This product is nothing short of amazing. I adopted a 1+ year old ridgeback who turned into a reactive, protective Terminator within weeks of bringing him home--and this is the story about how the Thundershirt saved us. My sweet pup had spent almost 8 months at a shelter in a cage and no one wanted him because he seemed too hyper. I took one look at this handsome, muscular, athletic young lad and knew I could give him lots of exercise and attention and that I had to get him out of that cage. Home we went. He loved the car and walks and daycare and fetch and everything was new and awesome! And he was suddenly eating amazing raw food and sleeping on a bed for the first time in his life and came to know that his mommy was never ever going to hurt or leave him. Life was grand. Then....About two months into our new life together, the ridgie alpha maleness, high prey drive and reactivity kicked in, and suddenly everyone and everything was a threat to his precious mommy. He would pace and pant in the car and whine at engine noises from cars around us; he would growl and lunge at any dogs who got near us on a leash; and God forbid anyone step out of an elevator or around a corner too close to me. My sweet ridgie rescue became the most committed personal bodyguard on earth, which is kinda awesome but not practical most days. So we started obedience training, but it was clearly going to take a ton of raw treats, time and money to curb this behavior. We were stressed out. Enter the Thundershirt. I bought it on a whim to see if it would help with the car anxiety. After a few seconds of staring at the instructions and fumbling with it, I got it on him. He had been racing around the living room like a maniac trying to murder his faborite rope toy (which is typical puppy behavior and hilarious to watch), and the second I put the shirt on him, he totally chilled out and almost immediately fell into a sweet sleep. He looked soooo chillaxed. I even took a walk to the front door and knocked on it to see if he would come racing over and barking like usual. Nothing. He wandered over to investigate, but was silent and calm. Interesting. Maybe this thing really worked!!! After about 20 minutes, I decided to throw all caution to the wind and take him on a walk during peak doggie time in our neighborhood. Scary thought. I slipped his Roughwear harness (also blue--he looked very stylish) over the Thundershirt, opened the door and out we went. I could not believe what wasn't happening. No pulling. No reactivity. A bird landed on the ground in front of him and he just looked at it. Two dogs passed us within 15 feet and WW3 did not ensue. Previously, that would have resulted in a snarling, barking confrontation. This time, he stopped and looked at them and tensed a bit but did nothing else. I was stunned. He even took a poo not too far away from another pup, something that never would have been possible before. When we got home, I took the shirt off and he immediately went back to sleep. The next morning, I really pushed the envelope by sleeping in past 5:00 am (which was when I would typically have to take him out in order to avoid all the "threats" around us) and took him out during peak doggie time. He sauntered around the corner, and we ran smack dab into a male lab. Nothing happened. The lab even gave a low growl and my ridgie stopped and waited for him to pass. I could not believe my eyes. Then a loud engine popped around the corner (we live in an urban area) and my little man tensed up but didn't freak out like usual. The Thundershirt works, people. If it can turn my large ridgie Terminator into a docile keeper of the peace, surely it can help with any anxiety your pup might be facing. I will only use it when we walk in public or ride in the car, because his playful, energetic personality is a big part of him and I don't want to stifle that. But wow, what a difference this product has made for us. Bravo, Thundershirt. You nailed it.
