Sudden thunderstorm phobia?

[chocolatepuppy]

Layla is afraid of thunderstorms, but always has been, I sure don't know why. After last nights storms I'm definitely going to have to look into something to calm her. I might add though, she is afraid of all kinds of noises, the 4th is something I'm not looking forward to.

[4 Dog Mother]

Christy's Dalmation, Destiny is very scared of thunderstorms. She is always a velcro dog but during a thunderstorm she becomes velcro dog with shivers. We usually put her in Jack's crate when it storms because it is not near any windows that she can see the lightening and she seems to do all right in it. Christy says that the people who had her before them kept her outside all the time so she thinks she was outside during some and has come to fear them from that. She was just over a year when Christy got her so I imagine a young pup would fear being out in rain and thunder. Her other dog, Sierra, is also afraid of storms but she is also afraid of any loud noises. She runs and hides though in the laundry room if she can get in it or the bathroom where there are no windows at all.

We have had Jack from 5 years now and I think that it has only been in the last couple of years that he has started to react to thunder and lightening. He sleeps on a bed under a window on Carl's side of the bed. When he gets scared he comes around to my side of the bed, needs a few ear rubs and he lays down and sleeps on the floor next to me. We know he was left outside a lot too when he was younger. If it is a really long, loud storm, Taggert will start barking like he can make it stop.

I did copy an article for Christy about storms and dogs and it said what Phred said about basically ignoring them and not acting nervous yourself. I think our dogs do pick up alot on how we react - if we seem to be anxious - you know running around looking for flashlights, radios, bottles for water - then they seem to pick up on it and are anxious too. If we just go about our normal business they seem to settle down quicker. That really doesn't work very well for Christy's dogs - but I am pretty sure letting them near fireworks or other loud noises won't work either. Sierra escaped from Christy and I one time and I didn't think we would ever catch her - she was so panicked she wouldn't quit running or let anyone near her!

[4 Dog Mother]

By the way, you never, ever bore us!

[pitc9]

Oh Jack, you have GOT to be the cutest fishermen I've ever laid eyes on!

My Buddy has a MASSIVE fear of loud noises and has had that fear since I adopted him.
We've passed up Acepromazine, and now he's on Valium.
Regular human Valium.
In order to keep my house, myself and Buddy in one piece through a storm, I have to give him 2 1/2 pills 2 hours before a storm but that doesn't always happen. Once he starts freaking out, it's already too late to give him pills because his adrenaline is already pumping and the pills are useless.
He barks his full head off, scratches and jumps at doors, bites door handles, jumps on me, etc. I've been bruised and battered many times! He's broken out glass windows and has gotten stitches. He's no different if he's in his crate; he's broken out of his crate several times during a storm.

I've had a reading done with Nancy and she says his fear comes from when he was young. He was found in the woods, like someone had dumped him off so he was in the woods with no shelter from storms, or maybe he was shot at when he was running? Who knows... I may never know for sure.
But I now spend my day checking the weather channel 10-15 times a day watching for storms to pop up, or figuring out when to run home and give him his pills.

Often times people say to use a cd with the sounds of a storm to desensitize the dog to noises, that works well.... as long as it's only the actual noise that the dog fears. In Buddy's case, he'll start freaking out an hour or so before a storm because he reacts to the pressure change in the atmosphere. Just last night, my hubby was watching movie and there was thunder and lightning in it and Buddy never even flinched.

But Jack... being that it's started out of nowhere makes it a weird. (then again, he IS weird and that's why we love him! )
Also with his fear of men...
I wish I knew what to tell you.

Maybe a reading with Brody's Mom could help!