The Story of Shai

Shai, a Golden Retriever was the Service dog for a woman who had a physical disability. Shai’s  job was to be by her side for stability and provide emotional comfort for her as she went to public places.   Shai and his person were inseparable. At a town celebration one day, Shai and his person stood by the road, where to their ears, a 21-gun salute fired near them. Shai was closest to the firing and  his hearing was stunned into near deafness and his cognitive abilities went into a severe degree of paralysis. His owner brought Shai to the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine to see if Shai could be brought back to some level of normalcy with therapeutic protocols. Shai worked with a veterinary behaviorist and after three months, Shai was returned to his person with a good balance of behaviors. However, there was one issue that was not resolved. With any sudden volume spike in an environment Shai would be triggered back  into toxic stress.

I know of this story because Shai’s owner reached out to me as a sound behaviorist to see if I had any solutions for Shai so that she could continue taking him with her in public as a support dog. I had recently developed a collar device that emits soft tones and music designed for the hearing comfort range for dogs to elicit calm during thunderstorms and firework events. I immediately sent the Ultra Calmer to her after hearing her serious situation to see if this would help.  Shai’s owner received the collar and she started using it on him to go to doctor visits and restaurants. The Ultra Calmer device is placed on the back of the neck between the ears to mask sound and to access the dog’s nervous system to help calm noise stress. It worked well for Shai.

In this video Shai is remaining calm during a thunderstorm and during their home demolition. The collar was a success for Shai helping him at home and in public places with his person continuing to have her beloved dog by her side. A happy ending to an intense situation that I was gratified to be part of.