Thundershirts

[Hippophilia]

My 3 yr-old female staffie x lab is extremely nervous and submissive. We adopted her at 6 months old and know nothing about her history except that she was picked up as a stray. She has come on leaps and bounds and gets on well with our older dog (male lurcher) but she still exhibits a lot of submissive behaviour like constantly licking people and cowering if anyone makes a sudden move.
I was wondering if a thundershirt would help - does anyone have experience of these? They seem to good to be true!
http://www.thundershirt.com/?gclid=CLT-4sunr7gCFchaMgod5T8Alg

 

[satinbaze]

Why don't you try an anxiety wrap first. Check out the tellington touch website for instructions. I use it for lily to reduce risk of torsion. Use a crepe bandage or a leg bandage. If this works then it maybe worth investing in a thunder shirt

 

[Superhot]

As above, totally agree. That's exactly what I did with my dog who is terrified of thunder and those wicked fireworks. I also give her a few drops of Bach's Rescue Remedy on her tongue, and that seems to help to keep her calm.

 

[2Greys]

The thundershirts have money back guarantee so worth seeing if it has an effect, I think it helps a bit during fireworks for my dog. Is lickyness not a Stafford trait they all seem to be that way, our staffyx lurcher foster finds it hard to keep her tongue to herself.

 

[splashgirl45]

i tried a thundershirt on my lurcher who gets very worried re storms, heavy rain, bird scarers, fireworks etc and it didnt seem to work at all...i didnt send it back as i will keep trying but after i had bought mine for the full price i looked on e bay and you can get them much cheaper on there so may be worth checking....

 

[Jojo_Pea4]

I use it on my pointer scard of any loud noise, we got it after a bad time with fireworks last year so dont know the full affects but one night he was unsettled so i put it on and he cuddled up and went to sleep so does have some affect just dont know to what extreme.

 

[Crazy Friesian]

Thundershirts can help in high stress / adrenaline rising situations. They work because they can help the body to release Oxytocin (cuddle hormone). In situations where the stimulus is VERY high, it is useful to help the animal by cupping and stroking the ear from base to tip and VERY slow stroking of the legs, paws, whole body.

It may also be useful (if safe to do so) to gently contain the dog. If you think about if it were a scared child. Would you put a shirt on it and sit it in a corner and expect instant comfort? (Unlikely...:roll eyes: ) Or would you perhaps give it a cuddle and gently comfort the child etc.

Thundershirts also help to give the animal a sense of its body. Have you ever noticed that when an animal is scared or when adrenaline is rising the extremities become cooler and the animal is easily spooked? It is the bodys way of protecting itself and coping with the situation. - Fight / flight reflex.

So in essence, Thundershirts can help, but in high stress situ's it may be necessary to use additional support.

Perhaps try a tight fitting t-shirt and see if that helps any.

Hope some of that helped.