thunderstorms

[stephen]

my dog goes into a terror mode EVERY afternoon in anticipation of a thunderstorm. This happens everyday! he'll jump in the trunk if I'm unloading groceries and getting him out is dangerous, for your fingers anyway. any suggestions?:eek:

[lovemymaltese]

Welcome to Pet Talk! My grandparent's little chihuhua (spelling?) used to be terrified of bad weather. He would hide under the couch and you better stay away from him when he is scared like that. They never could break him of that nor could they comfort him (he wouldn't allow it). Maybe you'll have better luck.

[ChrisAK]

Welcome aboard.

A few things you can work with:
1) When you are home, sit with him during a storm. Pet and talk softly to him to comfort him. If you work, make sure he is in a kennel when you expect a storm. This way he doesn't hurt himself and he is in his "safe" palce.

2) Give him benedryl to take the edge off the storm. Get with your vet on the dosage.

If you consistantly work with him during a storm, the less the edge.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[C.C.'s Mom]

I was watching Animal Planet and they discussed it and gave some good advice that is a bit against the advice ChrisAK gave.

Don't pet or comfort your dog since for the dog it means it's good behavior he's showing.

What they did, was creating a comfort area for the dog (like a crate or a cupboard) with his basket and toys. And when there was a thunderstorm, they would gently show him the way to the comfort area and leave him there, telling him he was a good boy in his basket.
The owner had to continue doing what he usually did, as if there was nothing going on.

They also had a cd with thunderstorms on it and let the dog get used to the noise. Of course, for a dog it's not only the thunder, but the atmosphere itself that is so scary.

Maybe you can put a leash on your dog and stop him from jumping into the car?

My dog is a big shivering, teeth chattering smelly thing when it comes to thunderstorms, but we got it under control by getting her into her basket in the kitchen. Usually I start cooking or whatever to show her I'm fine.
And she gets a nice reward after a thunderstorm if she behaves good.

Good luck!

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Summer is the time of year when heavy thunderstorms and celebrations with fireworks are common---at least in North America. Many dogs are quite afraid of the associated noises and can cause substantial stress for both you and your pet.

There are three ways to approach noise fear in dogs. But first you have to avoid mistakes that make the problem worse. You see---when you love on them and comfort them and tell them it's OK, you are actually reinforcing the fear behavior in the pet. All your dog understands is that this particular behavior gets your positive attention.

The first option for fixing the issue is to help your pet overcome the fear through extensive reconditioning. This means you expose your pet in controlled situations to the noise. You should consult your veterinarian on how to do this so that you don't accidentally make things worse.

The second option is to cover the offensive sound with other noises. For example, during a bad storm, put your pet in an interior room with a loud radio playing.

The third option is to use medications during particularly difficult times to ease your pet's anxiety. Discuss this option thoroughly with your veterinarian, then if it is a good solution for your pet's specific situation, your veterinarian will prescribe an appropriate medicine and instruct you on its use.

Sometimes a combination of all three is needed to control very difficult cases of noise fear in dogs.

This is from the Healthy Dog series.
Jackie, Miss Daisy and Perry

[Dixieland Dancer]

Instead of rewriting all this, I just cut and pasted information I posted from an early post about noise phobias.

Noise phobias (intense fear reactions to sound) are hard to determine why they occur. Especially in a older dog that did not display this tendency earlier. My guess is that some loud noise (car backfiring, close gun shot, sonic boom, or even really loud thunder when nobody was around) happened to startle and set off the plunge into noise phobia.

Desensitization is a proven treatment for noise sensitivity. Expose your dog to the sinister sound (or a simulation of it) at low enough volume so the dog shows no sign of apprehension. As long as the dog remains calm, reinforce the behavior with treats or toys so the dog associates the once dreaded noise with agreeable experiences (counter conditioning). If your dog tolerates the low volume exposure, continue to expose it to louder and louder versions of the sound and also continue rewarding calm behavior. Proceed to higer volumes very gradually and only after the dog shows no anxiety at the lower intensity. Continue until the dog tolerates the sound full blast without becoming ruffled.

Prior to the first desensitization session, make sure the simulated noise (a recording for example) delivered at full volume, sparks your dog's fear reaction. And because thunderstorms involve sensory ingredients other than thunder - such as the sound of wind and the flash of lightning, you may need to simulate multiple environmental conditions to completely desensitize your dog. Thunderstorms involve a variety of stimuli, so you may have to desensitize your storm phobic dog to flashes of light in addition to the sounds of thunder, wind, and rain.

This process is very time consuming and may require several months of 10 to 20 minute sessions at least 3 times a week in order to properly desensitize your dog. During the desensitazation period try to shield your dog from the real noise causing the phobia. You can experience set backs and have to start the whole process over again if the noise is experienced before desensitazation is complete. Pick a time such as winter when the threat of thunderstorms is unlikely.

Finally it is important to handle the noise phobia in a Leader role. Avoid coddling a dog that's anxious about noises. Leadership is much better than sympathy in these cases. During the noise that invokes the phobia, turn the dogs attention towards play or do some obedience exercises. It is important to expose your dog to many different noises and reward with treats to help the dog associate noise with pleasure rather than fear!

Have lots of patience and don't expect the problem to be gone overnight! This is a hard problem to overcome but you can do it! :D :D :D :D

[MHMama]

Okay, Ricky hates thunder and he isn't too happy with rain either. He does hide but he prefers that we hold him which, if we are home one of us always does. He doesn't howl or bite or anything like that he just tries to get under covers or pillows. Lucy Tu could care less. She doesn't seem to be afraid of much of anything which can be a problem too.

[giztig2crazy]

im prob. no help at all cause my dog only goes nuts when it thunders. he start shaking all over and doesnt go any where near the windows.