THUNDERSHIRT Review — I feel like there should be trumpets sounding every time I say THUNDERSHIRT!

§ January 25th, 2012 § Filed under Boy Face the Bearded Wonder, Erin, I Have A Problem, My Life as an Emily, Pug Life, Sisters, The Family Zoo § 4 Comments

Preface: I was not compensated in any way for writing this review — I legitimately wanted to see how the Thundershirt worked, emailed them asking if they’d send me one if I wrote a review, and they ever so kindly obliged!

So, once upon a time, there was a girl and a boy, and they moved into a little apartment in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. And they were so excited because they finally got to get a pet after so long living in a pet free zone! So, one day, the girl brought home a fat, stinky little pug dog named Joey.

And then disaster struck when their area was hit with week after week of constant thunderstorms. Yes, home were flooded, property was destroyed — and Joey the Pug dog was terrified. He barked all night long: high-pitched, laser-beam-to-the-brain barking. The girl and the boy loved their sleep…and did NOT enjoy waking up to not only ever clap of thunder, but frantic, incessant yapping.

As ya’ll know, that girl is me and that boy is Shaun, and Joey is the dog we HATED for the first 3 or 4 months we had him. Over time, we learned better ways to deal with his anxiety for storms (…and the school bus…and car rides…and campfires…and the stove…) but the fact is, at some point during a night of thunderstorms, we have to at least attempt to go to sleep. We can’t stay up distracting him or comforting for 24 hours or 48 hours or a WEEK straight.

A couple weeks ago, JodySuh linked me to the Thundershirt website, I think more on a This is Interesting Whim than thinking I’d actually follow through…

…but given that the memories of our horrible Constant Barking at Constant Storms spring, and the fact that spring’s headed this way in a couple months…I was intrigued by what I read on their website.

The Thundershirt is essentially a little jacket for your dog. It’s made of light weight material, and has adjustable Velcro straps. The shirt puts gentle pressure on your dog’s nervous system to calm them. Basically, it wraps them in a big ol’ hug. The Thundershirt website mentions that this is similar to therapy doctors do with autistic patients with high anxiety. They report noticeable improvement in behavior in 80% of dogs who try it.

All of that was enough to make kinda want one – but there was one question on my mind: Does the Thundershirt actually work? Would I pay $40 for a Thundershirt that actually worked? Yes! That is a totally decent price for something that will help us get more sleep and have more comfortable car rides. But I didn’t want to shell out the money before actually finding out if it worked or not.

So I did something I’ve never done before – I emailed the company and asked if they’d be interested in letting me do a review of the Thundershirt on my blog in exchange for trying it out. After a few friendly emails and some Pug Measuring, the Thundershirt was headed our way.

Unfortunately, the only measuring tape we had around the house was the Victoria's Secret Pink one Erin uses at work and left at our house one day...Joey's scruples were offended.

I came home from work on a Monday evening to find a package at our door. The Thundershirt had arrived! We broke it out immediately, just to see how it looked, felt, and fit.

I was definitely impressed with the quality of the Thundershirt itself. The fabric is soft and stretchy, and clearly not thin or easy to tear. Although it took us a second to understand how to put the shirt ON Joey for the first time, after a few minutes of staring at the diagram, it was easy to quickly strap it on. I felt like the shirt sizing was very adaptable as well – because each Velcro area has multiple stripes along the fabric, it’s easy to adjust the shirt to your dog’s personal size and girth. And like I said, once we figured out how to put it one for the first time, it’s been easy to throw it on quickly…or take it off quickly when we go on an impromptu potty break.

I think he feels like a SUPERHERO in his special outfit.

And now you’re wondering…did it work?!

Immediately upon putting the Thundershirt on Joey, I noticed a difference in behavior. I’d seen dogs in YouTube videos do something similar, but I was surprised when Joey actually did it too: as soon as the shirt was on him, even though there was no immediate stress or anxiety trigger, Joey just…chilled, dude. It was like he couldn’t actually sit up all the way, he wanted to lounge, he wanted to lean against us and just relax. He’s a lazy dog in the first place, but this was different – it was like he was so relaxed, he just wanted to take it easy and veg out.

The first actual “stress test” we subjected Joey and his Thundershirt to was the dreaded OVEN. For a dog who ADORES people food as much as he does, Joey does NOT like the stove or the oven. Pretty much the instant we switch the oven on, he’s either going to bolt upstairs to hide (and nervous poop, usually) or, if we try and keep him downstairs, he’ll end up shaking and trembling, no matter how sweet you talk to him.

The night we first got the Thundershirt, Shaun was cooking his delicious, amazing homemade curry for our dinner. It’s a long process that involves the oven being on for a least a couple hours while he adds ingredients, simmers, and lets it stew. We kept the shirt on Joey while Shaun finished up the last 30 minutes of cooking…and for once, Joey hung out downstairs in the kitchen with us. He didn’t get close to the oven, or really even act like his normal frisky self BUT he wasn’t hiding and he wasn’t shaking.

Shaun and I were trying to come up with other ways to try out Joey’s reaction to the Thundershirt, assuming that we wouldn’t get a thunderstorm in the middle of winter, just because we needed one….and yet, the next morning while I was at work, a convenient storm rolled in.

I immediately texted Shaun from work, “IT’S ABOUT TO STORM. BUT THE THUNDERSHIRT ON DODO!”

I didn’t get a response and I drove home at lunch hoping that Joey’s barking had woken Shaun and he’d tested the shirt out.

I came home to this:

Totally relaxed, half asleep in bed.

Yup. Shaun reported that Joey had been barking a bit while he was sleeping, but as soon as he got up and put the Thundershirt on Joey, Joey snuggled back to sleep and didn’t bark the rest of the storm. Granted, it was kind of a small storm in the grand scheme of things…but Joey NEVER sleeps through any sort of storm, normally. In the past, even just plain rain storms got him bent out of shape.

And again this weekend, we got a round of longer, harsher storms one evening when Shaun and I were

relaxing at home. When he heard the first muted, distant rumble of thunder, we woke up Joey and strapped him in.

This storm was definitely larger with louder and longer thunder. We were amazed at Joey’s reaction during the first thirty minutes. He didn’t bark, whimper, whine, or growl during the entire time. It was like he didn’t even know the storm was going on. Only when a particularly loud clap of thunder sounded did he even notice the storm.

Unfortunately, once he caught on that a storm was happening, and that he hadn’t even noticed it started, Joey was a bit outraged and embarrassed that he hadn’t gotten to sound his displeasure, and he tried to make up for lost time for a bit. But after the initial HEY! YOU TRICKED ME feeling wore off, he settled back down, only barking at the loudest parts of the storms…or when he wanted a bite of our supper, which is completely un-Thundershirt related, he’s just a glutton.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the Thundershirt. Granted, it doesn’t completely CURE Joey of his anxiety, and it doesn’t magically transform him into a model dog out of the blue. But the point is – I noticed a difference! In two of his most upsetting anxiety triggers, I could easily tell that he was calmer and less stressed out. During storms, he barked less and was even able to sleep a bit. During the most drastic of situations, I expect he’d still freak out a bit, but in general, I can definitely see the Thundershirt making a noticeable difference in our day to day lives.

I would definitely recommend the Thundershirt to anyone with any sort of anxious dog. Again, it’s not going to solve behavior problems – I didn’t expect it to help with Joey’s OH MY GOD, THE DOORBELL barking, because that’s him being poorly trained in his puppydom, before we got him. (Although…I do want to try putting it on him when we’re expecting guests to see if it DOES help.)

But it will help with scary situations where your dog feels unsure of what’s going on and needs some steady comfort. I was impressed enough with the Thundershirt to regret not grabbing it before Joey and I headed out the door to visit Jody one night last week. He’s used to being held during car rides, but without Shaun there, he was reduced to whining and shaking in fear the whole 15 or 20 minute car ride. As I reached over and petted him at a red light to try and comfort him, I thought, “I am an idiot! I definitely should have put the Thundershirt on him before we tried to drive across town in the dark without Shaun-Dad!”

You can learn more about the Thundershirt at their website, and they also have a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a YouTube Channel that can tell you all about the Thundershirt, and other users’ experiences. I also have to give praise and thanks to Rich, my contact for Customer Service, who arranged this whole trial/review and was incredibly helpful, friendly, and polite!

I’ll Start a Petition and You Can All Sign.

§ January 14th, 2012 § Filed under (Four Shades of) Randomness, ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME, Blog Honesty Challenge, Foodies, Holidays, Hooooomewrecker, I hate I HAAAATE, I think I'm Funnier Than I Actually Am, In My Defense, MADNESS I TELL YOU, My Life Sucks and So Do You, Rant, Sometimes I hate myself., TACOS, Typical EmmySuh § 6 Comments

This time of year SUCKS. Don’t even try and argue with me, because whatever you were going to say? IT’S WRONG.

Winter, in general, BLOWS. And not blows in a fun, Ke$ha, glitter and blackouts kind way, in a Despair and Die in a Pale, Sweaty Mess Kinda way.

January, dudes. First of all, it took me three tries to spell that right. CALM DOWN WITH THE VOWELS. Second of all, CHRISTMAS IS OVER. It’s done. No more holiday spirit or delicious tasty treats you only have once a year, no more anticipation of awesome gifts, or at least, crappy gifts you can pretend to like in front of your grandma but later return for store credit. No more twinkly Tinkerbell lights on every house and church and Wal-mart to break up the bleak darkness of the worst season.

So, you enter January, and you’re all baffled because SUDDENLY you have to work and/or go to school again. FULL TIME. You aren’t randomly getting two weeks off, or at long weekends. There aren’t excuse to have parties and get tipsy on $5 champagne.

You’re just bloated and chubby from eating too much during the holiday season. (“IT’S CHRISTMAS, it’s OK to eat an entire package of Keebler Elf Rainbow Cookies in one sitting!! JESUS WAS BORN. IT’S A MIRACLE. I think the LEAST I can do to celebrate is to eat some frackin’ COOKIES, OK?!?!”) And while you were shoveling down those sausage-cheese balls and peanut butter fudge, you were thinking, “It doesn’t even matter! Because it’s New Year’s in, like, a week! I’ll just pledge to start working out more and only eat leafy green vegetables!”

And that sounded all well and good, back in the Season of Joy and Family Time, when you were working maybe two days a week, and had a good excuse to eat all the delicious treats at all the fun parties you were attending. Because you were in a good mood then! And when you’re in a good mood, 45 minutes of cardio three or four times a week and cutting Taco Bell out of your diet seems doable.

THEN JANUARY COMES. And you’re working 40 hours a week. And you don’t get three day weekends every week. And all of your clothes are too tight, except when you’re talking to your friends, you make it sound like they’re just a LIIIITTLE bit too tight, LOL GURLFRIEND, I didn’t eat THAT much.

(You totally did.)

And it’s still dark all the time. You get 10 minutes of day light on the drive to work, and 10 minutes of dismal twilight when you leave work. And then you think of how you just used the word “twilight,” and then you’re filled with even more rage because Stephenie Meyer actually exists and breathes the same air you do.

And you KNOW you should be getting to that cardio exercise, but HELLO, it’s dark and cold all the damn time. And you probably have a head cold from all the running around and partying you did. And so you don’t wanna work out, you don’t want to have healthy foods, you want to sit in your biggest, baggiest pajama pants in bed, with ninety quilts on you, and watch some overly dramatic, overly romantic, period piece movie where everyone has fabulous costumes and glowing skin tones. (I’m thinking Titanic or Gone with the Wind.) And you want to do that until the temperature stays above 50 degrees for at least two weeks.

What I’m saying is, we really, really need to JOIN forces and start campaigning for a nation-wide hibernation law, where all of us stuff ourselves silly in December, get an OVERLOAD of socialization, and then go hide away in our little snug caves and SLEEP until the end of March. We’ll emerge all sleek and skinny, LIKE BEARS, from having not eaten anything for 2 – 3 months, and we’ll have slept through the most tragic, depressing time of year, ready to hit the town for EmmySuh’s birthday, and then enjoy the beautiful, light, colorful season of Spring.

I really, really think this plan could work. Try not to RUIN IT by citing LAWS or SCIENCE or LAWS OF SCIENCE. I’m in a very delicate state right now, what with the DISGUSTING WINTER and the COLD and the DARK and the JIGGLY MIDSECTION.

It’s Like a Choose Your Own Adventure Novel, Only with Fewer Pirates and More Obnoxious Self-Reflection.

§ January 7th, 2012 § Filed under Year End Reflection Comments Off

HOLLA, FWEINDS.

I haven’t been linking to my End of the Year/Beginning of the Year posts on twitter, because I wanted to make THIS blog post to make it easier for you to read which entries you want. I know three year end reflections is a LOT, so you can choose to read which ever is more entertaining for you.

To make it more fun, we’ll make it like a Cosmo personality test and tell you what each choice tells you about yourself, MMKAY?

1. 2011 in Pictures — if you pick this option, you are fun-loving adventurous person…with a short attention span. You also making lovely clothing choices.

2. Succinct Summary of 2011 and The Final List of Books Read in 2011  — if you pick this option, you are a well-balanced person with great ambition, and nice smelling hair.

3. OCD Goals List for 2011 via Nicole — if you choose this option, you are anal-retentive, neurotic, and generally on the edge of a nervous break down — and I say that in the BEST way possible. You’re quite charming, and people are always commenting on your lovely teeth.

4. ALL OF THE ABOVE – you’re clearly a stalker, or a good friend I’ve bullied into reading about my insignificant life.

Oh, and if you want to read a post about how I’ve been sick for a month, please feel free to read this depressing post I had to toss up as I waited for all my fun drugs in the pharmacy.
Thanks for reading, kids. I know I’ve been less than  stellar on commenting on other’s blogs over the last few months…I’ll try and do better in the future.

Also, I made a tumblr, so I can post obsessively about all my nerdy loves. If you’ve got a tumblr, or suggestions for tumblrs I should follow, LEMME KNOW.

ALSO, if you are a bloggy lurker who reads and never comments, NOW is a perfect time to come out of the woodwork and just say HI, I READ. If you have a blog too, lemme know and I’ll add it to my blogroll — if you’re not already on my blog roll but have been reading a while, remind me of that too so I can fix it!

 

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