A Little Something to Take the Edge Off

We live in a complex that is still under construction. Boyfriend bought the townhouse during the first phase of construction, so technically there's ALWAYS been something construction related going on, but it seemed like the construction was always a couple of buildings away, and really wasn't that bad at all.

But we knew that would change eventually. We watched month after month as new buildings popped up all around us. We knew that eventually the dirt patch next to our building, part of the third phase, would become occupied with construction workers, cranes, all manner of power tools, and hammers. Lots and lots of hammers.

The third phase of construction made it's debut on the dirt patch next to our building the same week I quit my job and began a lovely two and a half week hiatus in between quitting my job and starting at my new one in mid October. Naturally.

Now, I have a very strict NO COMPLAINING rule in effect regarding the construction noise. Boyfriend bought this place when there were more dirt patches than townhouses, and we all knew that would change, so I do not think either one of us should get to whine about it. Having said all that, it is undeniable that eight hours a day of sawing, hammering and crane beeping is jarring to the soul. It is even worse for Caleb, with his Super Bat Ears.

The good thing about having the third phase start the same time as my hiatus is that I got to see how Caleb would handle the increased noise. He is a very mellow guy, and even when he is worried, he is not destructive. He does not chew, bark, or whine. He paces.

On Friday, after a week straight of construction noise, Caleb had had enough. He could not settle down. He couldn't find a place to hide to block the noise. I found him in odd places all day long. At one point I put him in the walk-in closet in the bedroom, where it is dark and the construction noise was somewhat muffled. Which helped for a bit, until he realized I did not want to sit in the closet with him all day, then he wanted out to be with me. Then he started pacing again.

I decided I needed to do something, but I had no idea what. My favorite online natural pet store suggested a myriad of sprays that contained synthetic pheromones that supposedly calmed dogs down, which seemed worth a shot, but I needed something NOW, not in three to five days, thankyouverymuch. So I made haste to Pet Food Express, which is my favorite not-a-giant-pet-store store, and they did not disappoint!
This was the only product they had at the store that day, so I decided it was worth a shot, despite being 50 bucks. Pet Food Express has an awesome return policy, if I decided it wasn't working for Caleb, I could get my money back, and they would donate the product to shelters. The girl at the store also mentioned that she used it, although she noticed it took about a day for her to notice a difference in her stressed out dog.

So, I plugged it in on Saturday to give it plenty of time to permeate the house with calming goodness before the hammering started back up on Monday.

I am pleased to report that today, after a few hours of hammering, sawing, and crane beeping, we have had NO PACING! Hooray! Caleb is significantly calmer today compared to Friday! He is even sleeping in one of his favorite places in the living room (with his back against the couch), rather than looking for someplace to hide! I am so relieved; I hate to see Caleb stressed out.

Also, in searching for an image of the product I bought to add to the blog, I discovered that Amazon sells them! At a significantly lower price! They also have collars with the calming goodness infused right in, so your dog can bring the goodness with him wherever he goes! If you want to give it a shot, I say check out Amazon first if you are not in immediate need. I will definitely be ordering the diffuser refills online to save myself some money.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the company or product or anything of the sort, I was just so surprised at how well it works that I had to share! Frankly, Caleb registers pretty low on the freak-out scale, I have no idea if this would be enough to help with bigger problems like chewing or barking, but the box says it would.

Let me know if you decide to give it a shot, or if you have tried other products that work for your dog's freak outs!