# Thundershirt Questions



## toblerone (Nov 24, 2009)

I've been looking into training aids to help me train my fearful dog. Right now he's scared of a lot of things, burnt smells, vacuum cleaners, anything that sounds like a vacuum, new people in the house sometimes etc. The problems I've had with training him so far has been that my apartment is so small that there's no where inside that he's calm enough to start building up to a tolerance. I have to take him outside when we vacuum to calm down, but then there are too many distractions outside for him to concentrate on training, plus then he can't see or hear the vacuum.

I was wondering if anyone has used a Thundershirt to help with this kind of problem. Will the shirt itself help train or are the effects only good while on? Would it be good to get him to a lower stress level for training? If combined with treats could it eventually be phased out?

Any help would be great.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

I love, love, LOVE the Thundershirt. My dog Pip is quite shy and tends to be extremely cautious about new things. This summer I decided to take him through a refresher obedience course and he was so nervous about the smooth floors that he was having a lot of anxiety during class. After trying a couple of different things I tried a Thundershirt on him, and it made a HUGE difference. The first week I used it even the trainer noticed a difference in him*, and by the third week he was wearing it his attitude was completely different. So much more relaxed, able to focus and get down to business. I can't recommend it enough.

*It was funny, at first she though it was just his coat that I had left on, and she made some kind of comment like "some dogs feel more secure with their coat on, try leaving it on him from now on". I pointed out to her that it was a Thundershirt and she had a light bulb moment -- "Oh! That's why he's so much more relaxed this week!" She had brought it up without any prompting from me.

ETA: I haven't been using it that long, so I don't know how phasing it out will go. I would think that once he has learned to feel comfortable in the space (in my dog's case, with the floors) instead of anxious, that it could eventually be phased out.


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## Lindbert (Dec 12, 2010)

Another BIG supporter of the Thundershirt. My boxer mix is nervous around strangers because he was undersocialized as a puppy, and the difference in him with the thundershirt is unbelievable. He's really a different dog and actually solicits attention from strangers now! It's fine now that it's cold out but we get all kinds of questions and weird looks during the summer when he has it on at the dog park. It's lightweight enough that he doesn't show any signs of heat stress during the summer, and if he does get a little warm he'll jump in the creek. 

One of my GSDs is fear aggressive and while the thundershirt helped him from actively seeking out people to go after, however if he was pushed beyond threshold (seeing someone jog or bike by, someone trying to pet him) he would react and was too hard to control using a collar. My trainer suggested we use an easy walk harness as it compresses similarly to the thundershirt, yet allows better control of the dog if he reacts. My trainer was absolutely right. I can bring him in public places with the easy walk and he is relaxed, focused on me, and easy to control if he is beyond threshold. The difference in this dog using the calming techniques and tools my trainer suggested is incredible. It's amazing how such simple actions can produce such great results!!!!!!!


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## Tofu_pup (Dec 8, 2008)

Interesting. I had never heard of it until today.
I just read through the website but I'd like to see some facts about WHY it works. There weren't any real facts or statiistics supporting it just something nice that Temple Grandin said. And roughly 80% of dogs improve with it. Also, I couldn't get the "training center" to come up. 

I definitely interested though and there's a full refund if you return it within 45 days.


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## Lindbert (Dec 12, 2010)

Ok, I'm going to take a shot at this....

Tactile (touch) sensation can be separated into many different kinds of sensation, and different sensations stimulate or suppress different parts of the brain. Pressure touch stimulates a part of the cerebellum which also regulates fear and pleasure responses. It is likely that the stimulation caused by pressure suppresses fear response and increases pleasure response. Pressure touch also activates the parasympathetic nervous system which is only activated when the body is in a relaxed, non stressed state, further reminding the brain that the body is calm and saying everything is a-ok, so the brain should follow in suit. Technically, the same response can be elicited from a properly applied ace bandage or even the easy-walk harness. The shirt is simply an attractively formulated product designed specifically for this purpose.


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