The Thundershirt is used in dogs in situations in which the animals feel fear or great stress. The Thundershirt was developed for thunderstorms, hence the name (Thunder Engl. = Donner). However, it can be used in many anxiety situations in dogs, as well as on New Year's Eve. According to the manufacturer, it should be one of 80% of the dogs calming effect have.
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With its cut, the shirt exerts a light and gentle pressure, which is perceived as pleasant, on the chest and the middle body. This Pressure Should one calming effect Having the dog and simply helping a dog in anxiety situations without side effects.
The Thundershirt is described as the ideal for storms, separation, travel and many other fears in or with the dog, without the need for training. But does the description really correspond to the facts? Our employee Melanie Weber-Tilse provided this Thundershirt in her fear dog Loki on New Year's Eve on the rehearsal. Colleague Andreas Cornelius, on the other hand, was looking for a large -scale wound cover for his Gordon Setter, since a necessary hub was not possible from the outset after an operation. He tested that Thundershirt as a hiking set.
Use Thundershirt as an association
The consideration, a Thundershirt as an association I came up with the fact that I had to have some smaller interventions carried out at my bitch. The question arose: How do you protect the places most sensibly from scratching and the resulting complications?
The famous funnel was eliminated-from experiences with similar interventions, I found the T-shirt solution from the past than not optimal. When I came across the Thundershirt on the Internet, I thought to myself:
It looks interesting and could work.
Thanks to the good description of the manufacturer to determine the right size, I ordered the Thundershirt in size L., I felt a bit high compared to other products. Although the shirt seems to be worth the money, it could still be a little cheaper.
After just a few days, the Thundershirt arrived with me and I couldn't wait to unpack it. When I held it in my hands, my idea was that it could work because it would be reinforced because it gave an overall good impression. The fabric is pleasantly soft, but still firm, offers good elasticity and seemed to be sufficiently breathable. There is no hard spots assigned to the dog, so that scraping can be excluded.
The first fitting was carried out – here, too, I could only find positive properties. So the Thundershirt can be wrapped around the dog without having to roam it over the head. Due to the elastic fabric and the generously measured variability through Velcro fasteners, it adapts harmoniously to the body.
Already on the first day, immediately after the operation, I put on the Thundershirt to my bitch. Accordingly, according to my expectations, it covered all explosive areas well. I didn't wrap it too tight, just so that it was good. Now it was important to see if it was holding what I had hoped for.
The first night passed and there were no bad surprises, the shirt was still sitting as I changed the day before, there were no pressure points and the wound areas also seemed unscathed and clean. Immediately after moving out, my bitch started scratching her, so I had no other choice to put on the shirt and hope that it is really as breathable as hoped. A soup surgical wound would be the last thing I could use now. It was also up to these expectations.
A wound inspection was carried out regularly during the entire test phase and the seat of the shirt was checked. Despite the fact that she was wearing it throughout for several days, the surgical wounds could heal very well. However, the seat has a bit after a while, so that a little had to be corrected at least once a day. The neck envelope crouches a bit and the back end of the back is about 1 cm. However, both represented no impairment and could be corrected again and again.
Conclusion: The Thundershirt as a wound cover
The Thundershirt had proven itself particularly well with me as a wound association. The fabric is pleasant and it can be handled well. During the test phase, I did not have the impression that my bitch found it annoying. She made an unadorned impression on me, just as if there was nothing. Due to the fact that the shirt can be placed around the dog quite tight and the fabric is also firm and elastic, the Thundershirt is also suitable in my opinion to relieve and support surgery. As a result, you may run less risk with an active dog that the surgical wound could tear open.
Thundershirt for fear dogs
After Andreas tested the shirt for a completely different purpose, I turn to the topic for what that is for Thundershirt Originally intended: situations that scare the dog.
My dog Loki has many due to the lack of socialization and very bad experiences in the first few months of his life Anxiety situationsthat needs to be mastered. To list them now would go beyond the framework of the article. A big topic with us is the New Year's Eve problem. Fortunately, this only takes place once a year, but over a few days with violent intensity, on New Year's Eve.
Where my dog stays relatively calm when thunderstorms, it is the opposite with shots and especially here fires and rockets. At midnight on New Year's Eve, my dog turns into a pure nerve bundle. In doing so, he shows this by trembling, running around, walking around, moving into the stomach and severe panting.
The past few years have already tried a lot from protrudes, into a ceiling, to the low alcohol gift (egg liqueur). Fortunately, after moving to a small village, the condition in this one night has already improved significantly. Now the price of a Thundershir was startled, where I didn't have the slightest idea, whether it really helps, so far.
As Andreas already described well, the Thundershirt is absolutely pleasant, very flexible and easy to adjust due to the Velcro fasteners. The fact that the shirt cannot be pulled over the head is to be put on well with “fear dogs” without preparing large additional stress.
Before I tried the shirt on New Year's Eve, Loki got it dressed days beforehand to see if he may have a problem with it (in itself he knows coats, but they are not so narrow and large). The acceptance was absolutely fine. After he had the shirt on, he lay on the sofa and fell asleep immediately 🙂
So now the said New Year's Eve came up to us. At the beginning we handled it as always. He was allowed to be under the table while eating and then lying on the sofa in the sociable round. Here, even without a shirt, he did not show great panic behavior, but slept calmly and firmly.
When the rockets started in the sky at midnight, his behavior changed. He showed significant symptoms. The shirt was immediately put on and he was able to lie on a blanket in the study of my husband – trembling and panting. He had withdrawn into this room. Since this year New Year's Eve in our village itself was found less, I cannot judge whether he would have laid there without a shirt, or whether the shirt also gave him a little security.
Conclusion: The Thundershirt for fighting fear
Despite Thundershirt, he continued to show anxiety symptoms on New Year's Eve. Even if these were minimally better, I cannot say whether it was on the shirt or the relatively few bang in the village. For the money (Loki required size L) of a proud 46 euros, I would personally only recommend the Thundershirt to a limited extent. And if I hadn't got this much cheaper from a friend, I would probably not have tested it. The advantage is that, like Andreas, you can use it for a good large wound coverage and that it also offers good protection in older dogs on cool days (not recommended for wet weather). Personally, I would not spend so much money alone. The same effect can be achieved with a tightly wrapped blanket or bandages.
Supplement to New Year's Eve
This time I was able to carry out the test for longer. Before the bang came, I put the shirt on the shirt in the afternoon. As usual, of course, he had no problem with it and lay down with it and slept. As a occasionally shooting began in the evening (as you are unfortunately used to from New Year's Eve), he did not remain calm like the previous years, but already showed strong fear behavior. As always, he was not groomed and only when it went to eat and he always got a bite in the round, he became calm.
However, he kept falling into this state of fear during the evening, although the popping did not get worse and the process was just as much as the years before. For him, pure stress and strong tremors and panties were made for him again. Even when it became quieter at one o'clock, he could not calm down. Only after I had taken the shirt off him and he had laid himself on a blanket to my husband in the study (he would have sensed that with shirt, but didn't want to), he suddenly calmed down.
Even my husband had noticed that he had behaved worse. Then when I put on the Thundershirt in the previous New Year's Eve, he was much calmer. The bang was not worse, even less than the year before and yet this time he had reacted much more.
Thus, the Thundershirt will no longer be used on New Year's Eve, because this time there was rather a totally negative effect. However, we will keep it to a large -scale wound cover – of course we hope that it will never have to be used.
Thundershirt rating
Quality and processing: +
Handling: +
Comfort: +
Sitting accuracy: o
Care: o
Price:
Authors: Andreas Cornelius / Melanie Weber-Tilse