If you think a camera is bad....

[K9karen]

Uh...thunder and lightening is worse.

We have some wicked storms lately, that even scare me, but poor, sweet Mz Logan is pertrified.

No destruction, but she'll stand at the bottom of our family room steps for hours in a trance until she plops from exhausion. Tonight, I had the basement door open, went down to take out the wash, and there she was, in a corner, laying on a rug. This was an all time first (into the basement)

Now, I understand the intention and reasoning behind NOT comforting her "for bad behavior". But there is no way in he$$ I can see her so sad and scared without trying to talk her, or sit with her or try to distract her (doesn't work).

Yep, did a tape of weather sounds. She hears it on TV..doesn't care. She knows it's not real I guess. I think this stems from her puppyhood and some kind of abandonment issues, either by her mother or her last owners. A guess on my part.

After the storm stopped for a bit, I took her out to go potty. She was in the process, when there was a roar of thunder and she stopped. I refused to open the door, stepped off the back porch, onto wet grass and conjoled her to pee, which she finally did.

She overcame her fear of tin, aluminum, pots and pans being knocked around. Took a few minutes and some treats. She's as smart as a whip, easy to train.

Sorry to go on. She's breaking my heart, poor dear. Any suggestions?

PS.. I put this on DogGeneral hoping more people would see it.

[Karen]

I do know someone who would give her dog a mild sedative when storms were coming or predicted, and she said it was all that helped. I don't know what else to offer. My first dog, Sheba, would climb into my parents' bed for thunderstorms, they were the only time she (my brave, smart, best girl) was ever afraid.

However, I will agree that coddling K-Lo would just make it worse. A friend's mother-in-law, C, who was terrified of storms, moved in with them, and their rescue dog, a big Pointer, got worse and trembled more during storms when C was "comforting" Pointer, it was sad.

[Glacier]

Have you tried Rescue Remedy? Pingo has a storm phobia too. I give her RR for it. I have to know it's coming and get it into her about 30 minutes before the first boom. It doesn't take all her fear away, but it does take the edge off. She hasn't hurt herself trying to scramble away since I started giving her the RR.

Is she crate trained? I didn't realize Anvik had a storm phobia until a couple months ago. Now at the first crack of thunder, I just let him in the house. He puts himself in his crate and stays there until the storm passes.

Fortunately we don't get many thunderstorms here, especially this year! I hope you find something that calms your girl. It is heartbreaking to see them so scared!

[Pam]

Karen I do believe that many dogs are just born with the fear to react to loud noises. My SIL had a german shepherd that would try to go behind the wood stove that was in their fire place during a thunder storm. It was the saddest sight to see, watching her try to "hide" from the storms. I had a toy poodle years ago that would get so upset on the 4th of July from hearing neighbors put off fireworks that he would begin shaking uncontrollably and after an hour or so of it would throw up.

I, like you, would try and comfort and distract him even though I made no progress either. It is not something that they can control so I didn't see anything wrong with doing that. It is very sad to watch I agree. I have no advice but thankfully these kinds of storms are not an every day occurrence and once they blow over the pupsters bounce right back.

[pitc9]

**Warning... long post!!**

I know all too well about thunder phobia.

Buddy jumps on doors and windows, bites door handles, barks his FULL head off, pants and drools like a gooney and cries all while also running around both floors of my house. If I put him in his crate he barks and tries to break out of his crate, if I leave him loose in the basement he pees on the furnace and hot water tank. He's broken out several windows already, luckily only one resulted in stitches.

I started using Acepromazine but the vet upped his dosage to the max, so we switched to Valium. I have to give him 2 1/2 10mg Valium at LEAST 2 hours before a storm. If he gets his pills in time, he's one LOOPY dog!
And isn't bothered too bad by the storm. He'll still pace and bark, but only when there is a clap of thunder or if he sees the lighting.
I've tried Rescue Remedy, numerous types of flower essence, the pheromone plug in, thunder on TV doesn't bother him at all, so there's no use in using the Cd's. He reacts more to the change in air pressure; he'll start panting hours before a storm rolls through.

If a storm rolls through at night, when it's dark outside, I close all the blinds in the house and turn on all the lights so the lighting isn't noticeable. Then I turn on all the tv's in the house as well to drown out the thunder.
But even after all that, he won't go outside for at least 2 hours after a storm has passed.

If a storm catches us off guard during the night and he hasn't had his pills, I'm up with him all night long. We go down into the basement and I turn the lights and TV on and he barks, and barks.. and barks. Till it's over.
He calms down quite a bit if he's down the basement, but I have to watch him otherwise he lifts his leg on just about everything! (even my pool table once )
All of this goes on while Sierra is still sleeping.

I've had TONS of people tell me that I'm crazy for keeping him, he's nuts, he is ruining your life, etc. But he's my baby boy and I'll keep doing whatever I need to do for him.

Next going to try an anxiety wrap!
http://www.anxietywrap.com/
(I've heard people say that just a snug t-shirt works as well)

[dreamparkingspace]

My dog Tatum has that severe phobia of cameras and thunder & lightning. Strange thing about the camera is that she is afraid of it even when I turn the flash off. Storms are the worst though, like you said. The worst part about storms here was that Shawnee used to pick on Tatum (by nibbling her ear and things like that) when Tatum would become terrified of the thunder & lightning. Now for some reason, Shawnee doesn't do that anymore and Tatum just shivers and hides under a table or something. A dog obedience trainer at PetSmart told me to reward Tatum when she comes out from under the table with treats. Puppy sedatives aren't a bad idea either probably. I occasionally will buy some called "quiet moments," but for some reason I feel kinda guilty giving them to my dogs, like they are screwing them up or something, which is odd because they are just natural ingredients like tryptophan, and also I take psychiatric meds myself, however, I just don't want my poor pooches to have to do anything remotely close to that.

[Ginger's Mom]

I would agree with many of the people above who suggested some sort of sedative, whether it be herbal or prescribed. Just enough to take the edge off so you aren't worried about what is going on inside her. I don't think you are ever really going to be able to change her behavior, but you both may feel better if she seems a little calmer during the storms. My parents had a beagle that was petrified of storms and would hide in their bedroom closet. The first few years I think they felt just horrible about the poor dogs fears. After a while, they accepted the fact that this was how she dealt with storms.

[lizbud]

Smokey could be the poster boy for storm phobia, at least he used to be.
he still gets nervous but has discovered the bathroom is his safe place.

Maggie doesn't like storms either but she's never paced, panted heavily,
like Smokey used to do.She found her safe place right away & stays there
and sleeps till it's over. (under the dining room table)

I really do believe in the drastic cases, meds do help. I guess each dog is
different.

[Freedom]

Sugar is also terrified of thunder. If permitted, she climbs up the back of Dad's recliner. A few times she has become tangled up in there with springs etc. and we've thought we would have to cut the chair to get her out. But she manages. She also hyperventilates the entire storm, panting quite heavily. Eyes are almost but not quite glazed over. Forget offering a treat of any sort.

If we manage to block the chair, she will curl up under one of the beds. I have also taken her in my bed under the covers and that is acceptable to her as long as I am right there next to her.

Takes her about an hour after the storm is over to come out. And then she is exhausted, from all the stress.

None of the other dogs, none of the cats, seem to care about storms. Tommy actually runs to a window to watch it.

As she is not getting into trouble, we just accept that this is how she reacts to storms. But in the extreme cases mentioned above, I can certainly see where a sedative would be required.

[chocolatepuppy]

Layla too! She is terrified of storms. The worse the storm, the worse she is. She tries to hide under the computer desk and she doesn't fit. She shakes terribly. During most storms at night she'll hide in the bathroom. She will not come out until the storms are well past and I have to coax her out. I have the pheromone plug in, it doesn't seem to help. I do have some of those 'natural' pills and they do seem to help a bit, but you have to know the storm is coming. I'm careful not to baby her but there are times I hug her really tight (think anxiety wrap) and it seems to help. I only do that if she's really shaking bad.

[K9karen]

Thanks so much everyone! I have to admit, I heaved a sigh of relief reading that Mz Logan isn't the only dog afraid of camera, flash or not.

Yes, she feels the storm hours before it hits, but at the first crack of thunder and sight of lightening, she's GONE! I'm glad she found "her safe spot", and doesn't pee or vomit. Surprisingly, she didn't shake much last night, just licked her lips a zillion times, tail under and ears back.

Somehow, I conjoled her to come upstairs to the TV/computer room. We shut the blinds, put on an extra light and upped the TV volume. We also shut the door and tried to act normal. She eventually calmed down, even through the rain part, and hasseled me for head rubs.

She's as happy as a clam today, even on wet grass..there are flocks of birds and rabbits.

It just totally breaks my heart. Logan is so sweet and obedient and loving, but she's so transfixed during a storm, she's not herself. Normally, I'd be less stressed and accept it, but I have a lot of stuff going on with hoomans. Regardless, my always top priority is my precious pumpkin.

Thanks you, again for all your caring and suggestions!

[shepgirl]

A friend has 2 dogs that go totally freaky when a storm hits. She ordered some kind of cape on the internet, don't really know what it's made of, but it was advertised as guaranteed to keep pets calm during storms. Believe it or not it really works, don't have a clue as to why it does. She just wraps them in the capes and the dogs sleep through the storms.

[Logan]

Karen, you might remember that Zipper and Lilly had horrible storm phobias. I finally resorted to 50 mg of Benadryl for them at Dr. R's suggestion. If I could catch it in time, it did take the edge off. I always thought that Zipper was a stray Golden because he got frightened, outdoors, in a storm and escaped his yard, wherever it was that he lived.

Of course, you could live in Greenville, SC, and never get rain or storms and not have to worry about it. Just a thought.