My dog Bosco is all of the E words. He is eager, energetic, exuberant, excitable, enthusiastic and entertaining. Some family no longer wanted him and dumped him near my house. We took him in because he looked lost and it was only 10 degrees outside. Since we found him on the patron saint day of Saint John Bosco, we call him Bosco.

We spent a couple of weeks trying to find his owner. He had no collar with tags and no microchip. We put an ad in the newspaper, made posters that we posted around the neighborhood, and contacted animal control. One family responded to our ad but when they showed up they could tell he wasn't their dog.

During the two weeks we searched for his family, we began to understand why he was dumped. Not that I think it's right to dump a dog, but I think people adopt a dog having no clue what adopting a particular breed entails.

Bosco is an Australian cattle dog. Dogs of this breed can run a hundred miles a day when trained and working with cattle. Bosco has more energy than he knows what to do with since he is not hearding cattle. My neighbor's 6-year-old granddaughter says it best: "He's too bouncy."

After five months of training, we are starting to see a glimmer of the wonderful dog he will be. Still, in the mornings he reminds me of a Tasmanian devil. At night, he snuggles and watches Bristish mysteries.

A friend also introduced us to the anxiety wrap for dogs. Lightning is very upsetting to Bosco. Putting the anxiety wrap on him settles him out to the point he almost tolerates storms. During our last lightning storm he only barked once to a loud boom.

Bosco's dog trainer Judy Archer-Dick says that the anxiety wrap works well but should be used at other times too, so that the dog doesn't associate it with something bad that is going to happen.

I sometimes put it on him first thing in the morning. It calms him down while I try to wake up. Recently I put it on him when my parents came for a visit. I was afraid he'd greet them with a body slam. He was the perfect dog.

My neighbor's dog also has a hard time with storms. They put one of the grandchild's t-shirts on their border collie and noticed a change for the better in her behavior during a storm. The snugness gives a dog a sense of security.

With the 4th of July coming up, you might want to try a snug t-shirt with your scent on it if your dog has trouble with fireworks in your neighborhood. It might work.