Calm Your Anxious Pet Naturally With Calming Collars {Review & Giveaway}

Do you have a dog or a cat that may otherwise be referred to as a chicken? I did. An 80 pound chicken to be exact. Cosmo was a big ole lovable golden retriever that had a bark that was definitely worse than his bite. When there was a thunderstorm, he was scared. He liked to stay right next to you, and was always touching you if possible. I came home in the middle of a storm one day and found him in our tiny bathroom (it is just a toilet behind a door) with his head stuck as far back as he could possibly get it.

I recently heard about Calming Collars, and I knew I needed one of these for Cosmo. Unfortunately, in the few days it took to get my Calming Collar after ordering it, Cosmo passed away and I was never able to try it on him. Even though I didn't get to really review this product the way I wanted to, I think it is a great product that will help a lot of pets, so I want to tell you about it.

Calming collars are custom made, cloth collars filled with herbs to help ease dog anxiety and cat stress. They are based on aromatherapy and work naturally. I am a big believer in aromatherapy. I can't tell you how many times I have been stressed out, and simply lighting a particular scented candle helps me to relax. The Calming Collars come in two different blends of herbs. The one I received for review is the "Calm Me Down". These collars help with fear of thunderstorms and bad weather, fireworks or other loud noises, and in most stressful situations like a trip to the groomer or to the vet. Your pet can wear them all day long, or just a few hours here and there when needed.

Here is a quick video by "the calming collar lady" to really explain how they work...

One thing I really liked about that video is that she doesn't try to tell you that the collar will definitely cure your dog's anxiety. She even says that it may be just ONE THING that is used to help a very anxious dog. I, personally, think these will work, and would have helped Cosmo with his fear of thunderstorms. The first thing I noticed when I took the collar out of the package was that it smelled exactly like an aromatherapy neck wrap that I use to relax, and that always helps me.

When you order your collar, you pick the size and fabric. You choose the size based on your dog's neck measurement. If the measurement is between sizes, definitely go with the bigger size. There are so many different fabrics to choose from. I chose the "Bones on Blue" fabric for Cosmo's collar.

The collar is very well made. It is secured to the buckle and I don't worry about it falling apart. However, the collars are safe and use high quality herbs, so even if your pet were to somehow chew through it, it will not harm them. Like I said, the scent is exactly like an aromatherapy neck wrap that I have, so it seems to have the right combination of herbs to help your pet relax. The scent is very strong at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

We tried the collar on Chloe. She doesn't have the anxiety that Cosmo had, so I can't really say whether it worked on her or not. She certainly didn't mind the new collar and she slept like a baby the whole time she had it on. She does have some anxiety when we go to the vet, or take long car rides, so we will certainly be using the collar on her during those times.

I mentioned that these collars come in two different blends of herbs. The other blend is the "Good To Go". This blend helps with motion sickness. Chloe did have motion sickness as a puppy, but seems to have outgrown it, so I definitely know that there are plenty of dogs that could benefit from that blend. Also available is the "Too Cool" collar, which helps your pet stay cool. The Calm Me Down and Good To go collars can be purchased for $32, and the Too Cool is $16. Most orders are sewn and shipped within a week.

I highly recommend giving these collars a try if you have an anxious pet. These collars have a 95% success rate, so it should help your pet to relax. However, if you are not happy with the results, just email Calming Collars and your purchase price will be refunded with no hassles or arguments. How is that for customer satisfaction? Pretty awesome, if you ask me!

~*~One of my readers is going to win a Calming Collar!~*~

(Choice of Calm Me Down or Good To Go.)

Mandatory entry: (This must be done in order for any optional entries to count) Tell me how this collar can help your pet.

Optional entries: After you make the mandatory first entry above, you can get one extra entry (unless stated otherwise) for each of the following (please leave a separate comment for each):

* Tell me which Calming Collar fabric you might choose if you win
* Like Calming Collars on Facebook (please let them know The Life of Rylie...and Bryce too! sent you)
* Follow my blog publicly with Google Friend Connect (left sidebar)
* Subscribe to my blog by email and confirm your subscription (left sidebar)
* Like The Life of Rylie...and Bryce too! on Facebook (leave your first name and last initial)
* Share this post on Facebook by clicking the Facebook icon at the bottom of this post
* Follow @thelifeofrylie on Twitter (leave your user name)
* Tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting this tweet and leaving me the link to your tweet (you can tweet daily for an extra entry each day):

Calm your pet's anxiety naturally with a Calming Collar. Enter to #win from @thelifeofrylie! http://bit.ly/fgR8f2 #giveaway

* Post my button on your sidebar or your blog roll for TWO extra entries (leave me two comments with a link to where I can find it)
* Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post for THREE extra entries (leave a link to your post in three separate comments)

Giveaway will end on March 1st at 9:00pm EST. The winner will be chosen by random.org. I will notify the winner by email within 24 hours, and you will have 48 hours to respond. If no response is received within that time frame, I will pick another winner. Please leave your email address or make sure it is in your profile so I will have a way to contact you. I will announce the winner once they have been confirmed. This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada.

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion. I received the Calming Collar at no cost for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. A big Thank You to Calming Collars for providing the giveaway prize!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

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