Thundershirtfor Dogs, Medium, Heather Gray Classic - Dog Anxiety Relief Calming Vest

Before the Thunder Buddy, every storm turned my sweet pitty mix into a full-blown disaster movie heroine. Barking, panting, pacing—like she was trying to warn the villagers that the end was near. Picture The Day After Tomorrow, but starring a 35-pound fur missile in my living room.Enter the Thunder Buddy. Friends, this thing is sorcery. I pulled it out, and she looked at me like I’d just handed her the dog equivalent of a weighted blanket and a glass of wine. Tail wagging, eyes sparkling—she asked to be wrapped in it. And once it was on? Instant peace. She went from "WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE" to "Namaste, human. The storm is but a whisper in the sky."She now sits through thunder like she's meditating in a spa commercial. No more chaos. No more panic. Just calm, pitty-powered bliss.She’s around 30-35 lbs and the Medium fits her perfectly—snug like a hug from someone who pays for therapy.If your dog acts like they’re in an apocalyptic film every time it rains, get this. It’s basically emotional armor.

I am amazed this thundershirt really works! I was a little skeptical at first. Our dog did not even tremble. We prepared for the July 4th fireworks by putting this shirt on prior to the first of the fireworks going off. It was well worth it! We didn’t expect any fireworks the 5th & 6th, however, they started going off at 7pm and didn’t stop until midnight or later. Since we didn’t prepare ahead of them, it didn’t work quite as well. Our dog, Tyler, still shook tremendously the 2nd and 3rd night of fireworks.

OK - currently I'm rating this 4 stars, but I may come back and change this depending on how things continue to go.For some background - I have a chihuahua mix who is deeply attached to me. He has issues with separation anxiety and a hyper-aggressiveness toward other dogs, particularly large dogs. If he so much as sees a dog or anything else that may be threatening (a person walking by or a noise downstairs) he will start barking as ferociously as a chihuahua can bark. It's problematic for me because he is an agility dog and I have to constantly be aware that he may try to attack the dogs near me at any moment he feels like they're encroaching on his territory (namely, me). I've done obedience training with him since he was 10 weeks old and he's a SUPER well behaved dog aside from these issues.After researching online, I came to realize that he may be suffering from some form of anxiety, which is causing him to act out because he feels threatened. Thus, I came upon the Thundershirt.I'm really not the type of person to purchase items that seem gimmicky, and admittedly, this shirt screams gimmick. However, with nearly 600 reviews on Amazon and a 4.5 star rating, I had to try it. Anything is worth trying if it will remedy a big issue in my dog's life. I don't want him to feel like he has to protect me all the time as that causes undue stress.So, after receiving the shirt, I opened the box and was greeted with a very cute plastic packaging for the shirt. Almost like a manilla envelope except see-through. The shirt was very well made and soft to the touch..but I was more concerned with testing it out rather than inspecting the intricacies of how it was made.I put it on my dog after taking a moment to think about the logic behind the velcro straps and it fit him nice and snug. I ordered an extra small - my dog is about 8 lbs but very lanky and it fit him perfectly. I opted to go with the sizing on the Thundershirt website vs. the Amazon website as I've been burned by Amazon having improper sizing info in the past.I was debating on an XXS vs. a XS.For example - on Amazon an XXS states:Size XXS for dogs less that 12 pounds and with a chese size of 9" - 13.5"Whereas the Thundershirt website states:Size Chest Size WeightXXS 9"-13.5" < 7 lbs.That's a HUGE difference. So I highly recommend using Thundershirt sizing to decide on which is best for your dog.-----------------------------------Here is the complete chart:Size Chest Size WeightXXS 9"-13.5" < 7 lbs.XS 13"-18" 8-14 lbs.S 16"-23" 15-25 lbs.M 18"-26" 26-40 lbs.L 24"-32" 41-64 lbs.XL 31"-40" 65-110 lbs.XXL 38"-50" > 110 lbs.-----------------------------------OK so regarding the efficiency of this shirt.I tested it outdoors with my dog on our front driveway just absorbing the sounds and sights of a normal neighborhood.My dog laid out in the sun and didn't seem reactive to much, whereas he normally would be. A neighbor walked their dog relatively near us, and my dog barked a little but he didn't run after the dog despite not being on a leash. Usually he won't leave my side but it can be unpredictable when it comes to dogs.The next day I took him out again and this time I forgot to put the shirt on. He was more on edge, and when a neighbor brought out their little dog, my dog went crazy and went running up to their dog barking. I grabbed him and took him straight inside.The next day, I tried it with the shirt again. This time children came running by, other dogs, etc. and he didn't move.. he actually just lay on his side and didn't react much. He might give a little bark here and there, but no where near his normal level of intensity.I tried his shirt during his advanced obedience training. He's in a class with all large dogs and the first day (without the shirt)he was shaking and just terrified. He would bark everytime the other dogs seemed to be a safe enough distance away, and wouldn't perform anything in front of the class since he was so scared. (sometimes I think my dog is bipolar). The second day of class (with the shirt) he was way more calm and less scared of the other dogs. We walked by 3 large dogs and he didn't make a peep. He performed in front of the class and was just more mellow overall, although he is still shakey and seems scared.I gave it 4 stars because I DO see improvement in my dog and it has only been about a week or so. However, I feel that although it takes the edge off him, I don't feel like the videos they post showing miraculous changes just by putting on the shirt are accurate. Perhaps there are dogs that this effect will happen, but I would consider it a rarity rather than the norm. I would have preferred more accurate marketing that really stresses the need to do behavioral modification in addition to the shirt. They do mention this, but its very brief compared to the marketing showing it as a miracle shirt.And after reading so many reviews, it seems I'm not alone in this shirt being part of a process rather than a fix.Overall, I recommend it and I'm going to try it with my friend's dog who is VERY hyper and see if it solves any issues with him.EDIT: The shirt worked miraculously on my friend's dog. The dog is high strung, paces, jumps up on people and overall just "starving" for attention. Won't let you pet any other dogs and has to be the center of attention constantly, which wears my friend out.We put the shirt on him and he just calmed down completely to normal dog levels. He lay down, relaxed.. yet, when the other dogs wanted to play, he still had energy to play. I played fetch with my dog in front of him and he just lay down and watched and didn't have the urge to go get the ball himself, which he normally would do.We took the shirt off him to see if maybe he was just in a mellow mood and he immediately got hyper and started pacing everywhere again. She's going to be buying one of these shirts because it made such a big difference in how he behaved.

I have a dog that is afraid of everything. She is afraid of storms and fireworks. She will ask for her thunder shirt to be put on. She loves wearing it, and it does help her quite a bit. She has a thunder shirt from many years ago, a size Medium that fit her perfectly...Now the new mediums are way too small for her. I had to go to a size Large.So be to sure to measure your dog first before picking a size.

My dog occasionally gets anxiety and will start to tremble when she's upset. I haven't quite figured out the trigger, but it's clear she's distressed. I bought the ThunderShirt hoping to give her some relief. She wears winter jackets, so she had no problem when I tried to put this on her. She's a little over 60 lbs and the large fit her fine. There are two sets of velcro - one to close the shirt and one to tighten it for the snug feeling. I found it awkward to get both sets of velcro attached effectively while getting the shirt on straight and tight. Unfortunately, the ThunderShirt did absolutely nothing to calm my dog. She continued to be distressed and shake the whole time she wore it. We had to return it.

Bought these for both of my mini Australian shepherds right before July 4Th.I believe they definitely helped ( along with the trazodone) I secured it pretty tight around their body so that they felt comfort from it. But not so tight that they were having trouble breathing lol.They did not seem to be bothered by it at all. It is a little pricey, but when your dog is sitting there, shivering and panting nonstop, it’s worth the price to pay.