Monday, August 8, 2011

ThunderShirt

As I've mentioned before in this blog, G and I have been battling her separation anxiety for a couple years now. As long as I'm around, she usually holds herself together, but if I leave her (even if she's still with another person) she tends to get very antsy and whiny.

I heard all sorts of suggestions and remedies for calming a pup both when they're with you and on their own: collars, sprays, hormones, it was even suggested to me that I get another dog to keep G company (so what happens when that doesn't work?!).

One of the odder suggestions I received was from G's babysitter, who mentioned the Thundershirt for her. She explained that this was a shirt, (a la Temple Grandin) wrapped around the abdomen of the dog that worked similarly to the calming effects of swaddling a baby. The gentle pressure is said to release chemicals in the brain triggering relaxation.

To be honest, at first I thought it was completely ridiculous, however, after reading up on the product - both on their website and elsewhere (for non-biased opinions), I figured it couldn't hurt to try it. It was a 100% money-back guarantee if the product didn't give you results.

I purchased the Thundershirt about six months ago and was pretty religious about keeping it on G both when I was and was not around. For the most part, I think it provided an improved relaxation effect for her, but it was hard to say how much so.

With the spring/summer months, I didn't dress her in the shirt as much as I didn't want her to overheat (although, according to the manufacturer, that's not really a worry unless it's over 95 degrees Fahrenheit), but I am looking forward to getting her back into the shirt in the cooler months of fall and winter. I am interested to see if I can teach her a positive association between the shirt and relaxing (especially on leash).

Stay tuned!


2 comments:

  1. We have been hearing so many good things about Thundershirts. One of the dogs in our dog walking club has severe anxiety and she walks with a thundershirt that her owner says helps a lot. You should ask her thoughts on it.

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  2. That would actually be awesome to chat with her about that! Not sure the best way to get in touch, but maybe she could stop by the blog?

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