Thundershirt

adamar15

Who has one?  I feel so bad for Sadie, who is right now cowering under my dad's bed because it's storming, but I need to know whether these things work before I drop $40 on one.

Girlie1030

A coworker of mine swears by them. 

ski2play

**off to google, thundershirt**

jessicabessica

I was wondering how hard it would be to DIY one of these for our dog, especially since she's kind of oddly-shaped.

MattsPenguin

I have one, and I don't think it works.  We still put it on her anyway.  What does Sadie do?  April doesn't go berserk or anything; she just becomes really clingy.  So I don't know if it would help calm her down if she was more upset.

MattsPenguin

Jessica, you probably could DIY it.  It's just fabric pulled really tightly around the dogs abdomen.  I didn't realize the origin of how it came to be until I was reading the other day about how they use compression to calm down autistic kids.  It made total sense.

KellyBrian2013

My parents have one for their storm phobic Chihuahua mix rescue dog. It works wonders. We recommend it to a lot of training clients, and have seen a lot of difference in dogs with a variety of issues. I could be wrong, but I believe they also have a money back/satisfaction guarantee...

Legu

In Response to Re:Thundershirt:[QUOTE]off to google, thundershirt Posted by ski2play[/QUOTE]

Feel free to share the results...

adamar15

Holding her doesn't seem to do much.  She normally goes in her kennel and shakes, but her kennel isn't set up at my mom's which is why she chose to go under my dad's bed.  Last time it stormed she starting panting a lot.

Also, this fucking storm has me trapped at work and it's pissing me off.

KBSK12

Hmmm... I'd love to know about this too. Our Goldendoodle does well in storms, but he has terrible separation anxiety.

jessicabessica

I've read about the compression aspect, too.  We try holding her when she's shaking from thunder, and it doesn't help all that much, so I'm skeptical the shirt will work for her. 

ski2play

Very Interesting  <----clicky

BostonGIrl4732

Some people swear by them.  A family member tried for their dog though and it didn't do anything.

adamar15

Thank all that is holy that Sadie doesn't fart when she's scared.  She has classic SBD doberman farts.

Hmm, I guess what I'm gathering here is that I just have to order one and see if it works for her.  With my luck I'll order one and then it won't storm within the 45-day return timeline.

MattsPenguin

Yikes, Pheagles!  See I wonder if it would help for stuff like that.  Like I said, April just becomes really clingy.  Or like last time there was a thunderstorm and we weren't home, she trapped herself under the bed.  But she isn't freaking out.  Matt's old dog would just go ba-na-nas.  They would have to tie her up, so that she wouldn't run away or hurt herself.

MattsPenguin

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_thundershirt?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:5602457f-7bf2-4e07-a36b-23c8f8788599Post:a5360ed1-020f-4131-9891-3599cc4ad1cc">Re: Thundershirt</a>:
[QUOTE]Thank all that is holy that Sadie doesn't fart when she's scared.  She has classic SBD doberman farts. Hmm, I guess what I'm gathering here is that I just have to order one and see if it works for her.  With my luck I'll order one and then it won't storm within the 45-day return timeline.
Posted by adamar15[/QUOTE]

Yeah, we got her one for christmas, and didn't get to use it for a long time.  I still like to put it on her, especially because she looks so pretty in pink.

adamar15

Oh I'm definitely getting her the pink one.  I'll most likely have it monogrammed, too.  Only the best for my spaz-tastic dog.

MattsPenguin

It's the only thing that Matt has let me get for her in pink. 

I bet she'll looks cute in it!

by "she", I mean Sadie.

Legu

Hmm... Curious... For dogs, you say...? I wonder if I could get a little one for my house bun... He friggin hates thunder, and we get rather a lot of it here...

mkrupar

I need to try one of these for our Australian Shepard. He loses his mind when we leave the house. They're supposed to help with separation anxiety too.

adamar15

They make them for cats too, Legu.  Maybe the small one would be little enough.

m tulli

I've heard mixed thoughts.  My boss said it worked, a dog "expert" said it just shows people will by anything.  I thought about trying it because my 65 lb golden is horrible in storms.  she claws her way up me and ends up sleeping on my head if i'm laying down, pants, shakes and is just an over all pain to try to calm down.

Just a side note they say to use it at random times not just when a storm is coming other wise the dog will relate the shirt to the storm.  

Good luck

monkeysip

I've been wondering this too!

My dog goes crazy during storms.  She pants, cries, and runs around the house like a fool.  I usually just have to crate her.  Sometimes she claws the crate door and goes nuts, other times the crate chills her out.

You can't hold her to calm her down.  But I'm wondering if the shirt would provide a more even, comfortable pressure.  Better than just holding her.

I've been hesitant to pay the $40 too...

specialk84

Since Cooper has an extensive winter wardrobe, we just put one of his sweaters on him when there's a big storm. They're really fitted, so they might have the same effect. Either way, they tend to calm him down. 

During the summer, we also turn the AC way down. He likes the white noise, and we don't want him to overheat. 

He farts when he gets scared, too. 

[Deleted User]

Rufus has one. He is terrified of thunderstorms. It doesn't cure his fear, but it does seem to help. Normally he shakes, pants, drools, and paces. With the shirt, the shaking goes away. We've noticed over time, that prior to having the shirt, petting him and talking to him only makes him worse. But just placing a hand on him and keeping it there makes him stop shaking. So it makes sense that the shirt would help him in that way.

Every dog is different, though.

Mrs.B6302007

A friend of mine just this week got one (she's in FL too so lots of opportunity to use it already) and has done nothing but rave about it.  SHe posted a pic of her calm dog during the storm and he is a maniac usually.

raes19

A local shelter always has these on their wishlist because they help the dogs with their anxiety from being in the shelter.

graceb15

We have one for our one Ridgeback who goes BSC around other dogs he doesn't know or when people come over. It seems to kinda calm him down, but not enough to make a huge difference. I believe they do have a money back guarantee though. Also, have you ever tried Rescue Remedy? It's for humans, but safe for dogs. You can pick it up at the natural food store and it works pretty well for calming dogs down.

Shellywid

it works really well for our pup, she is a rescue and has challenges in new situations

lacey3eb

Our experience is that it is worth a shot because they really will give you your money back if it doesn't work.  We used it for separation anxiety.  Our pup was comfortable wearing the shirt while we were around, but he absolutely destroyed the shirt when we left him alone for an hour.  We emailed the company a picture of the remains of the shirt and they gave us a refund, no questions asked. 

lmskowronski

We swear by ours for our Australian Shepard/sheltie mix. She is fine with storms but has severe separation anxiety. We would put it on about 20 minutes before we left. She is sort of a nut case diagnosed with canine ocd and anxiety has to be medicated 2x daily and we have seen huge improvements in her behavior when we are gone.