This week has given us some much needed rain however my collie, Baby, would have appreciated a dry spell. Do you have a dog like mine that gets terrified in rain, thunder and lightning storms? Many pets have this phobia. Often time owners of these pets will know it is going to rain by their pets behavior before it even starts. For example my girl will pant heavily, pace around, climb in and out of my bathtub, push all the throw rugs into a big pile and try to hide under them and she even trys to sqweeze herself into tight spaces like my daughters closet. You open up the closet doors and there is a 45 Lb. hairy kid shaking underneath the toy bin organizer. It is heartbreaking. It used to be that most vets would give these more severe cases a drug called acepromazine. Acepromazine is a sedative however is decreases the heart rate, takes some time before it takes effect and then if it never rains you end up with a drunk appearing dog who wobbles and has what appears as blood shot eyes (the dogs third eyelid is often seen during use of this drug) for a minimum of 12 hours. Over the last couple years there has been some great products emerge as effective and safe solutions to this popular problem. The first, and my personal favorite, is a supplement made by Vetri-Science called Composure. Composure comes in a liquid or a chicken liver flavored chewable and can be used in dogs or cats to help treat anxiety. Besides rain, Composure has been used succesfully in pets who were traveling, cats not using the litter box and pets that were at early stages of seperation anxiety. Composure is not a sedative and can be given at multiple times the dose, mulitple times a day with no side effects or health issues to the pet. A calming formula providing C3 Calming Complex, L-Thiamine and Thiamine to support balanced behavior this product has been a savior for so many pet owners. The other product I have heard great reviews from pet owners on is the Thundershirt. This is a acupressure type vest your pet can wear during rain storms to help alleviate stress. I have not personally used the Thundershirt yet but I have spoken to many clients who have and they all had fabulous things to say about the product. So....if your pet is having some anxiety issues know you are not alone and get to your vet and ask for some Composure or go by your local pet store and ask for a Thundershirt. Monica