Everyone loves the fourth of July. It's the day we celebrate saying f you to Great Britain. Barbecue, beer, explosions. It's all fun and games until your dog eats your couch because it has a phobia of loud noises. Now there is a HUGE market for anxiety reducing products. Pheromone collars, sprays, and now the "Thunder Shirt" are all products to help your dog cope with high anxiety situations. A shirt that hugs your dog to keep them calm. REALLY?! So the "science" they have behind it is that compression helps lessen anxiety symptoms in newborns, autism patients, and now pets. Now there are tons and tons of testimonials saying that this product is a miracle for pets but they have testimonials for everything. The Thunder Shirt website claims an 80% success rate. The thing to remember is that statistics can be bias to say just about anything so they don't mean much. The things to look at are customer reviews or simply by trying it yourself. Customers are always right and if they aren't happy they will rant and rave about it and demand refunds. This products seems to have mainly positive reactions from most users. This should be taken with a grain of salt however because the general pet owner is not that familiar with true animal behavior. Just because you Google it doesn't make you an expert. I do have a dog with storm phobias and am debating trying this product. His symptoms are not severe so this product is not really a "life saver" for a dog in his situation. The true test of this product is on an animal that is so phobic it needs to be sedated for storms. What I don't see on their website is a clinical trial of this product in a laboratory setting.
Here is a perfect example of a YouTube video where I would not call this a success. You only need to watch a few seconds to get the idea. Yes this dog may have reduced symptoms but the incessant barking would still drive me crazy. If you are a true believer in this product or you are just desperate for a solution for your dogs anxiety then try the product. Don't be surprised if it doesn't work for your dog. Every dog is different and has different needs, what works for one may not work for another. Also, just an aside, why the hell do they have to use a golden doodle in the picture?! That is a different issue I'll address later... hypoallergenic pets what a bunch of bs.
