About ten years ago, we adopted our current dog, Libby, from the local animal shelter. When we got her, the lovely people who worked at the shelter told us she was probably about two years old. Now, I don’t know what happened to her for her first two years of her life, but whatever it was seriously messed her up. She wasn’t aggressive at all, but she was extremely nervous all the time and would jump and whimper at loud noises. She was timid, but sweet, and it took a lot to calm her down and reassure that we weren’t going to hurt her. The first time we left her at the house alone (we all went out to dinner for an hour or two), she went around the house and collected all our shoes. When we came back, she was lying in a pile of our shoes in our living room. We laughed, because it was so weird, but it pointed to her having some bad abandonment issues. She did it the next couple of times we left her as well (I guess having our smells around comforted her?), but once she was sure that we’d come back for her, she stopped. Now, Libby is perfectly a perfectly healthy, happy doggy (though she’s still spooked by fireworks and thunderstorms), after being shown years of unconditional love. However, having something to help her relax and adjust in the early days probably would have been extremely helpful. If you have a stressed out pooch, consider making him or her a calming spray to help relax them! Read how to do it at eHow:

-Fill a clean spray bottle with 4 oz. of distilled water. Add 4 drops of lavender oil to the bottle and shake well.
-Mist your dog lightly about 6 inches from his hair keeping away from his eyes and face. Gently rub the lavender spray into your dog’s coat
-Reapply the lavender oil spray to your dog in stressful situations, or at least once a week to reduce anxiety.

Photo Credit: Me! (Technically, my mom)- Libby today! 🙂