pet Expo: 9 dog products to watch in 2017

Another Global Pet Expo is in the books. We stumbled through over 7 miles of pet products over three days in March. Over 1,100 companies showed off thousands of products for dogs, cats, reptiles, fish, hamsters, birds, chickens, and more. 

Here are 9 of our favorite dog products from Global Pet Expo -- broken up into six trending product areas to watch in 2017.

NEED TO KNOW: We did not get any compensation for this post. We did receive product samples, but all opinions here are our own.

Calm on the Fourth of July: Easy ways to keep your dog safe

Fourth of July -- barbecues, parades, patriotism, red, white and blue --

What does your dog do when the fireworks go off near your house? Have you ever watched your dog when there's loud booming noises?

Many dogs freak out over loud noises, particularly thunder and fireworks. In Florida you have both in abundance in July. Even though Fourth of July is one day, fireworks can last for weeks in Florida. People go to those pop-up fireworks shops, sign the paper promising they'll use the fireworks to scare birds from crops, and then spend the next few weeks blowing stuff up and guess what, rarely any birds around.

Fortunately, Lulu seems to be able to deal with fireworks. I lived close to Universal for years. But my Mom's dachshund Cappy I know goes nuts when he hears fireworks or thunder.

The anxiety from fireworks can cause your dog to cower in a corner. But it can also spook them enough that they'll tear through a house, smashing and knocking things over to get away from the sound. And some -- will escape. In facts, more pets are lost on July 4th than any other holiday.

Pet Amber Alert.com released this infographic with some basic tips:

But there's more your can do:

• Compression: A Thundershirt or Anxiety Wrap is an easy way to do that. But you can also use a towel or tight t-shirt to get the desired effect. The idea is akin to swaddling a baby. The compression in certain spots is meant to soothe the pet. It doesn't work for everyone, but these kinds of compression shirts have had a lot of success, so it's worth a shot.
• Distraction: Now is a good time for a big bone or a Kong or a favorite toy or an antler, something that will allow them to chew and or otherwise distract them.
• Scenting: When you create that safe space for your pet, include an item of your own that has your scent on it. If you are going away for Fourth of July, this will help them feel a bit more secure.
  
  Also, try essential oils or calming candles. Lavender, chamomile, vanilla, valerian, sandalwood and jasmine are all helpful scents. If you use essential oils, be sure to follow the instructions. If you put them on the dog, be sure not to put it directly on their nose and keep it away from their eyes.
  
  You can also try lighting scented candles. But don't do it close to their pet bed, and make sure you are still home when they are lit.
• Know your dog: You need to know if your dog is afraid of fireworks.  You need to know how to react. If your pet will react violently and possibly hurt themselves -- maybe you should stay home.
• Be up to date: Make sure your microchip contact information is up to date. If your pet gets out, it could mean the difference between coming back to you and being re-homed... or worse.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!

Thundershirt vs. Anxiety Wrap: A comparison

In January I did a sort of diary of our experiment with the Thundershirt to help calm Lulu so I can refocus her when she starts barking.

Since then, I have been trying out another compression shirt to see if there's a difference.

The Anxiety Wrap is similar to the Thundershirt, in that it relies on acupressure to calm the dog. But while the Thundershirt is more of a wrap, the the Anxiety Wrap is more like a shirt, with pulls to tighten the shirt in certain areas....

And these straps in the back, which go around the legs. Did you know that dogs carry stress in their back legs? These straps help ease that tension. But they do make putting the Anxiety Wrap very cumbersome to put on.

The material is light-weight and breathes well, compared to the original Thundershirt.

Getting Lulu to refocus using the Anxiety Wrap has not improved much compared to the Thundershirt. I still need to calm her down when she barks at other dogs.

HOWEVER, Lulu also doesn't bark at trucks or golf carts when we're walking with the Anxiety Wrap on. That's a big difference.

Stressor	Thundershirt	Anxiety Wrap
Other Dogs	Still barks, can refocus	Still barks, can refocus
Golf carts	Still barks	Doesn't bark
Trucks	Still barks	Doesn't bark
Kids on skateboards	Still barks	No test
Noises outside the house	Still barks	Still barks
Thunder	No issue	No issue
Fireworks	No issue	No issue

If your dog has anxiety issues, particular with loud noises like thunderstorms, fireworks, etc., it's worth trying a Thundershirt or the Anxiety Wrap. But understand it may not work with your dog.

Let me give you two examples.

Mom's dog Cappy got a Thundershirt a couple of weeks ago.

Mom says she put it on when Cappy started barking at people outside the house. She says Cappy immediately stopped barking and laid down.

What's also great about this is when Cappy stopped barking, my mom's other two dogs who bark when Cappy barks stopped as well. That's a relief to my parents who can't stand hearing three small dogs barking at once!

By comparison, Pepper of Pepper's Paws prefers the Anxiety Wrap over the Thundershirt. Look for her review soon.

A lot of it depends on the dog -- their level of anxiety, how they handle wearing the shirt or wrap. It also helps to make sure it's properly fitted. If you can get it done at a store, that would be good. If they aren't tight enough it won't work as well.

The best thing to do is get a Thundershirt or Anxiety Wrap at a place with a great refund policy. That way if it doesn't work you can return it.

The Thundershirt can be found in many pet stores. Anxiety Wrap is available in Amazon.com and on the Anxiety Wrap website.

I WANT TO HEAR YOUR STORIES! Have you ever tried a compression shirt for your dog? Which one? Did it work? I'd love to hear!

DISCLAIMER: I received the Thundershirt for Cappy and Lulu's Anxiety Wrap for free from their respective companies.

Diary of Lulu in a Thundershirt, Day 7 and Conclusion

To read Day 6, go here.

DAY 7

Day 7 was pretty much a wash because of the rain. There simply wasn't anything see. There were no dogs out when Lulu was out, and she couldn't go outside for fun.

Lulu was pretty depressed.

FINAL DAY -- or is it?

Lulu and I went out on our walk Saturday, which is training class day. And it wasn't long before we were having problems.

A lady with a big black dog passed us on our walk and Lulu just lost it. There was running and barking and running and some more barking and on and on. I had to drag her away because I couldn't get her to refocus.

I was all set to throw in the towel on the Thundershirt. It's been generally mixed results, and I didn't want to keep using something that had no effect in calming Lulu.

And then this happened.

That's Lulu, on the floor in training class. That's a treat in front of her. Today, we learned "leave it." She was surrounded by dogs, but she was too distracted and calm to care. She was completely focused on the task, which was to stay and leave the treat alone. It was amazing.

So my trainer wants to stick to this for one more week. One more week of the Thundershirt. We'll see how it goes but, for now, this diary is closed.

Diary of Lulu in a Thundershirt, Day 6

To read Day 5 of the Diary, Go Here.

The first thing we learned today was that Lulu did not have the Thundershirt on tight enough. If you recall, she took it off the first day, so I had to put it on her.

We met with my trainer and he readjusted her Thundershirt. We then walked around two Petcos. Sadly, no dogs at either to test the shirt out on.

Then we took her to Dr. Phillips Dog Park, for some "field testing."

She is usually one of the first to greet the dogs at the gate... waaaaaay on the other end of where she is now in this picture. As you can see, she's found something else she'd rather do.

Doesn't mean that she didn't mix it up either. But it was different. She only howled a couple times at dogs coming into the park. But she definitely met all the dogs by the time she left. And today there were a lot of them.

Great Dane. Luna is SEVEN MONTH OLD!! Yikes.

And when we got back to the car, Best Friends Pet Care was there with free treats! Score! Lulu got a cookie and a peanut butter and banana ice cream. She loved both... and would have eaten more!

One more thing to mention -- Lulu is still barking at noises outside the house. Again, I don't quibble with this. BUT -- isn't that something the Thundershirt should be dealing with?