skyler08 Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Well I was out walking our little girl about 30 minutes ago and everything was going great. Then someone in our neighborhood decided to let off a bunch of fireworks, not just firecrackers either, the real deal. Skyler made an instant b-line for the door yipping and running frantically(sp?). After about 10 minutes of comforting her she went to the bedroom and was pawing at the door. I let her in and she ran straight for the bed, hiding under it and now she won't come out. I got her out and she hung out for a minute and ran right back under. It's been about 45 min. now and she still won't come out. Any suggestions or experience with this dilemma? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seelie Fey Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Oh, your poor puppy! I used to love thunderstorms. I brought home Zeph, and at first he seemed fine with them. I can remember playing with him in hailstorms (I'm weird like that) Anyway, over the years he has develeped a definate case of thunderphobia. 4th of July means shivering dog huddled in a corner, occassionally scurrying to a new corner which seems safer for some reason. Now, thuderstorms mean lying awake in bed with the normally bouncy dog shivering in terror, huddled up against me. I don't know how to fix it, obviously, but I am trying to prevent it in Seelie by playing games with her and distracting her during thunderstorms (we have a happy thunderboom dance we do for the big crashes of thunder ) Also, I am trying not to make Zeph any worse by downplaying his reaction and ignoring it. It is hard, because I want to comfort and reassure my dog, but reassurance just aggravates it. This is something that I just have to let him work through, and be very conscious that I am only rewarding behaviours that lead to calm, not fear. I know you want to help your puppy through this, but coming out and facing it is something she has to decide to do on her own. She will be a much stronger and more stable dog if she can do that. If you try to push her to come out from under the bed, you give her something to fight against, which just makes her more entrenched in her hiding behaviour. If you just let her be to work through it, eventually, her mind will kick in, she'll get bored and come out on her own. JMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyler08 Posted May 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Thanks, she is still under the bed and I've left her alone now. I think she might have actually just fell asleep under there. I see what you are saying though, makes sense to let her get over it on her own and when she's ready she'll come out. I don't know how she'll react to thunderstorms yet as we haven't had a bad one since we got her. There were a few little rumbles today that didn't seem to bother her. The fireworks were about a block away, so it was really close and loud. Thanks for the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyleew Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 We live on a lake, so I have a lot of experience with fireworks. Brew is terrified, too. I just leave him alone. I don't coddle him even the tiniest bit. If I can, I throw a ball or something to get his mind off the fireworks. If he follows me around and acts scared, I just ignore the behavior. He hasn't gotten any better about it, but he also hasn't gotten any worse. I don't really think there is a way to cure them of the fear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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