*Note: This is not a paid endorsement. All opinions are our own.

Does your dog howl or hide during Fourth of July fireworks? Does he cringe when a thunderstorm hits? Is he afraid of cars, or even having accidents while riding? Can’t he stand when you leave his side and break things in your absence?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, thunder shirt Might work for you.

If you’ve never heard of the ThunderShirt, it’s often compared to swaddling a baby—it applies gentle, comfortable pressure in key areas to soothe your dog’s nerves. It’s a low-cost, non-toxic option for pet owners with anxious dogs or cats.

The company says it works for more than 80 percent of pets based on customer reviews, addressing issues ranging from separation anxiety to people being shy to barking issues. The company even offers a money-back guarantee if it doesn’t work for you.

But will it work for us? We did a test run to see if ThunderShirt would work on the 4th of July.

our test run

We adopted Yellow at five months and he was a timid dog from the start – he was shitting in the car within a minute of leaving the foster home! He never relaxed on rides; he never lay down and slept like Sundown did, but sat and stared at us the entire drive, even on long trips. He’s also sensitive to loud noises — such as fireworks or severe thunderstorms.

ThunderShirt provides extraordinary help. Yellow visibly calmed down within seconds of putting on the shirt. He’s lying in the car now, even nodding.

The ThunderShirt is easy to put on your dog, especially with the handy four-step instructions that come with the shirt.

We followed the advice to serve the food in the ThunderShirt before putting on the Yellow Dog and it really got him interested in this “food distribution” set.

Once the shirt is in place, make sure it fits snugly but not too tight.

“You should be able to get your finger between the T-shirt and your pet,” said ThunderShirt founder Phil Blizzard.

New ThunderShirt users should keep an eye on their pets.

If this is the first time a pet is wearing the shirt, just check in about every hour to make sure everything is in order,” Blizzard said.

We wear this shirt a lot on rides and on the 4th of July. This shirt will last up to eight hours while you work.

“Many of our customers use ThunderShirt for separation anxiety, putting a shirt on their dog before they go to work and taking it off when they get home,” says Blizzard. “That’s perfectly fine, but usually we say don’t leave T-shirts on pets for more than 24 hours.”

Where to find ThunderShirt

ThunderShirt and related products are available through their website but also by local retailers such as pet food express and amazon. We spoke to Pet Food Express employees and they say ThunderShirts work great and they rarely return them.

you can even Customize your ThunderShirt— It’s available in a variety of colors and can be personalized for your dog with embroidery. There’s even a raincoat accessory called ThunderCoat. Basic tees start at $39.99, and prices go up based on add-ons.

other training tools

ThunderWorks also provides a list Key Problems ThunderShirt Can Help Solve on their website, as well as training tips to use in conjunction with the shirt. These questions include:

• Walking Around or Bringing a New Dog Home
• people shy
• cry
• travel anxiety
• separation anxiety
• touch sensitivity

This is a great resource to make sure you are using your ThunderShirt correctly.

Bay Area trainer Beverly Ulbrich Thought it would be a good idea to use these training tools with the ThunderShirt.

“I wouldn’t just rely on ThunderShirt,” Ulbrich said. “Also do training to build confidence, overcome fears or overcome separation anxiety.”

ThunderShirt Gives Back

ThunderShirt estimates that about one-third of dogs in the United States suffer from anxiety disorders. Inevitably, some of these dogs end up in shelters. ThunderWorks has charitably donated thousands of dollars and ThunderShirts to shelters across the country in an effort to eliminate the anxiety many shelter dogs suffer and help those dogs get adopted.

the bottom line

We were very impressed with the ThunderShirt results.But don’t just take our word for it; check out these Video of Dogs ThunderShirt Helped.

For a complete list of the company’s products, Visit the ThunderShirt Store.

If you have a dog that goes crazy when the fireworks go off, we recommend trying ThunderShirt to cure their 4th of July anxieties.

*Note: This is not a paid endorsement. All opinions are our own.