wuffles Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 We've been using our shirt for a month or two. I think it is definitely helping during the milder storms - he will still stress and pace but calms down faster. Our aim is just to get him into his hiding spot and stay there. I haven't noticed a difference during the big storms, still a stresspot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Digby used to go under my desk and not come out until the storm was over. I have used the Thundershirt for about the last 6 or 7 storms. The last storm we had I didn't even need to put it on. I went our under the awning and he followed me out there and laid on his bed and relaxed. Definitely not stressed at all. Pretty huge improvement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfthewords Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I tried the thundershirt on my pup yesterday and the change was absolutely amazing she went from super hyperactive to being really calm and it has helped with her fear of men as well will have to try this. question - would you leave it on a dog all day while you're at work? It's too risky, like leaving a collar on--it gets stuck on something, too hot, etc. Of course the velcro helps with it coming off, but I supervise use of the TS. I've used it with a great deal of success on Carl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr_inoz Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I tried the thundershirt on my pup yesterday and the change was absolutely amazing she went from super hyperactive to being really calm and it has helped with her fear of men as well will have to try this. question - would you leave it on a dog all day while you're at work? It's too risky, like leaving a collar on--it gets stuck on something, too hot, etc. Of course the velcro helps with it coming off, but I supervise use of the TS. I've used it with a great deal of success on Carl. thanks for that... was wondering. have ordered one - will let you know how it goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loraine Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I bought a thunder shirt for Zedley a couple of months back. When I tried it on his he froze. So I put it aside until last night. He started his night time craziness, so got shipped off to the bathroom (he'd been sleeping in there OK for about 4 nights). I heard him start ddrying and scratching at the door and remembered it was Aistralia Day fireworks, so I brought him back into the bedroom and put on his thunder shirt. When I finished reading I turned out the light, he gave two whimpers and I told him to shut up (in a normal voice). He settled for the remainder of the night Thunder Shirt will be on again tonight to see if we can get a habit happening here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W Sibs Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Do you think this will help with cutting dogs nails? Since Charlie's illness and doing so many test and getting a lot of needles, Charlie doesn't like people touching his paws.. so this makes it an adventure at home when we try to cut his nails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loraine Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Fran I think if you put the shirt on for a number of days and start fiddling with Charlie's paws (massaging the pads and pulling gently on the nails) it could work. They do come with a guaranteed refund if they don't do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sllebasi Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 might have plenty of opportunity to use mine this week, we are expecting two cyclones, one at the moment is expected to be category 2 or 3, the other one they have nicknamed the monster - at the moment they are saying category 4 or 5 and both are expected within four days to cross in the same spot so i not only fingers crossed for our town but also for the thundershirt to at least help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Good luck, sllebasi. CWEW, why don't you just try some good old fashioned counter-conditioning first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyarna Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Just found this thread and if it works it will be such a life saver! Ordered one just now so will report back when I start using it more. I have a GSP who has seperation anxiety, and gets way to overexicted when out and about, jumping up at strangers, extreme pulling etc even though we leash train him. Hopefully it does have a calming affect on him so I can use it to supplement his training - we are going away for 2 weeks in March and the only realistic option is to bring him with us to Perth on the plane. So hopefully we can get in some really good seperation anxiety training before then. If it does work on him, would it be alright to put use it for the 6 hour flight? He generally doesn't mind wearing coats / tshirts etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
all creatures Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Yeah, we are trying a Thundershirt out with Erik. He doesn't get anxious so much as over-aroused. He tends to need a bit of help to calm himself down again. I would say that when he is just a little aroused it does wonders and settles him right back down again just about instantly, but when he is very aroused it is of limited use. It does seem to help him come down quicker once the arousing stimuli have gone away. I would tentatively say it's no better than a good massage, which brings me to comment that Erik is conditioned to calm with rubs and massages, so it's possible the Thundershirt works well with him because of prior conditioning. Anyway, we are still testing it and forming an opinion. I think they are worth a go. I haven't tried a wrap, but I do know that giving Erik's hindquarters a very firm massage when he's aroused is a little like magic. It tends to have a fairly immediate and profound calming effect. His knees turn to jelly. What a fascinating thread! Some of b4 and after videos on U Tube blew me away. I too would love to know how this is affecting them... Corvus - I was wondering if one of TS's could help with the over-arousal (and strong prey drive) problem with my SBT Midge (when playing with Daisy the Schipp)? They are both inside lately due to the hot weather - and the gate between them is making them both whinge for other!! Must be love How is it going for Erik so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Corvus - I was wondering if one of TS's could help with the over-arousal (and strong prey drive) problem with my SBT Midge (when playing with Daisy the Schipp)? They are both inside lately due to the hot weather - and the gate between them is making them both whinge for other!! Must be love How is it going for Erik so far? Hmm, it's hard to say. Personally, I wouldn't use it on Erik to calm him down during play. Play is arousing in a positive way, usually. I know some folks that are using it to overcome anxieties about Stand For Exam and the likes. It's a delicate balance between enough arousal to want to play in spite of other distractions and distractions depressing arousal so a dog won't play. My guess is it won't work. If Midge is getting that riled up that she doesn't want to listen to you, I doubt the TS would bring her down enough to get that far, but that's just based on my experience with Erik. If he's really up, the TS won't bring him down, but doing some down-stay training might. What it would work on with Erik is if Erik is up enough to want to play but not actually playing much. He'll walk around trying to get people or the other dog to interact with him. He's bored and wants something to do. The TS in that scenario tends to send him to sleep, so it's good for conditioning down-time. If I had a problem like yours, considering I already have a TS I would use it in conjunction with other things. For example, I might set about conditioning down-time. Go to the training section and check out the thread I started about manipulating arousal where I've explained how I've been using massage and the TS to condition Erik to be calmer throughout the day. But it's questionable whether the TS alone would be enough to start the ball rolling with an excitable Staffy that wants to play all the time. Erik already had been taught to hold still for massages, so perhaps Midge would need more help than that. Doing some massage work on a mat while the dog licks a Kong is something I found helpful with Erik in the beginning when he was a super wired puppy. I'm not sure if that was very clear. What I'm thinking is I would bring a playful dog down first, using massage or maybe down-stay exercises, or a Kong or something to chew on, and THEN put the TS on with the intention of bringing the dog down even more so they switched off and had a rest for a few hours. If you follow the same routine each time and put this on cue, there's a good chance you could condition down-time so you don't have to say anything at all. They will just develop a rhythm of going up and down at the times when you have created ups and downs in the past. Does that make sense? Sorry, that was a very long post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 This is the thread I was talking about: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=213687 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
all creatures Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 This is the thread I was talking about: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=213687 Thanks Corvus - I get the gist I think - more of a training aid, than a band aid perhaps, in my situation...... Phew - some of those dogs on U-tube would drive me nuts? I wonder how some of them get like that in the first place....some are borderline neurotic (no offence to anyone here - I was looking at some american stuff) but it's good to see folk who care enough to do something about it. But GSD's4 ever - your lovely dog Spirit looks like she needs to "see" - I am amazed she doesn't jump onto the roof of the kennel to do that? Love the vid with the cat - what a study! Cats are too cool for school aren't they Thanks again Corvus - your posts on arousal levels are really interesting - not something I had considered b4. Horses can be very similar in this respect too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr_inoz Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 thundershirt arrived today - and I tried it out tonight. Hard to tell because it is very very hot here at the moment. I decided to put it on her for the first time while she was pretty laid back and relaxed. No problems. Got a small test when the dog started barking. She would normally race outside and join in. She didn't. She pricked her ears and got up to investigate, but came back when I called. So looking good here. Question for you all though. She went outside with me, but then wouldn't come back in through the dog door. I re-adjusted the straps around her chest, thinking they might be restricting her movement - and she came inside through the door ok - but was a bit hesitant (when normally she would charge through). I've noticed though, that she will not come down the stairs with the shirt on. She goes up ok but will not come down at all. Anyone else notice anything like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lab_Rat Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Wow - like many others I have only just checked out this thread Think I may get one for our ridgy who suffers SA and "Strange visitor Anxiety"......Just watching your videos GSDs4eva is amazing to see such a hyped up dog be more relaxed and almost indifferent to both the guy patting her and the poor cat!! Great to read all the positive feedback on the Thundershirt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heroeswit Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 When using the thundershirt I have found that it has reduced the reactions to people as like Lab_Rat my pup has "Strange Visitor Anxiety" but she also has "Strange Men Anxiety" The change hasn't been huge but hopefully with perseverance it should help. She doesn't like anyone except for her "Family" and even people that are here daily for 3 months still get reactions from her. My big test will be on Wednesday when we go back to obedience - unless Yasi hits first. Hopefully everything works out. jr_inoz I would think that your girl may not be use to it so it may take some getting use to when she is going down stairs as the movement is different to what she would be use to, the same with going through the dog door she may not feel confident with the shirt on when going through small spaces but you may be able to change that by using treats to entice her to do it while she has the thundershirt on. the thunder shirt has made a big difference but it isn't a complete turn around yet..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Just found this thread and if it works it will be such a life saver!Ordered one just now so will report back when I start using it more. I have a GSP who has seperation anxiety, and gets way to overexicted when out and about, jumping up at strangers, extreme pulling etc even though we leash train him. Hopefully it does have a calming affect on him so I can use it to supplement his training - we are going away for 2 weeks in March and the only realistic option is to bring him with us to Perth on the plane. So hopefully we can get in some really good seperation anxiety training before then. If it does work on him, would it be alright to put use it for the 6 hour flight? He generally doesn't mind wearing coats / tshirts etc. I think you might be better off having some one on one sessions with a Trainer and implenting methods like NILIF and TOT. Good luck with the Thundershirt, it's not going to train a dog though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunnwarren Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 My sister uses it on her beagle who is terrified of storms, heavy rain or visitors. Amazing the difference it makes I wouldnt have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rose11 Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Hi all, just stumbled across this thread! Thinking the Thundershirt might be useful for calming my 3 year old 'new people nervous' cocker spaniel. He really is a big sook but he is just very cautious of new people. He is a rescue - we are slowly trying to build his confidence.. Anyone bought one recently and can suggest best value place for purchase? Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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