Know Your Product, DOGgonit!

A few days ago I took my dog to the vet for her yearly check up. While waiting at the front desk to check in for her appointment, I saw a product displayed on the counter called the Thundershirt. I have seen this product before, once in the back of a magazine as a small review blurb and again on a morning news segment titled: “Dog Days of Summer.” Neither encounter provide me with great detail about the product other than its main purpose: a type of dog shirt/vest used to reduce anxiety in dogs that become very physically and mentally stressed during loud thunderstorms.

This particular product peaked my interest because my dog, Bella, is unfortunately very afraid of thunderstorms. The second she senses a storm coming she gets very anxious and panicky which results in a trembling ball of fur doing whatever she can to crawl up my legs and attach herself to me however she sees fit to ensure that I will not leave her side. As you can imagine the dumpy summers of Wisconsin have caused us to develop a type of weather related separation anxiety.

So, crossing paths with this product again, in my very own vet’s office, provided me an opportunity to have some of the questions I had about the Thundershirt answered by people I know and trust.

Here’s how the conversation played out between the veterinary assistant checking us in at the front desk.                                               (Bella and I out for ice cream)

Okay, maybe this is their first time stocking it and this is their first shipment so no one has really gotten the chance to use, it let alone give feedback.  

Me: “Well what is the premise behind it? How does it work?”
Veterinary Assistant: “I’m not really sure”

I’m pretty sure I just nodded in silence thinking she was going to make some effort to find out or ask someone who might know a little bit more about it.
But she does not, so I pick up the Thundershirt package and check it out for myself. 

Then, like a dummy, I ask another question somehow expecting a different answer.

Now I become very baffled…I think up a scenario where a stranger wanders into my vet’s office, set these on the counter and says, “sell these!” For all they know this could be a torture device that sends an electrical shock through my dog’s body temporarily paralyzing her, masking the physical anxiety, and producing severe long-term damage that results in my darling Bella becoming my vicious, unhinged nightmare.

OBVIOUSLY I am being sarcastic and I don’t really believe that is how the product works; In fact, I now know that the Thundershirt uses constant, gentle, pressure that produces a calming effect for most anxious, fearful or overexcited dogs, and over 80% of dogs show significant improvement in symptoms when using the Thundershirt based on survey results taken by over 2,000 customers. I learned all of this from the Thundershirt website, which I pulled up on my phone, while waiting to be seen by the vet. The website also recommended what size would be the best match for a dog of Bella’s size…5 clicks later, Bella and I were now the proud owners of a Pink Rugby Thundershirt.

Now to the point of my rant, why did my vet opt into selling this product without learning anything about it, or in the case that she did do her research, why didn’t she pass on her knowledge to her staff? The overall lack of knowledge displayed my veterinary’s office drove me to find my answers elsewhere and more importantly, purchase elsewhere (even though the exact same product was sitting on a ledge no more that 5 feet from me at the time).

A scenario like this demonstrates the value of product knowledge. Learn a much as you can; however you can, as often as you can...because if you dont, you can bet someone else has and is waiting to capitalize on your slip up.   

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