The dog manuals are pretty pessimistic about dogs who fear thunder. Most of them have said that it will only get worse with age, and that there really isn’t much that can be done to alleviate it. I’ve read that de-sensitization using pre-recorded thunder sounds isn’t really helpful, because a lot of dogs are bothered by the changing air pressure more than the sound. (She never reacts to sounds of a storm on television, so I assume that she’s one of those who are freaked by the pressure changes.)
As I type this, it’s storming outside, and my dog is under the desk, shaking and whining. I’ve tried loving assurance, and I’ve also tried being nonchalant-- neither had any effect on her behavior.
I was wondering if any of you have had any success in helping your dogs through this. It really upsets me to see my dog so afraid and unhappy. (The dog books are right: she * has * gotten worse the years.)
Lissa, unfortunately I have no good advice. My dog was never afraid of storms when he was younger. When he was a puppy I used to give him treats and play games when a storm came through, so he thought they were fun. Then suddenly he was very afraid of them. The only thing I can figure out is that lightening struck very close when I wasn’t home and scared the crap out of him. He absolutely will not be comforted. I try to laugh it off and not make a big deal out of it, or give him treats, or just sit with him. He also ignores storms on TV. He and the cats both know when I storm is coming before I do (especially the cats). I don’t know if this is because their hearing is so much more acute or because of the changes in atmospheric pressure.
I finally got some sedatives from the vet last time we went for a visit, and I’m going to use these for next time a bad storm is predicted, and also for fireworks.
I’ll keep an eye on this thread to see if anyone has any useful suggestions.
Our dog, a yellow lab, never had a problem with thunder until after we had kids. Something about regression. Feh.
Now, we charmingly refer to her as " The Doppler Dog" She starts sulking as the clouds get lower, and by the time it starts raining, she is quivering. When the thunder hits, she is the worlds largest and furriest vibrator. It is pressure change, wind and the noise.
And yes, they do get worse over the years.
We use to be able to pull her into bed with us and she’d fall asleep. The gradually, we needed to cover her with an arm or leg. Then a blanket. Then we couldn’t get her to lay down. The last straw was her standing there quivering insanely and we could hear her sphnicter muscle opening and closing and that was the last time she was allowed in the bed during a storm. (She didn’t poop, but you have never seen two half asleep people move so fast to drag her to tile flooring in your life.)
Fourth of July sets her quaking as well, which is why my favorite holiday is quickly becoming less favorite with every yahoo around me starting off their fire works now. Don’t these people know what they are doing to my poor dog?
I have taken to using either Tylenol PM ( which helps for her aching musles anyway) or Prozac. I just get a finger full of peanut butter and put the pill in there, and scrap it along the roof of her mouth. If that doesn’t work, just put the pill in there by itself, hold the snout closed and blow into their nose until they end up sticking their tongue out to lick. That will be the sign they have swallowed. (Sorry the last two lines do not apply to humans )
If we have to leave the house and we think a storm may hit, we try to medicate her and we will leave her in the garage with the radio blaring. (She has a cage in there with no door. That is her safe haven.)
You may notice if you leave your dog with a friend and a storm hits, that their behavior isn’t as nuerotic as with you. You represent Mommy. Around the stranger, they will probably be clingy, but not spaztic. Its alot like having a toddler.
I heard a radio talk show about pets once that recommended taping a thunderstorm and playing the tape back for the dog when everything else was calm in the house. Kind of like desensitizing him/her to the sound. IIRC, it takes a great deal of time and patience but it can be overcome.
One of our dogs hates thunder too. I think with him it is the noise, because he has a similar reaction when he hears fireworks.
When a storm comes over and he hears the first hint of thunder, he comes inside and heads right into the basement. This is the dog that likes to be outside most of the time (as opposed to our other two dogs who are house babies). It is quieter in the basement, and he has his little under-the-stairs den spot, so I guess he feels safer down there.
I think it has gotten worse as he’s aged (he’s about 11 years old). He doesn’t shake or whine, but he gets nervous.
I’ve had many dogs. In my experience, a dog that has thunder phobia–and I have known several–will not get better. In all probability, the phobia will worsen as the dog gets older. What can you do? Make sure that your dog has a safe, dark little hidey-hole that she can always get to when a storm arrives, and let her console herself till it’s over. If she needs to sleep with you in your bed on stormy nights, go ahead and let her, even if she’s not normally allowed on the furniture. There’s an exception to every rule.
And whatever you do, don’t ignore her or make light of her fear. Even if it doesn’t change her behavior, go ahead and get on the floor with her and hold her for awhile. Doesn’t she come and sit next to YOU when you’re frightened or depressed?
I usually let her lay on the sofa with me when it’s storming. She really wants to cuddle, and will try to bury her face against me. I’ve tried instigating play, but she quickly loses interest. Nor does her usual cheer-up song work. (Her name, repeated to the tune of Monty Python’s * Spam.) * If I’m buzy, and can’t hold her, she hides beneath the furniture, shaking, and making pitiful whining moans.
One source that I read insisted that I was actually encouraging her behavior by “rewarding” her with compassionate hugs. I briefly tried their suggestion of ignoring the behavior, but she looked so sad and lost that that idea was quickly chucked. If she’s spoiled, so be it. I just don’t want her to suffer.
You might not find one solution. You might need a combination of medication and behavior modification and something else. Keep in mind that it’s going to take time and consistent application for any method to work. You probably won’t see results right away.
If she seems to react to atmospheric changes as much as noise, I wonder if she has received a nasty shock or two from static electricity. Some pet stores actually sell static-control shampoos and conditioners.
Playing the TV or radio loudly could help.
If you know a storm is coming, try wearing her out. A tired dog is generally a calmer dog.
Finally, there are products that release chemicals in the air to calm that are supposed to calm dogs. Google “dog appeasing pheromone” and caveat emptor.
“Encouraging her behavior?” Oh, puh-LEEZE. Yes, it would be great if you could reason with your dog when she is frightened–but you CAN’T. She’s not a human; she’s a DOG, and lacking the power of reason, she needs simple consolation. Hug away! You’re a good dog-mom!
My older Schnauzer (Spencer) is terrified of thunderstorms. His son (Preston AKA Baby) isn’t.
For storms when Mommy, Daddy or Auntie Kellie aren’t around, he burrows under furniture, although I have constructed him a new hiding place (in the closet, among my old clothes, so he gets the ‘Mommy’ smell) since this house doesn’t have the interior bath/dressing room the previous one did.
When I first assumed care of the boys, they were being minimally cared for, almost abandoned…long story, really. Spencer, at the first sign of a thunderstorm, tore the house up. Everything. Furniture, books, anything he could reach he would destroy. When I started taking him into that interior room and holding him or lying on the floor with him and letting him try to snuggle under me, the destructive behavior dwindled. Now, if nobody is home, he panics, but does not destroy. Last time, I came home to a laundry hamper turned over, full of Spencer and dirty clothes. (This is, by the way, a multiple bad-habit dog. For the first few weeks I took care of him, he would drag my undergarments into the back yard and bury them, then unearth them to sleep on them when he was alone.)
Pretty much, we’re resigned to thunderstorm anxieties, but have curbed the most unacceptable behavior. I still am awakend at any time there is rain by a Big Dog trying to crawl into my skin with me, but he’ll settle for being snuggled, and letting Baby Dog snuggle him too.
They’re odd little creatures, but they love their Mommy.
I’ve seen the cowering and the whimpering and the hiding, but my grandmother’s dog absolutely takes the cake.
When a storm rolled in he would start to whimper and pace around. No amount of petting, holding or game-playing would console him. He was a BIG dog (about 80 pounds) so you couldn’t exactly let him bury his face on your lap. He would get progressively more nervous as the storm built (I’m assuming now because of the pressure drop) until he was a total mess. He would NOT go outside, even though we encouraged him to(because we knew what was coming).
When the first bolt of lightning hit, he would start running FULL SPEED around the house. As the thunder rolled in, his sphincter would flex, dropping a turd. Imagine an 80-pound dog running full speed through your house SHITTING as he goes!!
At least he was nervous so his turds were easy to pick up!
Sedatives. Get some acepromazine from your vet next visit, and give them to the dog next time a storm rolls in. A properly calculated dose won’t knock her on her doggy butt, it’ll just take the edge off.
Throwing pills at a behavioral problem isn’t usually the ideal solution, but it’s often the only thing that helps storm anxiety.
I know that it had to be a horrible experience for everyone concerned, but when I read the story about the 80-pound poop machine running around the house, I literally laughed until I cried.
Talk to the vet and get some sort of sedative/doggy prozac. My parents lab is terrified of thunder. We don’t know how it happened but she freaks out every time it storms. She will start shaking and then pace around, jumping up on your lap but never staying more than 30 seconds. Plus she drools. She left a nice puddle on the couch. It took 2 days to dry. Nothing would calm her down. It got so bad that even a heavy rainstorm would get her going. My parents went to the vet and they gave them some meds to give her right before a storm and it really helped. Now she’s mostly normal- well normal for her.
Pilot141- your dog sounds just like ours, except without the poop. Heee.
Stuff that either I or people I know have tried on thunderphobic dogs:
Melatonin - worked for some I know, not for others. Needs to be given prior to the storm actually arriving.
Rescue Remedy (a combo of Bach flower essences - some people I know swear by this; personally I don’t think it’s the flower essences that work, but the fact that it’s 40% brandy). Also needs to be given before storms start.
Making up a comfortable place for the dog to go when she is scared - a crate, or a walk-in closet or some other such small place they can curl up in and feel safe. This helped my own thunderphobic dog the most - he’d curl up in his safe place and I’d sit nearby and turn the stereo up so it was hard to hear the storm.
Benadryl - makes them sleepy and takes the edge off. This worked pretty well with our thunderphobic foster dog. She’d still be nervous, but not as much as she was without it.
Acepromazine - this is a tranquilizer you have to get from your vet. It works but it can be tricky to find the appropriate oral dose because how well it is absorbed via the gastrointestinal tract can vary from dog to dog. Some dogs will be hardly sedated at all while other can be profoundly sedated. Old dogs and Boxers in particular can have trouble with it. Dogs who have seizures shouldn’t take it either. I personally don’t like it because I think it lasts too long.
Valium - for some dogs this works and for others it doesn’t. It is really short-acting in dogs, so if you are expecting a long line of storms one dose might not be enough.
One thing you can try, too, is taking a dryer sheet and wiping down your dog’s fur with it. It helps to reduce the static electricity that can build up during storms, which some animals seem to be sensitive to.
I wish I could let you borrow my younger dog. I know sometimes dogs learn things from each other, and maybe yours would not be afraid if she saw mine. He is not a bit afraid of storms. When the lighting flashes and and the thunder claps, he gets terribly offended that this foreign … thing … has invaded his space and he wants to go out in the yard and bark at it and chase it away!
Every dog I’ve had has been scared of thunder. It’s kind of cute, everytime there’s a storm I can count on hearing the door pushed open and the dog coming in to jump on the bed and snuggle up next to me. They all seemed to calm down once they were with their people, so I didn’t seem like a big deal.
Do the benefits of drugging the dog outweigh the potential health consequences? I’d say during the summer time we have at least two thunderstorms per month. Is it healthy to be giving the dog that much medicine?
A crate won’t work: my dog is clausterphobic. When I first got her, I thought I’d buy her a doghouse, and chain her outside while I was gone. (I thought she’d enjoy it more than being cooped in the house.) She refused to enter the dog house. Even bits of hotdog were not enough to induce her to brave its shadowy depths. Thinking she’d eventiually get used to it, I tried it for a week. Then, I came home after a surprise sleet storm, and found my ice-covered dog huddling in front of it. I gave the doghouse to a friend.
Nor will she enter closets. The only thing she will do is lay beneath the computer desk, but, only if I’m using it. She seems to get more comfort from being around her humans than hiding.
I’ve tried a loud stereo, but, it didn’t help. She can still hear it. After all, a dog can hear your heart beating on the other side of the room. There’s no way I could completely down out the storm. Add to this the fact that she doesn’t like loud noise (she puts her paw over her ear and puts the other ear on the floor if the TV is too loud) and it just wouldn’t work for us. Nor would it deal with the air-pressure issue.
My 70-lb., nine-year-old dog is horribly afraid of thunder as well, and just today I noticed that the horror has extended itself to heavy rain as well. If I’m out of the house during a thunderstorm, I’ll come home to find dirty pawprints in the shower; she gets in there to feel safe (which is smart in case of tornado I suppose).
I can see how something like Benadryl might help–it certainly knocks me on my butt–but she’s had cortisone shots before, for a skin condition when she was younger, and she reacted really badly to them: uncontrollable peeing on the floor and such. Do the doggy prozac-type things work? Someone gave me an herbal “dog sedative” that did absolutely nothing for her. I tried it myself out of curiosity (c’mon, it’s herbal; what could go wrong?), and it had no effect on me either.
I guess I’m pretty much resigned to it at her advanced age. I can’t even teach her “roll over,” let alone “get over your deepest fear.”
We had thunderstorms today. I went home for lunch to check on Mike, my German Shepherd. He’s terribly afraid of storms. Normally if I’m home and there’s a storm he either wants to go in the closet or huddle up next to me. I keep him crated during the day because of multiple bad behaviours. He’s normally okay in his crate, and even goes in to sleep in the evenings. Today he’d wet himself in the crate (he NEVER does that) and there was a pool of blood where he tried to eat his way out of the crate and cut his mouth. I stayed with him until the storms passed and he was calm and got back to work about a half hour late. Poor baby.
He’s at least 11 years old (he was an adult when I adopted him from the pound).
My dog isn’t real bad with thunder, but he does jump a bit when a real loud clap hits. He also sleeps in my bed, has since he was a pup.
One night we had a strong T-Storm, and super loud thunder sounded like lightning had hit the house.
And I felt something wet. Yep, he had pissed in the bed. Not just a little, a lot.
He is 8 now, and never has had another thunder related incident AFAIK. But you can bet your bottom dollar I kept a close eye on him the next few night time storms! :dubious:
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