One reason we featured an entire week of new pet products recently is because like most of you out there I love anything new that will help me when it comes to taking care of my pet. Regardless of whether we are talking about remote controlled food bowls, electric dog houses, or robotic litter boxes, if there’s a cutting edge product making waves on the market I must know all about it. Take today’s story for example: although Halloween is still a over a month away, this new cape for your puppy is turning the most cowardly of pups into brave heroes.

Dubbed the Storm Defender and retailing at around $64.99, this new pet accessory is intended for those dogs who are so frightened by severe weather that they begin only add to the problems associated with the coming storms. Created with a specially designed metal fabric the cape is tied around the dog at the first sign that a storm is approaching. As the electricity in the air begins to build most dogs become afraid and start acting erratically while barking loudly, but not while wearing the Storm Defender. The way the cape works is that it takes that electrical charge swirling around the animal and disperses it evenly thus producing a calming effect.

It’s a great idea, but does it work? According to studies, though the results are not 100% for every dog 70% of those tested did relax once the cape was tied on. Straight from the Storm Defender site one customer told of their first experience using the cape “For the first hour, nothing happened. She paced and panted and tried to climb into the bed between us, all 6-foot-4 of her from nose to tail. I finally went out on the couch, where I fell asleep with one hand on her cape-clad back as she wheezed and trembled on the floor. When I woke two hours later, the storm was still raging, but, amazingly, the dog was not. She wasn’t completely calm, of course, but she was subdued enough to let me go back to bed for a bit. And, after a while, she grew calm enough to sleep in her own bed at the foot of ours. The next time there was a thunderstorm? Same story, only Chelsea became quieter even quicker. By the third thunderstorm – the makers say it usually takes at least three tries to notice improvement – she seemed almost grateful when the cape came out first sign of a storm.”