Hi, just out of interest has anyone tried one of these thundershirts? I read about them on another forum and went on the website, www.thundershirt.com. I was wondering why people spend a lot of money on zyklene, Dap diffusers etc if the thundershirt works.

I just use a tight t-shirt on a couple of my dogs....works wonders and its free if you find one in your drawer or very cheap to buy from a shop.

A fool and their money......along with a celeb endorsement, and all for the merchandising.  It's all unsubstantiated claims about nothing if you read it.

Not all remedies work on all dogs, for some thundershirts are the answer, for others flower essences, herbal remedies, homoeopathic pilules, pheremones etc.

My friend uses them and says they are very good.

To the poster who replied " fool and his money" just because some do not believe in certain remedies there is no need to rubbish them for all, live and let live, what works for some does not work for others.   We can only speak from our experience of a product ( rather than having a closed mind approach) Homeopathy is something I like to try whereas other people would not even consider it.

Good Luck with whatever you try. 

Soli had a similar thing when she had her holter test in april - a very snug harness and t-shirt to hold the monitor in place.  It made a heck of a difference to her stress levels and she's a very stressy dog.

Ok, it won't work for everyone, but it can be very effective.

My dog is about to take part in a thundershirt trial, I will let you know how it goes once we are finished.

I don't know about Thundershirts, but one of my dogs has got Thunderpants!! lol (sorry)

Think might try one for Not had much to laugh about recently. Your post did the trick!! Thanks.

It must work on the same principle of the crush cages Temple Grandin experimented with, I tried the Mekuti one on Spud with no success, but as has been mentioned it will work for some.
On a similar note you can also use things like peanut butter, marmite, that sort of thing smeared up into the dogs gums and round their teeth, they soon become too preoccupied with licking it off to notice the stuff that's making them worried, and it's quite amusing to see the look of concentration on their hairy little faces as they try to reach the last bit lol.

I got a thundershirt at Crufts to use on my nutty setter who is almost hyperactive. Before we bought it she used to wee in my hall every night between 8 and 10pm  - never asked to go out just went and wee'd. She also barked constantly if my husband went out without her after work. After we tried it no more wee's in the hall and the barking reduced a lot. One night we forgot to put it on her and she wee'd again in the hall. I really didn't expect it to work but she wore it continuously for a month and was definitely calmer. She has been without it for about 2 weeks now and I can see her anxiety building again so she will be getting it back on this weekend again. She is a dog that loves to wear a dog coat though so we had no problems getting her to wear it - it might be different with one that wasn't used to wearing a coat normally. The extra tightness of it seems to make the difference - like giving her a constant hug :-D

I've just ordered a Thundershirt for Ben as he isn't keen on car journey's, he tends to dribble a lot although has never been sick, I've tried various travel remedies, some from the vet and some herbal/homeopathic but with no success. So although I'm sceptical I'm willing to give it a go, especially as they give you a money back guarantee and I have a free p&p code from Dogs Today.
I'll report back with the results.

I dont know about anxiety in general but they seem to work on a reasonable % of dogs for thunderphobia, heres one ref for them.

Abstract
This study addresses interactions between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation
in response to stress, relationship quality, and behavior in thunderstorm-anxious dogs and their
owners. Using a controlled repeated-measures design, we experimentally manipulated exposure of
individuals to a stressor they were highly fearful of, and assessed both their own and their caregivers'
physiological and behavioral responsiveness. Saliva samples were collected from 19 dog-owner
dyads before, 20 and 40 min after exposure to a simulated thunderstorm and were later assayed for
cortisol. In response to the challenge, the dogs exhibited classic signs of fear (i.e., pacing, whining,
hiding), their cortisol levels increased 207%, and these levels did not return to baseline within 40 min.
There were no effects of the owners' behavior or the quality of the dog-owner relationship on the
dogs' HPA or behavioral reactivity. However, the presence of other dogs in the household was linked
to less pronounced reactivity and more rapid recovery of the dog's HPA response. On average, the
cortisol levels of the caregivers did not increase. Owners' mood (e.g. depression, anger) affected their
behavioral response towards their dogs. These findings are among the first to study the HPA
responsiveness of anxious canines in response to stress in a home setting, and the physiological and
behavioral effects of problem canine behavior on their caregivers.
# 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Dog; Salivary cortisol; Stress; Fear; Behavior

Ref
Science Direct
Physiological and behavioral reactivity to stress in thunderstorm-phobic dogs and their caregivers
Nancy A. Dreschel a,b,*, Douglas A. Granger a
a Behavioral Endocrinology Laboratory, Department of Biobehavioral Health,
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
b Department of Dairy and Animal Science, Pennsylvania State University,
University Park, PA 16802, USA

One night we forgot to put it on her and she wee'd again in the hall. I really didn't expect it to work but she wore it continuously for a month and was definitely calmer. She has been without it for about 2 weeks now and I can see her anxiety building again so she will be getting it back on this weekend again

Going by that it seems the dogs become depenant on them long ter, but if theres no other way then thats for the good, if humans feel anxious allthe time its by no means a pleasant experience. I have also heard that T shirts work as one poster said.

That study makes for very interesting reading, cortisol up by 207 % ! makes you wonder if there isn't a link between thunder /fireworks and dog attacks, it would be so easy for a dog to tip over the edge if it was already so aroused.

There is a book animals in translation by temperance grandin I think who herself suffers from autism I think, she contructed a machine to "hold" her as she watched cows beinginjected and when the cow ebtered the crush, it calmed down instantly. So she copied it. Worked for her!!

Not all things can be explained by science, trial and error counts for a lot.

Film is out about Temperance, she has a unique way of seeing the world is responsible for changing how cattle are slaughtered in America. But after reading her book it made me start to wonder about how different things can affect dogs. 

my bitch took part in the Thundershirt trial that Dogs Today were doing. it worked for her, i would def recomend it.

Thundershirt arrived today ( I keep calling it Thunder Pants ) got over the first hurdle which was, would Ben tolerate it on, he's not wild about having a coat on but the TS didn't restrict him at all and he seemed quite happy with it on, he did think we must be going out though and had a bit of a "wuff" at the front door when he thought I was taking too long to take him out lol. Haven't had him in the car yet.

Had our first trial of the Thundershirt today, label me amazed, it worked !, normally I have to put a towel down to catch some of the drool and the rest gets dribbled down the back of the door and every where else, but there was hardly any !. I won't count my chickens just yet, Ben's a funny lad and it may be that he starts to drool again, but so far so good.

Well, two weeks on and Ben's verdict ( and mine ) is, glad it can be refunded. It worked that one time and then never again, why, I don't know, perhaps it was the novelty, although I did follow the instructions on introducing the shirt.