Soothing Lovable Lexi: Week Four - Our Conclusions

Throughout the past four weeks, Lexi has continually worn the Sentry Calming Collar to see if there would be a decrease in her anxiety. Lexi's family noticed that while she wore the collar, she experienced some amounts of time without anxiety. Along with the use of the Sentry Calming Collar, Joanne used a variety of training techniques to help with Lexi’s anxiety. Together these tools help give her something else to focus on.

We've concluded that the Sentry Calming Collar has the potential to decrease stress and anxiety in animals. It is difficult to measure a considerable decrease in anxiety and perhaps with a longer trial period, a more significant change can be identified. Also, more positive changes may be seen when the Sentry Calming Collar is used in conjunction with distractive toys and training. Joanne feels Lexi’s continued training along with her family’s love and support will lead to greater successes in this lovable lab’s future.

Soothing Lovable Lexi: Week 3 - A Holiday Hobby

Lexi resting during group play.

Lexi's second week wearing the Sentry Calming Collar has proven to be an interesting one! She is receiving many compliments on how she and her stylish new collar smell terrific! She's even been showing off her collar during group play at Morris Animal Inn. Lexi seems to enjoy wearing the Sentry Calming Collar and has made no effort to take it off. 

This lovely Lab has shown some progress this week with her anxiety. Joanne was able to leave Lexi at the house this past weekend while she did some Christmas shopping. When she arrived home three hours later, she found no damage from scratching, digging or urinating. This is a great step for Lexi because in the past, she usually does some type of destruction when she is left alone.

Lexi has a new hobby – redecorating the house. The items she moves range from small portable lamps to empty shopping bags but the destination never changes; they end up on Joanne’s bed. Maybe she is so excited for the holiday season that she’s presenting her gifts early! Her favorite items to ‘gift’ are her toys: a rubber ducky, Kong and rope toy... OR… Perhaps she’s hoping for some extra playtime by making her toys easily accessible! 

Stay tuned next week for our conclusions on Lexi and the Sentry Calming Collar!

Dogtime Media has a special offer to share! At the end of this trial, if you believe in this product, feel free to spread the word about the Sentry Calming Collar and one lucky reader will win a $50.00 donation from DogTime Media to the non-profit 501c3 shelter or rescue of your choice.

There are three ways to qualify:

 1) Adding a comment to your blog post on the Sentry Calming Collar that tells you of any experience they've had with the calming collar or why they would want to try this product

2) Tweet about this blog post and leave the URL to that Tweet in a comment on your post

3) Blog about your blog post and leave the URL to their post in a comment on your post

If any of these three ways of spreading the word takes place, we will announce a winner on our blog at the end of the experiment which will be December 24.

Soothing Lovable Lexi: Week 2 of the Sentry Calming Collar Trial

It’s time for a follow up with Joanne Morris to see how Lexi is doing with her new Sentry Calming Collar. Let’s see how it is going so far…

We still don’t know what has caused Lexi to have separation anxiety. Maybe it was being lost and abandoned at a shelter or it could have been the long trip from Kentucky to Pennsylvania and then finally settling in NJ. Regardless, she has turned out to be a wonderful pet, and we are fortunate she can go to doggy daycare each day so she doesn't have to be left home alone. When our family is home and Lexi is not at daycare, we do our best to make arrangements for one of us to stay home with her or she comes along for a ride with us in the car.

Lexi seems more comfortable when she is in the car. This might be because she can easily watch for us through the windows. We are committed to her health and happiness and this is why we are happy to try the Sentry Calming Collar to see if we can help Lexi relax when things get tense.

It has only been a week and the instructions did indicate it could take some time before we see any difference. That seems to be the case with us so far, although we have left her for short periods of time with the new Sentry Calming Collar with little evidence of destruction. We give Lexi a puzzle treat to keep her occupied for those times when she is left alone for a little while. When we do arrive home she has eaten through it, seems very wound up, panting and stressed (this is not her normal behavior when we are home). In the past, she has scratched and dug at the door which doesn't seem to be the case this week. She did manage to find goodies on the counter to enjoy and ripped several papers but that is minimal compared to some of her past escapades.

As previously stated, the collar is a pretty color, matching her holiday themed collar and it has a pleasant somewhat fruity smell to it. We are committed to keep trying and looking forward to progress next week. 

Stay tuned for updates on how Lexi is doing!

Not Just Another Day, Another Collar

We know that the holiday season can make even the most serene person anxious. So…with the holidays right around the corner, between shopping and holiday parties, pet owners have a lot on their plate. Did you know this busy time of year can affect your pets too? Did you know there are natural products available to aid pets in overcoming stress?

Morris Animal Inn is participating in a product review program to share our experience and observations of the Sentry Calming Collar on one of our own pups. This collar produces the naturally occurring pheromones that mother dogs produce to calm and soothe their puppies. There are no toxic substances in this collar making it even more appealing. The manufacturer states that this unique collar has been shown to reduce or eliminate stress-related behavior problems in dogs such as scratching, whining for attention, fear while separated from owner and many more.

Lexi, anxiously awaiting Joanne's return

Morris Animal Inn’s Vice President, Joanne Morris’ rescue, “Lexi” is a dynamic Labrador Mix and perfect to try this new collar. Lexi joined the Morris Family in July 2012 just after being rescued from a high-kill shelter in Kentucky. Lexi is very close with her canine sister, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel “Tori” and has bonded with her human companions quickly. She loves to cuddle and is a very active dog – she recently ran a 5K and didn’t even break a sweat!

19-month-old Lexi is as sweet as can be but does experience anxiety when left alone... She is often seen looking out the window when members of her family leave – even for only a couple of minutes. Once they are out of site she will resort to digging and scratching at doors and chewing up items that may have been left around, all things she would never do when someone is present.

We look forward to providing more information and “Lexi’s” experience after wearing the Sentry Calming Collar. Lexi is wearing the collar today and it is a pretty light blue color…stay tuned!

Do you have a pet that shows sign of stress or anxiety like Lexi? Share your stories with us!