Mekuti Calming Bands

[clairep4]

I've just ordered one of these - am also going to a TTouch workshop on Saturday with Brodie and am really looking forward to it!

Hope you enjoy it - who's running it?

Someone called Tracey, it's in Glasgow - I'm not the one who arranged for us to go so am a little bit hazy on the details

That'll be Tracey McLennan I think - she's fab 

[JennyBee]

I've just ordered one of these - am also going to a TTouch workshop on Saturday with Brodie and am really looking forward to it!

Hope you enjoy it - who's running it?

Someone called Tracey, it's in Glasgow - I'm not the one who arranged for us to go so am a little bit hazy on the details

That'll be Tracey McLennan I think - she's fab  

Yep, that's her - really looking forward to it as Brodie has been a bit stressed recently for some reason and I'm hoping it will help her. I'm a little worried how she'll take to the band being put on as well, as it was a nightmare measuring her for it . She's not so keen on getting her muzzle touched

[Philtrum]

these look very interesting, thanks for the link, I'll do some more research on them

Cheers
PHil

[JennyBee]

supergirl, how did you find it? Mine's didn't turn up, it got lost in the post along with another parcel . Really disappointed as I was looking forward to see if it could help Brodie . Will be ordering another one once I have made sure this one is definitely not going to turn up.

[supergirl]

supergirl, how did you find it? Mine's didn't turn up, it got lost in the post along with another parcel . Really disappointed as I was looking forward to see if it could help Brodie . Will be ordering another one once I have made sure this one is definitely not going to turn up.

Sorry to hear that yours didn't turn up, by contrast we got ours quite quickly

It has worked, but I have a problem trying to keep it on - Lexi is an expert at getting it off - she doesn't really want to have it on.  There is a noticeable difference between wearing and not wearing.  When she's wearing it she seems really subdued which I guess is the point.  When its off its like there's all this pent up barking just waiting to get out and we seem to go from one extreme to the other.

A friend has suggested doing some clicker training with her, so that she will speak on command and also be quiet on command, so we're going to work on that too.

[JennyBee]

supergirl, how did you find it? Mine's didn't turn up, it got lost in the post along with another parcel . Really disappointed as I was looking forward to see if it could help Brodie . Will be ordering another one once I have made sure this one is definitely not going to turn up.

Sorry to hear that yours didn't turn up, by contrast we got ours quite quickly

It has worked, but I have a problem trying to keep it on - Lexi is an expert at getting it off - she doesn't really want to have it on.  There is a noticeable difference between wearing and not wearing.  When she's wearing it she seems really subdued which I guess is the point.  When its off its like there's all this pent up barking just waiting to get out and we seem to go from one extreme to the other.

A friend has suggested doing some clicker training with her, so that she will speak on command and also be quiet on command, so we're going to work on that too.

I like the sound of that! Although I'm always worried by the thought that once I teach her to speak on command, she won't shut up .

I have a feeling she will be the same when I finally get the band, she is quite sensitive about her muzzle being touched so I guess it will just take perseverance . I really want to try it as she absolutely loves TTouch and would sit on my knee for hours if I'd let her

[clairep4]

If you find your dog has difficulty accepting the band, you can try two things:

1. Do some ttouches around her face and muzzle first of all, then put the band on for a few minutes and do touches over the top, and then take it off. You can then try again later but this time leave it on for a few mins after you've stopped doing the touches, also try doing something to take their mind off it, a bit of training etc.

2. If that doesn't work (some dogs really find it hard) then you could try a head wrap instead, you can use something like the top bit of a sock cut off (the open end), so it sits over the brow rather than over the muzzle, headwraps actually started because someone was working with a dog that couldn't accept a calming band type of wrap, so they just moved it up onto the brow and the dog was then okay (and it still calmed it down).

One of the main reasons we have lots of different tools in TTouch is that not everything works for every dog

[supergirl]

Thanks Claire,

I remembered what you said earlier about lack of sleep etc.  So she slept downstairs last night, the first time since I've had her.  I did think that she might complain, but not a peep out of her all night, and she was very calm this morning when we got up. I put the band on her this morning and she hasn't taken it off yet, so far so good.  She's also on a long line in the house at the moment (mainly for the cats safety) and has been relatively calm and relaxed for most of the day.  I've also restricted the amount of playing between her and Roly in an attempt to keep the calm.  Play between the two of them tends to be quite rough, but she does tend to push Roly to his limits and which ultimately ends up with Roly telling her off quite strongly.

I did think that after Lexi was spayed that she would calm down more, but if anything its got worse - its very much a few steps forward and then one back.  Every now and then I think we've made a break through, but it always seems to be short lived.  She's also become grumpier with other dogs - at agility last week I don't think there was one dog that she didn't "have words with"   On the positive side her agility training is going really well and she is quite focussed at the moment, the same with obedience training (except for the bogging off when out on a walk:lol2:), so its not all bad

[clairep4]

Don't forget that when they're spayed they lose the calming influence of some of those hormones and it's quite common for them to become a bit more reactive as they suddenly lose that. This was around the point that Bella's fear aggression really took off, actually - she'd started being fearful previous to this but looking back, it was once she'd been spayed that it really started to get worse, so it's worth keeping an eye on it and giving her as many positive experiences as you can with other dogs.

Glad the sleep seems to have helped her, it can make such a difference 

It sounds like you're doing all the right things - we've definitely found with Zorro that us being really calm and not doing exciting games in the house with them has helped him. I really miss the games  but in the long-run it's worth it as it was obviously all too much stimulation for the poor little mite. He's a delicate soul! 

OT but he had his 4th McTimoney session yesterday and she was really pleased, said it was the easiest one yet, not nearly as much misalignment going on and the adjustments that needed doing were much smaller and easier. His behaviour has been impeccable for the last 8 weeks (since his last McT session actually) and it's great that his body is learning how to be a bit more correctly aligned as well. Him and Bella are back to their old selves again, Bella had been really subdued for a few months while he kept having a go at her, and is now back to her old whirling dervish minxy mode!