Zelda and Tanner are wearing their new Thundershirts today. The concept is that wearing a garment that is very snug around their bodies calms down the dogs. Kind of like swaddling a baby, I suppose. Anyway, you have to get the dogs used to wearing the shirts while they are nice and calm so that they associate wearing it with feeling happy and calm. Eventually you can put the Thundershirt on the dog when they’re stressed and it will calm them down. Since our Zelda is scared of everything (thunder, wind, firecrackers, the dark, men with beards…) and Tanner has terrible separation anxiety, we figured we might have a few good candidates for this product. Plus, our dogs already associate wearing “clothes” (usually a bandana) with the happy experience of going to work with Weez, putting on a Thundershirt will feel somewhat familiar (maybe).
Here’s what it looks like:
So, we’ll wear them for a little while tonight, them put them away again. I kind of want one myself, for when I’m having an anxious moment. 🙂 Guess I’ll have to make do with my regular clothing for the time being.
Have you tried this with your own dog? If so, did it work well for them?