Thundershirts?

[Sonya]

Anyone have any experience with this product? Did it help your dog at all with anxiety over particular situations?

 

[Boss Mare]

I purchased one when I worked for Petco. I bought it for my 8-10 yr. old Pointer mix. She was a rescue, chained to a tree most of her life and used for breeding - has almost no teeth from gnawing on her chain. She is as sweet, gentle as they come, but suffers from anxiety. She doesn't practice any behaviors like pacing, never barks, etc. She just kind of sits there and shakes non stop some times then she is fine. Certain sounds make her hide under the bed overnight or hours at a time - thunderstorms, loud noises, the ice maker, etc.

The Thunder Shirt didn't do much, I could've saved $ because even if she's wearing her doggy hoodie it has the same effect and soothes her a little more than without. Another thing I do since she sleeps about 20 hours a day is wrap her with a throw blanket.

 

[Sonya]

I was wondering why a regular dog coat/sweater wouldn't do the same thing (if it does anything)? Certainly cheaper...the thundershirt is $40.

 

[WendyJ]

Sonya,

I went to a lecture on thunderstorm anxiety by Dr. Karen Overall, a top veterinary behaviorist, and she didn't have much luck with the Thundershirt. She found more success with the Storm defender cape http://www.stormdefender.com/

She was also a huge fan of using an antianxiolytic drug, such as alprazolam.

I can probably find the notes I took if you want more info.

Wendy

 

[Sonya]

Thanks Wendy...my little rat terrier gets anxiety during thunderstorms and it's now expanded to any loud noise...say something falling from a shelf or I drop something. I don't feel he is bad enough for drugs...he will hide under bed or computer desk and shake for a while but he is not destroying anything, etc. It is wierd...I had 3 dogs one of which was a black lab, he was the leader of the group...he wasn't afraid of anything...none of the dogs had anxiety over anything when he was around. After my lab died, the other two (a mix and the terrier) started getting anxiety over storms. The mix isn't near as bad as the terrier...he will just kinda follow you around, but the terrier shakes like a leaf and it's progressively gotten worse as to even a loud noise will send him into the shakes.

I can see how the cape could be more effective since it actually has a lining that suppose to reduce electrical charge during storms. I feel so bad for him...even after the loud noise he acts anxious for about an hour. I have tried distracting him and that works alittle, not much, the distraction has to be non stop. I try to not encourage the behavior by comforting him. It just seems to be getting worse. A bottle of shampoo fell from a shower shelf the other day and he was a mess for an hour.

 

[Shari]

Sonya, your rat terrier sounds like my Cat Sadie.

Specially since we moved to VA... she gets very scared of the T&L storms and all the loud noises. I do use a "calming" spray in the house, that helps but not as much as I would like to see.

Glad you brought up the Thundershirt question, because I was wondering if that would help....

 

[MountainWoman]

Sonya,

A regular coat/sweater doesn't do the same thing because it doesn't have the compression factor of the Thundershirt. I bought one for a phobic golden retriever who panicked during thunder storms and it did nothing and was a waste of money. It's sitting on my shelf untouched now.

The only thing that did help was using Rescue Remedy when I heard that first clap of thunder and most recently, I discovered Calming Collars and purchased one of those and I use it at the first sign of thunder and it does seem to help as well. Here's the link if you're interested. http://www.calmingcollars.com/

 

[shorthorsemom]

I honestly thought the "t touch" wrap I did with an ace bandage worked decent so I purchased a thunder shirt. I have seen the thunder shirt work fantastic on some dogs. For mine..it really did nothing. At times she even shook more when wearing the shirt. Dap worked fantastic for this dog. I used the diffuser but I want to try the dap collar. One dog of mine responded well with herbal drops and sometimes dap spray works. My opinion would be that every dog is wired a bit differently and respond very differently to calming remedies. Imho you wont know if the thunder shirt will work until you try one. I think they have a money back guarantee if it doesn't work.. at least they used to.

 

[MountainWoman]

I have multiple dogs in the house and I have a DAP diffuser going constantly. I love it. Didn't help my storm phobic dog though. The calming collar is like the DAP collar but instead of pheromones, it uses herbs. I think ShortHorseMom is absolutely correct in that all dogs are wired differently and have different responses.

 

[Sonya]

I guess I will try it and see if it works...if it doesn't I will try the collar or drops....thanks everyone. It was so obvious after Brutus died that both dogs changed quite a bit. Not just anxiety but other things too...where they chose to lay, play, etc....it all changed...it was almost like getting two different dogs....apparently he was their calming factor...kind of sad...they did miss him for a while and they would look for him, especially the mix who grew up with him.

 

[WendyJ]

Sonya,

I would encourage you to consider the alprazolam or even diazepam....NOT acepromazine. You were likely absolutely right in saying that you think it's getting worse....these conditions tend to rapidly get worse as time goes by. These progress into full-blown panic attacks, and, I don't know if you've ever had one, but I did about 20 years ago, and to this day I can remember how undescribably horrible it was.

Here's a good article by her on this.

http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm/Medicine/Storm-Phobias/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/136493

Wendy

 

[Sonya]

Thanks for the link Wendy, going there now.

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

I have a 4 year old Toy Fox Terrier who is very sound sensetive, and he does not like thunderstorms. I know at some point he will have to have medication to cope, but I wanted to try other options before going to that. Without anything he will pant, pace, whine & shake before/during/after thunderstorms.

Before I bought the thundershirt I would hold him under my arm and between my body and squeeze, kept the pressure on, and he did respond better when the pressure was on, so I bought the Thundershirt. Now the Thundershirt alone does not work 100% to calm him, but it does make a difference. He also wears a DAP collar and all summer he gets an all natural calm pill once a day, but if there will be storms in the evening he gets it twice a day. If I can get it right before the storms get loud, I also will give him 2 dropper fulls of Rescue Remedy, that does help if I forgot to give him the calm pill in the evening. He still whines a little, but with the Thundershirt, the collar and the supplement he will lay down and relax when it's not loudly booming, without it he can't relax for awhile even after the storms move away.

This is the supplement I use:

http://www.renewlife.com/healthy-calm.html?gclid=CLvFxIb67rICFQSe4AodMmEABQ

 

[Sonya]

Thanks Kim...it is nice to know the shirt helps, I went ahead and bought one yesterday to try it. I'm open to all options at this point and will try anything. The only thing I worry about is if it happens while I am at work...what do you guys do? If you know a storm is predicted do you go ahead and put collar, shirt, whatever on even though it may be hours away?

 

[Mona]

Sonya, I never read anything on the thundershirt, but the collars I had read about in the past (that were to do the same thing) said to put them on if you were expecting storms, as it takes awhile for them to start working and it wouldn;t hurt anything and would actually only do good.