old country house blog

DIY THUNDER SHIRT – dogs and storms

Yesterday you met our Wheaten Terrier, “Muffin”, and I told you about her sweet docile personality

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EXCEPT when it comes to Thunderstorms.

So as if on cue, we had a whopper of a storm last night…lightening that felt as if it were coming into the room and BIG BOOMS of rumbling thunder. All of the dogs were not happy and Muffin especially….was completely wacked out.

All of a sudden a lightbulb went off and I remembered that my sister in law had told me that they had gotten something called a THUNDERSHIRT for their dog Nikko.

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NIKKO who was the best dog in the world, also a  Wheaten,

nikko1and the reason we got Muffin, lived in Florida where the Thunderstorms are off the charts. The Thundershirt gave him relief and he was able to tolerate the storms much better…according to the ad on Amazon…”One thing is for certain, for a very large percentage of dogs, Thundershirt’s gentle, constant pressure has a terrific calming effect. This has obvious benefits for most types of anxiety.”

…..and my sister in law swears by it!

So, back to last night…it was raining cats and dogs and a bit late to run out and buy a Thundershirt…and Amazon is not THAT fast, so I had to get creative.

DIY Thundershirt
DIY Thundershirt

I grabbed an old T-shirt of Coopers, put it on Muffin and pulled the back nice and snug around her upper body.

muffinthunder2I would not have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes!!!

She immediately calmed down. And when it would get really loud, she would come over to me, let me scratch her tummy and her back and she was calm. Normally she is a mess…. running…. barking, panting, totally wacky and completely impossible to console.

Then she and Charlie snuggled up and went to sleep!!!

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I still plan to get a Thunder shirt…but this was a great temporary solution, Muffin was given some relief!!!and it was free!!!
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Have a Wonderful and Safe Memorial Day weekend.
I will be back Monday with the Upstairs Hallway Makeover revela and a GIVEAWAY!!!!

13 thoughts on “DIY THUNDER SHIRT – dogs and storms

  1. Cool! I need to try this out on my Westie, Hobbes. Thanks for the tip. Happy long weekend Friday!

  2. My son has sensory issues and anything that puts light pressure on him gives relief for some reason. Must be the same thing here. So happy to see it calmed her down!

  3. I saw this today on pinterest, and wouldn’t you know we get a whopper of a thunderstorm tonight. I just tied a shirt on my 100lb scaredy dog and she’s now lying in her bed instead of right on my feet! Thanks so much for the post and the tip!

  4. I’ve never commented on anything online before and I’ve tried everything for my dog Hercules. I can’t wait to try this tonight. It’s supposed to storm and I hate having to give him meds but if I don’t then I have a 175 lb dog sitting on my chest in the middle of the night

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