Thunder Shirt?

[meupatdoes]

So, do Thunder Shirts really work?

I have a dog who is just not getting over his separation anxiety issues.
He has to be crated at all times when unsupervised, or he will chew. My Journeymans got “customized” (after he pulled them off of the coat rack, and he survived this, but only through Herculean self-control on my part.) If I leave him in the car (windows cracked, comfortable temps, no one freak out) uncrated, sayonara gear shift. If I leave him in the car crated anything within tongue or shimmying distance of the crate gets pulled in and goes into the maw.

His routine is that he sleeps in bed with me and the other dogs, in the morning he goes out for a run around the backyard or a hike in the morning, he goes in his crate while I am at work, then he comes to the barn with me and rides in the car in the crate and comes out to play in the indoor when all is quiet.

He is high energy so I give him plenty of opportunities to do the Indy 500 around the garage in the fenced yard and we try to go for several hour+ hikes a week.

He always shares a crate with the other dog (who has no separation anxiety issues) so it is not even like he is alone in there. He has a friend! Right there!

He is actually great about going into the crate and will run into it at top speed with a “Go in your house!” command. I can put him in the crate with the other dog and then go shower and 90% of the time he will be quiet while I am puttering about upstairs (which I only do to test him, normally they are out when I am home) . Normally he is in there quietly without complaining when I get my coat and leave the house. This is improvement from before when he would instantly commence shrieking the second I was out of sight.
When I come home from work everyone is fast asleep and doing sleepy-eyed stretches, obviously roused from deep slumber by my return home.

In the car it is more hit or miss. Sometimes he barks and complains while I am riding and sometimes he sleeps quietly.

Now, I can just carry on as usual and make sure there is nothing within pulling-in distance of the crate ever, but I would like him to not have the anxiety in the first place.
So what do I do?

Of course there are toys in the crate but he would much rather pull things in from outside than chew his actual toys. I am reluctant to put Kongs in because, again, there are two dogs in together and I don’t want them to get in fights over them.

Soooo… Thunder Shirt?
Yay/nay?
Anyone have one in size 20lbs they don’t want anymore?

Any other ideas?

[_DressageJunkie]

I tried one for my Shih-Tzu puppy with separation anxiety and it didn’t help at all. It does have a 45 day money back guarantee though, so its worth trying. I took mine back to where I bought it and got my money back.

[texang73]

I don’t have first hand experience, but a friend got one for her border collie who is scared by thunderstorms and swears by it. I have also seen the dog before it was to get stormy and wearing her “Super Girl” shirt really does help calm her.

[KingoftheRoad]

I don’t know about separation anxiety. We have one for our golden, who shakes when thunderstorms are approaching, and it helps him in all but the most severe storms. We tried one for our Lab mix, who gets terribly nervous in the car, but it didn’t do much, so we returned that one. You can get them through Amazon, which makes returns easy too. It is certainly worth trying, we just had mixed experiences with ours.

[Superminion]

My trainer has them for her GSDs and she swears by them for thunderstorms.

Have you tried leaving music or tv on when you leave? Thats what did it for our cat (yes, cat) who had anxiety issues!

[2DogsFarm]

You may want to try Bach’s Rescue Remedy.

A friend uses it for her hound (1 of 3) who is terrified of thunderstorms.
Dog used to cower in the bathtub when it stormed - now, with Bach’s, she can bear being out.

As an aside:
Friend used it herself when she went on the Red Rock Ride through Grand Canyon.
She has mild acrophobia and was petrified of riding a mule in the Canyon even though she is an avid horsecamper.
Bach’s got her down the trail & back.

[outside_line1]

I mentioned them as a possibility for my lab, and our obedience/agility instructor said to try a couple of Ace bandages, tightly wrapped around her body. I use 2 that fasten with velcro and they help a lot - plus, much cheaper.

I’ve also used Rescue Remedy (there is a “pet” version) with good results.

My dog hates storms and fireworks, and the wrapping + RR has made it a little easier for her.

[spencerlucy]

I have one for my geriatric (14 yr) Schnauzer mix. He is blind and deaf, and over the last couple of years became more and more intolerant of being left alone, even for an hour or so. It seemed as if he was “looking” for me, and when I did not materialize he would jump up on his spot on the sofa and bark non-stop until he was rescued. He wouldn’t tremble so appear otherwise stressed, just yappy. The difference was immediate and amazing. So much so that when Yappy and I went to my parent’s for a visit, they couldn’t beleive how calm he stayed if I left him alone for an evening to go out. (turns out they were dreadiing “babysitting”, but didn’t want to tell me for fear that I wouldn’t come visit). Their own Schnauzer has terrible thunderstorm phobia, so when there was a storm during my visit we put the ThunderShirt on him and although I wouldn’t say he was cured, he lay down on the couch and trembled just a bit, whereas previously he would have run to the basement and attempted to dig to China.

So count me among the converted.

[Kryswyn]

Thundershirt definitely helped my Stiletto who was a mess during any type of storm or loud noise (parties, fireworks).

Definitely helps. She will curl up and rest in her crate while wearing it. If we allow her on the couch during a storm, she will actually fall asleep.

[candysgirl]

They’re kind of hit or miss. If it helps the dog, its basically a miraculous transformation. If it doesn’t, it may as well not be there at all. They do have a money back guarantee though, so its worth a try.

[meupatdoes]

Just wanted to say thanks, everyone, for your responses!

It seems like a good thing to try out, especially with the money back guarantee.

Thanks again!

[bits619]

We had a foster dog who we adopted out with her thundershirt because it helped her quality of life so much, particularly during thunderstorms season (which, in the south, seems to be three seasons of the year!). She definitely wasn’t 100% cured, but many times she would fall asleep rather quickly instead of shake uncontrollably for hours. An important part was to put it on her before the storm was in full force, and sometimes have her wear it on non stormy days so she didn’t anticipate the storm every time. She really liked the jacket, even without the cookies that usually came with it.
I think the thundershirt can work well with separation anxiety and it’s worth a try. There’s something about swaddling that seems to soothe.

[wendy]

the thundershirt is worth a try.

For separation anxiety, have you asked your vet about anti-anxiety medication? often a combination of a short period of medication plus behavioral modification will help the dog a lot.

[horsefaerie]

Go to a thrift shop and get some super stretchy kids shirts that will fit close enough.

THundershirt helped my pup immensely but this years was so stormy and she has long hair that I couldn’t wash it often enough. So I buy kids clothes that will fit. Button ups or pull ons.

She also likes to roll and fuss between storms when we are outside and she can tear anything up short order.

She doesn’t have other anxiety issues so that is another MUCH cheaper option for you to try.

[NRB]

I have a barky dog with mild to moderate SA. She barks and howls when I leave, sometimes she doesn’t even eat the frozen kong that I’ve given her. The Tshirt has defiantly taken it down a notch. But not a total cure all. I do use it, with other management tools and will continue to use it. Not had a problem with it holding up yet. But I take it off once I get home.

[vacation1]

I got one for my dog, who when she gets upset (thunderstorms, vet’s office) gets very upset and then can’t calm down for a long time. It wasn’t a miracle cure with her, but it helped a lot. Before, a thunderstorm made her pace and whine and tremble - and unless the storm ended pretty fast, the trembling would intensify until during some long, bad storms I was getting to worry about her heart. With the shirt on, she still paces and is unhappy, but she doesn’t develop that bad trembling, and the pacing isn’t as intense. And I think she’s actually a bit better now in a storm, even if she doesn’t have the coat on.

You could also try the phenerome products. I haven’t tried them, and have no idea if they work, but there are a few different ones in Petsmart.

http://www.petcomfortzone.com/dogs.html