Thundershirt

Simon, my 8 year old Jack Russell Terrier, is a nut. EVERYTHING gives him anxiety. Everything. From the slightest raising of the volume of one's voice so someone can hear to the vacuum to thunder and everything in between, Simon gets freaked out. I've tried calming tablets and while they totally work, they take hours to kick in so if a bad storm is approaching, it's probably over before they kick in. For anxiety-causing things that are planned, such as fireworks on the 4th of July, I could give him a tablet early enough for it to work, but then I have a loopy dog for the other 22 hours that there aren't fireworks going off. The vet has recommended giving him something like Paxil, but that's really expensive. Finally, a few months ago, the vet recommended trying Thundershirt. I looked at it in the clinic and did some research and ordered it.

The basic science of Thundershirt is sound. Applying constant pressure helps relieve things like anxiety and is a treatment I am familiar with for special needs students. It's like a constant hug, except you can still function because you don't have a person attached to you. Thundershirt has great reviews all over the internet and is veterinarian approved - plus with the 45 day money-back guarantee, it has to be good, right? Well, not for Simon.

Thundershirt arrived on a Wednesday, which was perfect since he had surgery planned for 2 days later. The instructions said to put food on it so it creates a positive association - simple classic conditioning - so I  put the Thundershirt on the floor and put a treat on it. Simon wouldn't touch it. After 30 minutes, I was sick of waiting, so I decided I'd put it on him even though he hadn't eaten the treat. When I started to open it, the velcro freaked him out and he went to hide, but I caught him. This wasn't the ideal first try, but hey, now he's experiencing anxiety so we'll see if it works! I put it on him and he went upstairs to hide under the bed. He wouldn't come out until he finally smelled his dinner being served and came down. After he ate, I took it off and the velcro again scared him so he went to hide under my car in the garage. Great.

2 days later was his surgery. When I went to put Thundershirt on him, he wasn't as freaked out by the velcro, but he still didn't love it. When I said we were going in the car, he was so excited that I could have put a vacuum on his back and he wouldn't have cared. When we got to the vet, he was okay - not great, but not terrible either. I thought maybe it was working since the website does say that it may take a few tries for some dogs. The vets took Thundershirt off of Simon while he was put under and I didn't touch it for a week since he was doing a lot of sleeping anyway. For his 1-week follow-up, I put it on him. The velcro had little to no impact this time, but he was awful at the vet. He barked, growled, and snapped at the vet. Great. At his 2-week follow-up, he wasn't naughty, but he was very, very anxious.

Out of 4 tries, none had any impact. With the 45 day window coming close, I washed it, plucked the hair off of it, and sent it back. I was really hoping it would work, but it didn't. Since the science makes sense and so many others have found it to be amazing, I can't say that Thundershirt is crap, I just think my dog is a freak of nature. If you have an anxious dog, I'd say give it a try, but make sure you're watching the calendar so you can return it if need be. Maybe it will work for your dog, maybe not.

A JRT wearing Thundershirt (not Simon)

Thundershirt fails The Trav Test with an Incomplete. 


• Category: Products

• Location: Online, Vet Clinics, Stores

• Cost: $39.95

• Ease of use: Easy

• The Trav Test grade: Incomplete (The first incomplete ever!)