Hartman's Haven Dog Rescue: Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

The products, Thundershirts, were used on dogs that had anxiety issues that are within our rescue's foster program. Often when a dog is pulled from the animal shelter they are extremely stressed and some have developed anxiety issues because of the stress that can be temporary or at times permanent conditions.

We have used the Thundershirts to help rehabilitate shelter animals so that they can find loving permanent homes in the community.

How many pets did this grant help?

Between June 26 and Aug. 15, 2014, we have used the donated Thundershirts on eight of the dogs in our foster program.

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

When my foster dog Lacy (first photo) came to me, she had been living outside without a dog house. We were having a lot of bad weather, especially thunderstorms and rain, and she was living in that. Lacy was so scared, and in the beginning she would not go outside even if it was only sprinkling. During thunderstorms, Lacy would be found trembling under tables. Now Lacy has made some improvement. She wears her Thundershirt often, especially during storms. She gets really excited when she sees it and seems to enjoy how it feels. She still gets scared during storms, but the Thundershirt seems to help her be less scared. Lacy is not cowering under tables, trembling, which is a nice improvement considering how much different her life is compared to a year ago.

We had a severe thunderstorm tonight for the first time since we got Sonic, a Whippet (not pictured), a Thundershirt. After pacing the room for a couple of minutes like he usually does, he finally laid down. He would still look up whenever thunder boomed. Another couple of minutes later and he was sleeping soundly, passed out. It was amazing! Thank you so much for the donation!