ThunderShirt Breeze for Dogs Calming Anxiety Vest, Small, Aqua

I’ve had my 5-year old Labrador since she was 9 weeks old, and have brought her everywhere in the car with me. She’s always loved going in the car with me, to anywhere and for any length of time, until this year. At the end of May, we went on a 2-day roadtrip to our destination 5 states away. Unfortunately, the second that we started our drive that trip, my 5-yr old expert road tripper/explorer and car-loving girl was gone. I never could have guessed how terribly that trip would go… in something she was so used to and had always enjoyed. I have never seen her act the way she did. For the entirety of the time in the car, but only while driving, she was panting so hard it was shaking the whole car (going 70mph on a highway in an SUV with a trailer in tow), and trembling so badly she was vibrating. She was inconsolable. Wouldn’t lay down, wouldn’t eat anything, even French fries, if the car was moving. The only thing that even remotely seemed to make her feel better was if the windows were halfway down. So I drove for 11 hours on the highway across state after state, for two days, with the windows down and a terrified dog that I had no idea what was wrong. I had never seen anything like this before. She never threw up, wasn’t car sick. I hoped maybe she was just stressed from moving and being in the car so long, I thought for sure after a week or so once we arrived she’d be okay. NOPE.

For the last 3 months, every car ride she has been on has been the same. Complete panic, no matter the length of the drive or the destination. I tried everything to help her, to figure out why she was acting like this so suddenly. Car trips only to her favorite places, short trips around the block, sitting in the car with it off or on, no interaction with the car for weeks, sitting in the backseat with her, letting her sit in the passenger seat. Nothing. We had to make the same roadtrip back home after two months, and I was out of options. I called the vet and had them send in a prescription for Trazodone, my last resort. I couldn’t drive for 11 hours, two days in a row, with her like she was the first time. Day 1 of the drive back, the Trazodone did its job, she slept the whole way. Day 2 I followed the exact same things I did the day before, expecting it to go the same. Nope! 4 hours into the drive, and it hadn’t kicked in a bit, she was full-blown panic and the worst I’d seen her yet. We had to take an hour pit-stop, call the vet, and gave her more at their instructions. It finally kicked in. I hoped once we were back home, where she’d spent her entire life, that this car-panic would end.

It did not. Another month went by, no improvement. I got a car crate, my last resort (she is a big girl and a crate takes up my entire backseat/trunk, completely impractical, & why I hadn’t tried it until then). It didn’t help. She panicked the same, if not worse, just in a confined space. I hoped she’d get used to it. She’s crate trained, she’ll be okay.

Nope. A week into trying the car crate - driving home from her annual vet visit, something she already doesn’t love… we got caught in a thunderstorm, flash flood, hailstorm. The trifecta of terrifying storms to dogs. With just her and me in the car. I pulled off the highway and jumped in the backseat with her. She was absolutely losing her mind in the kennel, I had to get her out. I sat with her and we waited the storm out. Great. I’d have to re-condition her to the crate. After that, for the next few days she wouldn’t even go in it anymore.

A few days later, I tried to get her in the crate for a quick drive. She fell apart before we even left, crying at scratching at the door in a state of panic so bad I immediately stopped and let her out, she’d never done this before.

The worst possible thing happened while trying to get her used to the car crate, the storm trifecta, and I knew that was that with it… it might’ve helped eventually. But after that, it was never going to work. She was as much afraid of the crate as she was the car, and the combination of the two put her into the worst meltdown panic state yet.

I feared she was now not only afraid of the car, inexplicably so, but also potentially thunder and storms. Perfect. I was out of ideas but determined to keep trying. That was two weeks ago. I refused to resort to drugging her for anxiety or anything else. She’s already on one lifetime medication for incontinence, meds are my very last resort.

Then an idea came to me.

I know shes afraid of the car, and I know shes physically in perfect health. I knew storms now might be an issue for her as well.

I’d heard of the Thunder Shirt before, and I decided to do some research on it. I saw that they can also be used for travel anxiety. Given that I’d spent the last four months trying everything I could possibly think of with no success, I decided it couldn’t hurt to try.

It came a week and a half ago, and the day it came I followed the introduction instructions and put it on her for 10 minutes. Took it off, left it alone for a few hours. I put it on again, and left it on for an hour. Kept it off until it was time to go to bed, and decided that I was going to put it on her every night while she slept so she associated wearing her shirt with being calm and sleeping. I’d also put it on her for an hour or so each day & then give her a bully stick, one of her favorite treats.

On day 2 of having it, when I said “where’s your shirt?” She could go over to it on the shelf and point to it. She’s a very quick learner… smartest dog I’ve ever been around & smarter than a lot of humans I know. She understands a lot, she can pick out her toys by what we call them, go to a person she knows by their name, etc. I saw on the Thunder Shirt website that many dogs go up to their shirts when a storm is coming and ask for it to be put on, and I hoped that after a while she would like it enough to do the same.

A few thunderstorms happened the first week we had her Thunder Shirt, and I put it on each time I saw the weather beginning to roll in. She didn’t even notice the storms. Awesome! Fear of storms ruled out, at least while in the house.

This past weekend, I decided she was comfortable enough in her shirt that it was time to see if it made a difference in the car. She slept in it over night, and the next morning I left it on her and asked her if she wanted to go get a pup cup (she LOVES pup cups). Since may, she has progressively been more and more reluctant to even approach the car. Not that morning. Dressed in her Thunder Shirt, she excitedly trotted out to the car and waited for for me to open the door, just like she had always done until ~the roadtrip of death~ and I felt a glimmer of hope for the first time in 4 months. I opened the door and she hopped right in and laid down on her bed. She hadn’t done that since may. I let her sit for a minute, and let her jump back out. I asked her again if she wanted to go, and she jumped right back in and laid back down. Here goes nothing. I closed the door, turned on the car, and began down the driveway. I held my breath and waited for her to pop up and the panic to begin. It didn’t. She got up, I rolled the window down, and she looked out as we drove to the pup cup store. Just as she always had. Unbelievable. The drive there, the pup cup, and the drive back were uneventful. She didn’t shake, didn’t pant, didn’t run back and forth across her hammock, didn’t push on me, nothing. MAGIC.

Since then, she has been on two more car rides. It’s only been two weeks of having the Thunder Shirt, but each day she’s a little better. I feel HOPEFUL again. Something is FINALLY making a difference.

Last night, I asked her if she wanted to go for a ride in the car. I was going to take her 2 minutes down the street to the park to play fetch, but she didn’t know that yet. She looked at me, turned, and walked right up to her Thunder Shirt and poked it, then looked back at me. I couldn’t believe it. Not that she knew the shirt, she’s known what it is since day one. I couldn’t believe that after just three short car rides in her shirt, that she already knew it made her feel more comfortable, and was telling me so. “Yes, I want to go in the car, but I want to wear my Thunder Shirt.” I put it on, and she excited trotted out to the car, hopped in and laid down.

She isn’t back to her old self yet in the car, but she’s just about there. In two weeks. In four small car rides wearing her shirt, and two weeks of nightly wearing. The most progress I’ve made with her in four months of trying everything.

All of this to say - Thunder Shirt has given us hope. She loves it, asks to wear it often, and I’ve realized that she might be anxious more often than just in the car, at least more than I had realized. She loves wearing it, and acts more confident even with it off.

Thunder Shirt has made the biggest difference & has been the only solution, including trazodone, that really actually helps. She might need her shirt for a few months, or she might need it forever, I really don’t know yet. But I do know that I made the right choice in trying it, and I couldn’t be happier that I did. I haven’t seen many people comment on using Thunder Shirt for car anxiety, so I wanted to write out my whole experience that led me to purchasing in hopes that others will give it a try too. It truly made all the difference in the world, and I have a feeling that the longer she uses it, the better she will continue to get. I’m even hopeful that she will love going in the car again at some point, something that until two weeks ago I had given up on. THANK YOU SO MUCH for creating this amazing product, I am truly so thankful, and so is my girl Koda.

This works, the dog isn’t as anxious when hearing thunderstorms, fireworks or loud noises but she doesn’t like wearing it. She starts trembling when she realizes that she’s going to be wearing it. I don’t know if it’s because of why or something else entirely.

Before I bought this for her, she would try to hide behind or under my legs when thunderstorms began or want to be in my arms.

The fit is pretty much on for her size. The velcro stays where it’s put, I love the blue color and it seems like it will last for a very long time. It definitely is not cheaply made and it isn’t thin to the touch. It fits my Pomeranian perfectly and she weighs in at 9.4 pounds and ounces.

Well made and fits our 16 lb dachshund mix well. He has gotten more nervous in the evenings in his old age and throwing this on him at night for a couple hours before bed helps him settle down. He literally just stops whining and begging and lays down and is calm.

I like the mesh fabric because he already has a lot of fur so it seems like this will help avoid him over-heating. We've only used it at home so I don't know if it would restrict his movement if we were out and about.

It seemed to be helping with my Wheaten terrier’s obsession with the doorbell and delivery trucks at first. Unfortunately, the movement of the jacket caused his hair to become tangled. He would sweat and the jacket moved around which turned his undercoat into knots. His skin is very tender. Trying to brush these out, especially under his front armpits was difficult and painful for him if I wasn’t careful. I am returning it.

My dog also became used to the jacket and it stopped working as well. This could have been because our daughters had it on him too often, while my husband & I were away on vacation.

Fit my little Boston who has decided storms and fireworks are scary. She doesn't love to wear it but it does calm her down and possibly distracts her from her fear since she goes crazy trying to rub it off in the furniture. I LOVE that there was a mesh option available because she runs hot naturally and that's not good to combine with having a flat face. This was just perfect for her is is excellent quality.

My dogs lost their older brother about 3 months ago and after 2 months my 3 year old was still displaying strange behaviors. Barking at everything, hiding under the bed constantly, not hardly eating, always wanting to be alone, etc. After much research i discovered he was still grieving and no matter what i did he was full of anxiety. During my search thunder shirt was suggested, after only 5 hours of it on I've noticed such a change in him. He walks with a wagging tail, he eats more, he sleeps in full relaxed positions and for the first time he laid with his sister on the quilt that they all use to sleep on together at night. Thank you for making him feel safe again.

I was skeptical to begin with about this actually working. I should have stayed with my gut feeling. This does not work. I could wrap a $2 ace bandage around my dog and get the same tightness effect. My dog can still hear. And when he hears thunder and fireworks that is what scares him. This jacket only made him uncomfortable. So he was scared and uncomfortable.

Our dog is diabetic and we use the Freestyle Libre 3+ CGM on him. It lasts about 10 days before he knocks it off, so, we got this shirt to protect it. It looks good and has a nice fit. We initially got the Medium based on the size chart, but it was too long in the body and would have been in the way of things. We returned it for the Small which just barely fits him. There needs to be more overlap in the sizes. He is 27 pounds so the Small just catches the velcro. Another 2 inches of girth adjustment would have been ideal. I would also like more color choice such as Tennessee Orange.