ThunderShirt Anxiety & Calming Aid for Dogs, Heather Grey

My rescue schnauzer has extreme storm and (especially) fireworks anxiety. I have tried everything- several different meds from my vet, behavior mod, all sorts of things, and nothing helped. Crating makes it worse. She gets frantic and tries to dig in the floor and furniture, and tears up mini blinds. She busted out a window one time. I was desperate to find help for July 4th. A few days before the 4th, I put an Adaptil calming collar on her (available here on Chewy) and then on July 4th, I added the ThunderShirt. The difference was incredible. When the fireworks started, she was alert and concerned, but did not dig or get frantic. Right at midnight during the worst of it, she did pace and pant My rescue schnauzer has extreme storm and (especially) fireworks anxiety. I have tried everything- several different meds from my vet, behavior mod, all sorts of things, and nothing helped. Crating makes it worse. She gets frantic and tries to dig in the floor and furniture, and tears up mini blinds. She busted out a window one time. I was desperate to find help for July 4th. A few days before the 4th, I put an Adaptil calming collar on her (available here on Chewy) and then on July 4th, I added the ThunderShirt. The difference was incredible. When the fireworks started, she was alert and concerned, but did not dig or get frantic. Right at midnight during the worst of it, she did pace and pant a little, but that only lasted about 30 minutes. She was relatively calm most of the time- a huge, huge change from before! I am amazed and so thankful for these 2 products. The combination of an Adaptil collar and a ThunderShirt worked wonders for my dog's extreme storm/fireworks anxiety! … more

I was skeptical but purchased my first ThunderShirt years ago and it worked great for our dog who had severe thunder phobia. We then started using ThunderShirts for all of our dogs. Our dogs wear these shirts every night to reduce excessive paw licking and help them unwind at night. The shirts also keep them calmer during nights when our neighbors are setting off fireworks and when going to the vet or groomer, etc. Just be sure the shirt is not too tight especially around the neck and be sure it is not making the dog too hot. They say it is breathable fabric but it seems like it could make dogs hot - it is polyester. Because of the fabric, I always remove it if my dogs are going to be outside I was skeptical but purchased my first ThunderShirt years ago and it worked great for our dog who had severe thunder phobia. We then started using ThunderShirts for all of our dogs. Our dogs wear these shirts every night to reduce excessive paw licking and help them unwind at night. The shirts also keep them calmer during nights when our neighbors are setting off fireworks and when going to the vet or groomer, etc. Just be sure the shirt is not too tight especially around the neck and be sure it is not making the dog too hot. They say it is breathable fabric but it seems like it could make dogs hot - it is polyester. Because of the fabric, I always remove it if my dogs are going to be outside or in a kennel for more than a brief time. … more

I have a 70 lb fluffy big boy who is terrified of fireworks. I am giving the thunder shirt 4 stars as I am not certain if it worked or not. I gave my dog new meds {gabapentin)as well which did help. He liked having the shirt on, and I put it on throughout the weekend as fireworks were going off several nights. He even slept near it after I took it off. So I believe it offered some comfort, and that along with the meds, made him somewhat less afraid and more able to tolerate the noise.

My 4 year old 67lb Bernese mountain dog is extremely frightened with any fire works. thunder and lightening. She hides and shakes for hours. I don't like to give her medication to try to calm her down and thought I would give the ThunderShirt a try. After a few times, it actually gave her comfort and she wasn't hiding and shaking. Worked for her, she still gets frightened but calmed her down considerably. Great product and good quality.

Our dog is a special case and suffers from anxiety stemming from her past. We only recently adopted her, but do everything possible to erase whatever is causing her to stress. She was returned to the rescue twice because she does spin and hates any loud noise. So this definitely helped. It did not cure it, but we do notice a difference. It is easy to put on and worth the cost.

My precious sheltie is scared to death of thunder and fireworks. I bought a thunder jacket seven days ago, and since I live in Florida, I have used it every day. It doesn’t even make sense to me how well it works. The minute I put it on her, she calms down...often takes a nap! Last night’s fireworks...same thing. When she hears thunder, here she comes for her vest.

Hello everyone! I am Austin. 3 yr old Lab. I weigh around 100lbs and my dad got me a XL shirt. I was super scared of all the fireworks and loud noises which started almost a week ago before July 4th. My dad helped me wear this shirt and I immediately felt the comfort. It snugged me well and I felt safe. It felt like I was getting warm hugs all the time. Slept through the night without any issues even on July 4th.

So far the ThunderShirt works great. My dog seems to love it and it calms him down which is important now that fireworks are being set off in my neighborhood. However, we’ve had an issue with him wearing it to go potty. My dog is at the bottom range of size for this item (Large) and he is a bit confined in it. To keep this review PG I’m just going to say that when he urinated, the urine went up the jacket. We now fold it up for potty trips but it was a surprise when it happened. For both of us. So just be mindful of that if you have a male dog. That’s my only complaint.

So while it didn’t solve the problem totally it’s own, it helped to calm down my scaredy cat of a Jack Russel Terrier mix during fireworks. We needed a white noise machine, loud bathroom fan, and a “cave” to hide in, but just those things didn’t help in the past either. The combo did the trick. Easy to get on and off, seemed comfortable, and dog didn’t mind it.

I really like Mr. Ruffles Thunder Shirt but I didn’t buy the right size. A xsmall was advised for his weight but because he’s a Pekingese I went up a size. It wraps around him to loosely and covers his wee wee a bit. So I’m going to send it back and get the right size. He has epilepsy and needs it for storms and fireworks.