Up till yesterday, my review of the Thundershirt (see original post here) was going to be a strong review of how the shirt is a thunderstorm deterrent. Every time we had a storm right on top of us, I would put the Thundershirts on the dogs and the storm would magically disappear. I thought it was pretty cool, the way it could control the weather like that.
Until yesterday. A massive hurricane managed to miss us completely and yet a small thunderstorm popped up yesterday and gave us some much needed rain. I put the shirts on the dogs. Solo climbed right back on the couch and continued his nap. He is not completely freaked by storms however, until Annabelle freaks out.
Annabelle, rocking her shirt the way only she can, climbed up on the couch and lay down. This is an improvement in several ways. Normally, she would begin by pacing around the house, looking scared. Next comes the panting. Then she would typically find a hiding spot. Downstairs, that means by the bathroom door or in the kitchen. Upstairs is in front of my dresser. So the fact that she stayed on the couch seems to be some level of improvement. She did still have a look of mild fear about her, but wasn’t panting, pacing or hiding.
I will continue to try the shirts whenever a storm present itself. And, according to the materials that came with it, once in a while for no reason at all. This is to ensure that the dogs don’t associate wearing the shirts with the storms. And Michael, always loving my out-there purchases, did comment that no matter what they did for the anxiety, they would make EXCELLENT shirts to keep them warm on their cold, winter walks.
Wag More, Bark..... 