HARNESS An Insecure Dog

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Starlit is shy and nervous in most new circumstances and with all unfamiliar
humans.

It is common modern day practice to swaddle infants.  It helps them settle and sooth them when irritable. This weekend we were told it was also good to swaddle a shy insecure dog.  

Starlit saw a trainer and the first thing she said was, " Ahh, good.  A harness is a good thing for this insecure girl to help her feel safe."   I actually have to agree.

So just a bit of information to all of you who are dealing with or will deal with a dog who really just needs hugs all the time    :) 


 

[Adina P]

They make a sort of wrap thingy for dogs with storm phobias...can't recall what they are called or where to buy them but apparently swaddling is good for this. Also Temple Grandin, that chick with autism who is good with seeing things from an animals' point of view...she discovered being swaddled helps her and she developed this hugging machine for herself when she was anxious. Very interesting.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I remember reading about Temple Grandin's hugging machine. And Nancy, that's really what she does primarily, or did , was to work on humane chutes and other containment devices for cattle. She recently wrote a book on animals and her theories about them but I haven't read it. She is a very intelligent, fascinating person who has contributed a lot to an understanding of autism from a personal view. Joanne, I think you would find her very interesting.

[Kyoko]

Yeah, I thought about that. Charlie is a nervous insecure girl as well. I wonder if this is why she likes to go through between people's closed legs, squeezing through them.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Lucy and Sophie both do the between the legs thing ..... we call it noodling! They do this to DH every night when he comes home from work. They just follow each other and go in a circle through his legs, over and over again! I would consider our Lucy a little insecure, but not Sophie. When our foster Jett was here, you couldn't make him go through the legs (he was very insecure). He would get in the line with Lucy and Sophie but as soon as he got to your knees he would stop and not go through.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I got to hear her speak at a conference on autism. She was very entertaining as well as enlightening.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I have never heard of Temple Grandin ~ I certainly will look at her information.

Since we are on the subject of Autism, Aspergers, and Animals A fantastic book by Dawn Prince-Hughes "Songs of a Gorilla Nation," that deals with sensory stimuli, relief found in some animals, and insecurities. I highly recommend this fast read :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am going to get it.

[BG and Gavin]

A retired co-worker of mine came by for a visit today. She reminded me of the time she had to wear a heart monitor for the day and was receiving bio-feedback to identify her stressors. She said her heart rate actually slowed down when she was hugged or one of the kids leaned against her; also while she was petting her dog. So it stands to reason...

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Wow. Thanks for very insightful information. I never would have thought of this for dogs...

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Temple Grandin actually did some inventing of cow chutes for branding - this was due to her own disability needs.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

There is also a simple leash called the Weiss handler or Weiss harness. It is just a leash with a snap that fastens to the collar as usual, runs down the neck/back of the dog to just behind front legs, once around chest and through a ring on the leash. It was developed by Emily Weiss for handling shelter dogs that have no or bad familiarity with regular leashes. It would be simple to make. It works great for one of my son's rescues that is skitty and does not like a regular leash at all. The Temple Grandin books are really interesting reading from a lot of perspectives. I suggest starting with Animals Make Us Human although that is not her first book.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We have the leash. It is a Weiss Walkie. We were using it on Jett when he was here. He pulled too hard on a regular collar and hated the gentle leader. We would put the gentle leader on him along with the weiss walkie but not put any pressure on the gentle leader unless he pulled too hard on the walkie ..... then just a slight pressure on the gentle leader and he would stop and walk fine on the weiss walkie.