If you're a dog lover, you know what happens when it thunders. Man's best friend can get a little crazy. But some new doggy-wear called the "Thundershirt" will relieve your dog's anxiety and one animal shelter is using Thundershirts to help get their dogs get adopted.
This affenpinscher up for adoption is more than rowdy, he just couldn't stay still.
But Copperas Cove Animal Shelter is getting some help for him and the rest of their dogs.
"I was excited when I got the e-mail that we got the grant and everything," said David Wellington, who is the Senior Animal Controller at the shelter. He says the shelter received 77 of these Thundershirts from petfinder.com through a grant worth more than $2,000.
These shirts are not an accessory, they're designed to literally relax the dogs.
"Okay now we're gonna wrap it around his middle," said Stefani Fisher, another Animal Controller at the shelter as she demonstrates how to put the shirt on the dog.
They fit just like a shirt, held together by velcro.
"You can see he's kind of calmed down. He's not running around. They all seem to kind of like the shirt," said Fisher. She has tried the shirt on many of the dogs at the shelter and she says it's working.
The shelter hopes more dogs will be adopted now that they will be less stressed.
"I think it's a good deal for everybody involved. You get a calmer dog and they seem very happy with it," said Fisher.
"When the dog is being held, you know it's relaxed and calm and this is suppose to do the same thing," said David.
The trick is to wrap them up as if you were swaddling a baby. That way, they feel comforted.
And if you a adopt a dog at the Copperas Cove Animal Shelter you can borrow a shirt to ease your new pet's arrival.
But you'll have to give the shirt back.
If you buy it, the cost is about 40 bucks.
