I have a 50 pound husky who is scared of thunderstorms. She shakes, she shivers, she wakes me up to let me know that they are approaching, etc.
I sometimes give her 10-20 milligrams of valium but the problem is that if she has already been frightened, it doesn’t help. Does anyone have a better drug reccomendation, for medication?
Thanks
whistlepig, who has done all the behavioral things to deal with this problem.
Gosh, that sucks. I remember our previous Golden Retriever was scared by storms. I made sure that from day 1 when I got my current puppy that she wouldn’t be afraid of storms.
Of course, she’s afraid of everything else 
I know that when she’s scared there’s almost NOTHING that I can do to calm her.
My aunt has been known to give her son’s dog a Benadryl to calm her down when she stays at my aunt’s house.
Does valium make you sleepy or just relaxed? Maybe something like Benadryl that makes you drowsy would help your pup by “knocking her out”.
Have you tried yelling “NO” at her really loudly when she starts waking you up? Let her know your pissed at her for waking you up, then go back to bed. Let her know her behaviour is ridiculuous and that you’re not afraid of what she’s afraid of.
It sounds harsh, but doing the opposite (cuddling, comforting, etc.) can simply reinforce the fear.
Um, have you spoken with your/a vet concerning this? I ask this because I take xanax, which is similar to valium, I dropped a few in the past and was horrified to see my 5 pound pomeranian rush to gulp the “goodies” before I could grab them. A call to my vet disclosed that canines do not react to xanax in the same manner as himans do. The dog showed absolutely no effects, even though he took a dose which would have knocked me out.
I get a canine anti-anxiety medication called ace promazine. 5 mg per pound, cheap, and boy howdy, do they work! Best to medicate the dog on an empty stomach, or they get extra “high” and take longer to come out of it. They are available either through a veterinarian or petmeds.com
Benedryl is okay for dogs for allergies, I can’t remember dosage for dogs right now, but I truly recommend getting some ace and keeping it on hand. I have a new bottle, as it’s fireworks season, and the poms think the end of the world is nigh!
Good luck!
Paging elenfair…
But before she gets here she once mentioned that treating a t-storm as FUN and HAPPY and TREATS and ISN’T THIS A GOOD TIME? and OH AREN’T YOU A GOOD BOY helps.
You raaaaang?
I turn thunderstorms into a game, even if it’s in the middle of the night. I have a pup right now who is a little concerned about thunderstorms but he is starting to think they are the most wonderful thing ever.
I agree that the worse thing you can do is make your dog think there IS something to worry about by comforting/snuggling it. I don’t like the idea of giving a negative correction (the “NO!” for waking you) for a behavior that has them scared already. The idea is right, though, that you have to show your dog that (a) you’re not worried about it (b) they shouldn’t be worried about it either and © storms can actually be fun.
With pups (and rescues), I often just arm myself with Jackpot treats when a storm comes (boiled liver will get you a looooong way, let me tell you). If they wake me up in a panic, I get up and put on my superduper happy training voice. THey usually look at me like I’m insane but most of them go along with it. Some of our best “free treat!” times are during storms, where you don’t even have to WORK for your treat! Most of them eventually figure that storms are FUN…
Sometimes I get the occasional dog who is just “inconsolable” during a T-storm. I usually just put him/her on leash (i.e. they feel that I’m in control, not them) and sometimes use some T-Touch massaging technique on 'em during the storm itself. You can also consider buying your dog an anxiety wrap (sitstay.com sells them). Some people have had great success with them (me included, go figure)…
You could try the Storm Defender cape. I know a couple people who had success with this after trying just about everything else. It was invented by an electrical engineer.
Personally I don’t care for using oral acepromazine on a dog. Every dog metabolizes it differently, so your results can vary from the dog hardly being tranquilized at all to it being knocked out for hours. It’s also dangerous to some breeds of dogs.
I sorta feel your pain, whistlepig. I have a dog that’s pissed off by thunder and will bark and growl at it. Fun in the middle of the night.
Thanks all.
I’m not going to do the “No” when she wakes me up. She has been abused/neglected before I got her and raising my voice just terrifies her. When she wakes me up I just let her sleep on the bed (which she never does otherwise) and try to go back to sleep.
I did the acepromazine in the past but it either had no effect or knocked her out for 6 hours. I didn’t feel like I was able to adequately control the dosage. I don’t cuddle her or give her extra attention - I usually just ignore her. But she is constantly under my feet and will try to climb into my lap when the thunder gets real close.
I’m going to have to see a lot more evidence on the cape before I buy it.
I"ll try doing the “fun time” thing but I don’t think she’s gonna buy it. But I"ll try.
Thanks all, I’ll probably get to practice several times in the next few days.
Doug
Someone once suggested putting the dog into a T-shirt, which somehow miraculously calms them down. This suggestion made its way into our local newspaper, and by the time a few weeks had passed there were dozens of letters to the editor, providing anecdotal evidence that this works.
Go figure.
We used to have a Norwegian Elkhound that was terrified of thunderstorms. Our veterinarian prescribed some tranquilizers, but like the valium you give your dog, it took a bit of time to work.
The vet also suggested that comforting the dog was actually reinforcing his fear - if you comfort him, he thinks there really is something wrong, and continues his behavior. NOT comforting him didn’t make him get over his fear, though, but YMMV.
Our solution was to put him in the basement with a radio. It was dark, cool, and due to both the noise from the radio and the fact that the basement was underground, he couldn’t really hear the thunder or see the lightning. He usually wouldn’t come up from the basement for quite awhile after a storm, but he had food water and a bed, and eventually he would mosey his way back up to the house if we left the door open.
The only way I can get my dog to calm down during a thunderstorm is by locking her in the closet with a couple of blankets laid down. It sounds a bit mean but she stays really quiet and comes out quite happy after the storm is over. I think the “cave effect” helps calm her.
I had a dobe who wood literally pee in fear when there was a storm. Once I started putting her in the utility room with no windows and some insulation from sound she calmed down. If you have a crate you can cover with blankets, it might help. I’ve also read where playing recordings with storm sounds (not during an actuall storm, of course), gradually increasing the volume, can desensitize some of the affected dogs . Good luck.
We had a dog that was uneasy during thunderstorms - not quaking with fear by any means, but he just didn’t like them. He liked to camp out in the walk-in closet, so we put a bed in there and I’d turn the stereo on. That seemed to work for him.
I think the reason why a t-shirt or anxiety wrap works for some dogs is because there is something calming about pressure. In her book, “Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior,” author Temple Grandin (who is autistic) talks about that. She even made a ‘squeeze machine’ for herself, similar to the type of machine used to hold cattle for veterinary inspection and treatment, which she uses when she feels overwhelmed:
Our family dog was terrified of storms and fireworks all her life. She’d shake, walk into the bathroom and slam the door, only coming out for potty breaks and an occasional meal. We never medicated her…just felt awful for 17 years. It was heartbreaking.