Threat title says it all. Does it encourage her to be scared of storms if I comfort her? She is about five years old so whatever she is afraid of is more than likely ingrained. Right now she is literally in my lap right now shaking like a leaf. Hold and comfort her or put her down? Which is best for her?
Meant to post this in IMHO…Moderate help please? Thanks!
I reported the post for a forum change for you. You can do that to your own post actually, click on the red triangle thing in the upper right.
Moved from MPSIMS to IMHO at the OP’s request.
Idle
MPSIMS Moderator
Snuggle your dog! Let her know that everything will be fine!
With your comfort + having the storm pass and not harm her…
she can get over it. It may take a while.
I had a husky dog that no amount of holding or comforting would placate. But then I read in a book that’s the last thing you should do. With the dog we have now, I have actively stopped my hubby from doing so and the dog is fine. When you cuddle and comfort you’re teaching a behaviour that gets a positive response. Better to speak reassuringly, “You’re ok, we’re all ok, it’s just a storm.”, and then continue along merrily. The dog is taking his cue from you and if you are indifferent, he will learn that response. It might be hard to turn it around now, but you should give it a try. The difference between the response of the two dogs I’ve mentioned is remarkable to see.
Fear (even in humans) is irrational. I can’t believe it didn’t come natiurally to comfort your pet. A living being that resides with you. My oldest dog is my least favorite and I don’t think she likes me all that much, but during storms (if I’m home) I hold her and rub her ears (the thunder hurts their ears).
Do not coddle your dog during thunderstorms. All you’re communicating is “yes - you are completely correct in thinking that these loud noises are something to worry about. Look - I’m just as terrified as you are, and also need contact to assure me that everything will be okay.”
When we used to make a big deal out of our dog’s thunderstorm anxiety, it was a big deal. Now I do as **elbows **said, with the reassuring “it’s okay” and then go about my regular business.
You can also buy “white noise” type CDs of thunderstorms - thunder and high winds and rain and all that. (I actually listen to one to sleep to because I find storms comforting.)
If you play the storm noises all the bloody time, she may get acclimated to the strange sounds (especially since they’re less threatening; happening at lower volume and when there aren’t light and atmospheric changes as well) and then not freak quite as much when a real storm comes.
Only other thought - is anyone in your family afraid of storms at all? Animals are really good at picking up our own fears, and if you’re even a little nervous or anxious about storms, she’ll pick up on that and be more likely to freak.
(As a sad note, I lived in Charleston as a child, and when Hugo came, my parents did not take our pets with us when we evaced (I still have not forgiven them for this). When we came back 4 days later, all pets were still alive, but remained absolutely petrified (uncontrollable peeing, shaking, howling) of storms until they passed away many years later. We did bring them inside and let them be around the family during the storm, but we never actively tried to hold or comfort them. It seemed just being inside and being around people (who didn’t think the storm was a big deal) helped a lot, but they always stayed scared. Considering that it was our fault, there never was any blame attached to them for freaking out tho.)
If she is so scared as to be shaking like a leaf, you should probably talk to your vet about the possibility of using anxiolytics WHILE you embark on a desensitization/counter-conditioning program, preferably under the instruction of your vet and/or a reputable animal behaviorist. Here’s a list of board-certified veterinary behaviorists, who are vets who have gone through residency after vet school in which they exclusively dealt with animals with behavior problems. There aren’t many in the country, but if you happen to be near one, it might be worth contacting them. If there aren’t any near you, your vet might be able to consult one long-distance.
It’s true that you can shape behavior like whining and destructiveness, and that dogs take their cues from owners, but calmly comforting her when she’s terrified is not going to train her to be terrified. You don’t want to make a big deal and make her think that YOU think it’s a scary, big deal, since she’ll feed off of your energy, but in terms of reward vs punishment, you can’t train emotions in a dog, only behavior.
While you’re waiting for an appointment with a professional, I’ll second the vote for Thundershirts (or even a homemade version). They don’t work with all dogs, but some people have had amazing results.
We’ve had good results with alprazolam from the vet. One nice thing is that it takes effect quickly, (about 15 minutes) and there does seem to be some conditioning going on - before we started using it, the first flash of lightning would provoke immediate panic. After using the med a few times, her response is more of “Oh, what’s that?” and it takes a few lightning strikes and rumbles of thunder before she gets wound up.
I got alprazolam (xanax!) from the vet and it takes one to TWO HOURS to kick in. My dog is 90 lbs tho. It really sucks to have to predict the weather like that, because if I mess up and a storm doesn’t come I’ve just got a druggy dog.
It does help, though. I don’t always give it. Not if a storm is moving fast, we just ride it out.
Seems to be the thing Dolly likes best is being in my office with all the lights on and the radio loud. She doesn’t want to hear it or see it (lightning). She liked being in my parents’ bathroom with the lights on and music playing too.
And being drugged. That does help if I time it right. She does get scared of the storm but she is able to be distracted by toys and stuff.
I’m of the “pretend that a thunderstorm is nothing to take note of” school. My dog doesn’t enjoy them and comes over to me for reassurance when the lightning and thunder starts. She gets a quick scratch behind the ears and then lays down.
If it happens when I’m at work, she climbs into the bathtub.
Try playing with her.
This works with our pit mix Sadie, who is afraid of storms. My theory is that “in the wild” a pack does not waste energy playing when danger looms or survival is otherwise at stake, and so play communicates “everything is secure, we can cut loose!”
If I hold her she shakes and quivers, but a few minutes of playing and she seems to have forgotten all about the storm.
This worked for our Australian Shepherd, too. We started playing a game of “find the toy” whenever a storm was beginning, which was sufficiently distracting that she eventually got to the point that she didn’t even notice much when the storm went into full swing. She’s now much better about storms, even if we don’t have time to play.
Don’t cuddle or otherwise comfort her. It’s just reinforcing the behavior.
My current dogs aren’t afraid of storms, but I did have one once that was terrified. When he got quite old we had to drug him, and it was awful to have to see him so confused. I found it helped some to be very cheerful, to show him how much I was enjoying the storm (after a crack of thunder I’d say happily “Wow! That was a good one!”) and sometimes pick him up and we’d look out the window together. It got tougher on him when he really got up there in years, but the “Oh, boy! a thunderstorm!” act did do some good for a while.
Putting your dog down seems kind of harsh to me, but only you truly know what’s best.
Thank you all for the great responses. I really like the idea of playing with her; I’ll try that next time a storm comes. Well, here is one now!