THUNDERSTRUCK

[Sophinator]

OK. I have a thunderstorm phobic dog and here's how I dealt with it.

 

Let me preface my remarks by stating that here in the Midwest we don't just have run-of-the-mill thunderstorms. We also get those supercell behemoths that spit out golfball to baseball sized hail and some very powerful tornadoes. In addition, thunder is not necessarily a rumbling sound but can be explosive--heck, you can feel the shock waves if you're close enough to the lightning strike. We usually have two or three human fatalities from lighting in the metro area every year. So, yes, you need to respect those storms. Anybody who says they've never felt a tinge of alarm has either not lived here long enough or is full of cattle droppings. It's not surprising that there are dogs like Sophia who freak out. What is surprising is that there are some dogs who only freak out when the storm is particularly violent.

 

Well, at least Sophie is not one of those dogs who tries to escape, damaging the house and herself in the process. Her method of coping with storms is to curl up in a tight ball and shake nonstop. Still, that can't be healthy for her. And she won't go out to do her business if there is a storm anywhere in the vicinity or even residual rain. She's held it for 24 hours rather than go outside!

 

At first I was doing all the wrong stuff. You know, comforting her when she was scared. Since she was getting recurrent bladder infections the first year she was with me, I was also dragging her outside to pee. Well, she was too frightened to relax and pee--all I was accomplishing was scaring the poor dog to death.

 

The vet gave me some sedative pills. They did work but they weren't practical. You'd have to give them to the dog an hour in advance (not feasible when a storm strikes in the middle of the night or you aren't home.) And they wear off after two or three hours, not particularly useful when I leave the house at 6:30 AM and the storm doesn't materialize until 2:00 in the afternoon.

 

We tried desentization. Was making some progress, until a horrendous storm struck in the middle of the night (in December, for crying out loud!) We were back to Square One and then some.

 

I have found that melatonin is somewhat effective. Sophie is still scared and still hides out in her bed but at least she doesn't shake. She's reached a point now where even without melatonin she will only shake if the storm is particularly violent.

 

I've found that the best thing to do is to do nothing. Let her go hide out in her bed (nice and cozy between my bed and the wall.) Ignore her. She'll come out when she's good and ready. It works for us.

 

Now if I could just do something about the Fourth of July fireworks....

[Caroline Reichard]

I once had an epileptic dog to which I needed to administer valium rectally to stop her seizures. It is not hard to do. I don't know what meds you administer to your thunder-phobic dog, but if they can be administered rectally or IM, they would work almost instantly. You might ask your vet.

[Root Beer]

I've found that the best thing to do is to do nothing. Let her go hide out in her bed (nice and cozy between my bed and the wall.) Ignore her. She'll come out when she's good and ready. It works for us.

 

It depends a lot on the dog. Last summer I found that Dean could not recover from even the mildest of storms. When I realized that he was still hyperventilating and shaking 24 hours after a storm, I knew I could not let him live with that kind of anxiety, which was starting to become very generalized during thunderstorm season, and I got medication for him.

 

The medication his vet prescribed is not a sedative - it's an anti-depressant. He takes it daily and it helps with generalized anxiety and with recoving from the noise phobia. After he had been on the medication for a while, he was able to come out of hiding, eat, eliminate, and act more or less normal several hours after a storm. He doesn't like thunderstorms - he still lays low when they are happening, but the medication helps him to deal with storms normally and recover afterward.

 

My other dogs also hide during storms most of the time. But after the storm is over, they emerge from hiding and live life as normal with no ill effects. But some dogs need a little help to even be able to do that.

 

As for fireworks, I am seirously contemplating trying to find some place to rent in a remote area for the month of July next year!

[Laurae]

My Sophie hates thunder as well. She goes into the bathroom, where she curls up in a ball and quakes and drools rivers. One thing that has helped, a little bit anyway, is the Storm Defender cape. I don't know if it was worth the high price tag, but I was desperate to find something to help her. She has taken melatonin and some pills prescribed by a natural vet I used to see, but the pills haven't made a difference. I haven't tried "real" drugs yet--that is next.

Here she is modeling the cape (looks like this was taken back in her kibble-fed days ):

[Sophinator]

Yeah, I've heard about the cape. Some people say it works because it protects the dog from static shocks. Some people say anything wound tight around them will work because it makes them feel more secure. Dr Nicholas Dodman thinks it may work because if you follow the instructions that come with the cape, it says to put the cape on the dog and then LEAVE THE DOG BE. He does believe that some dogs are more likely to suffer from static build-up than others. Those are the dogs most likely to hide out in the bathtub or behind the plumbing. That's not Sophie.

 

When my old vet prescribed the sedatives, he said he didn't want to go the "Prozac" route if there were other coping mechanisms that would work. Like I say, Sophie is reasonably content now. I'll be retiring next spring and can be home with her when storms are threatening. At the very least, I'll be able to time her potty trips around the storms.

 

PS - I tried DAP in a plug in dispenser. Supposed to give off pheremones like a nursing mother dog. Phobic dogs theoretically will go back to feeling like secure puppies. Sure. Whatever. Sophie knocked it out of the wall and proceeded to chew on it, cutting her lip. As I told her, "Aw, Sophie, you killed mother dog."

 

Yeah. The fireworks. I find it particularly amusing since fireworks are banned in the entire county. Have been for years. Doesn't stop anybody. If anything, they're getting worse. Guess if the police rounded up everyone who was shooting fireworks in my neighborhood they'd have to first build a much bigger jail.

[Elizabeth77]

Meg had her first taste of thunder today. It came so fast about 4 really loud peals. She was not happy but thankfully no really bad reaction. Even when the tv gave out a fearful noise and flash she was not too bad. I am relieved as Meg is a nervous doggy. Oh, and it was so quick I had no time to unplug the telly!

[vickim]

My Whisper is mildly afraid of thunder. First thing she does, if she doesn't already know, is to find me (usually she isn't too far away but sometimes I actually do get to leave the room without her assistance). Then she crams herself between whatever is available and the wall. Better yet, if she can arrange herself to get me inbetween her and whatever she perceives as danger, she will do that. Hard to do with a thunderstorm, but she's afraid of guns, too, and DH is an avid hunter. Her fear isn't severe enough to medicate her, so I let her do what she wants-if that happens to be huddle at my feet while I read (or craft, or whatever I happen to be doing), so be it. I give her an occasional pat to reassure her, otherwise I ignore her. It's a mild fear, so I don't have the problems that some people have.

[Vickkers]

My dogs aren't Thunder phobic but our damn neighbors set off fireworks in the empty DRY field next to our house while my dogs were outside (without warning us or anything) this summer (after 4th of July) and it took several days before they'd go back out into the back yard. I was SO pissed. Not only because they could have warned us that they were going to be setting off fireworks so we could make sure our dogs were inside but the fact that they could have easily set our yard on fire... the field next to our house is dry as was the forest behind our house. Then they did it AGAIN a week later. *steam rolling out of my ears*

[bc4pack]

You can do something about the fireworks.

Turn it into a party with every boom... T-Touch; anxiety wrap; games....

 

Don't know what your vet prescribed... Was it something like 'acepromazine' which is actually contraindicated or an anti-anxiety med like

xanax or valium... and some dogs can have adverse effects to one and not the other.

 

Still too many vets using ace which basically 'stills' the body but not the mind. Dog is still anxious but is chemically restrained and more inclined to panic.

Soothing CAN work for many dogs (fear is an emotion). The best thing is to do is whatever the dog finds relaxing or comforting.

 

There's actually been some threads on this in the past...

[OurBoys]

Our Jake is thunderphobic. When we first got him a couple of years ago it was so bad he would just sit or lay, his whole body shaking, with massive drooling and eyes glazed over. There was no way he could walk or stand when he was that way. We couldn't even get him to eat his favorite treat. During that time I did coddle him. I figured if he ever got to the point where he could walk and we were out somewhere, I wanted him to feel he should come to me instead of bolting.

 

We don't have the same type of thunderstorms you do. Heck, one summer we didn't get any rain at all. But what has helped Jake more than anything was distraction. Once we taught him how to play, if I heard on the radio or tv a storm was coming, I took him outside and played with him. The more I had him out in it (a lot of times we get the sound and light show without the rain), the longer it took him to get scared. He's now at the point where, if it's not too bad, it doesn't phase him at all. If the thunder is so loud and close it rattles the windows, he has his favorite 'quiet place' to chill out until it's over. And it's easy to get him away from his quiet place. All I have to do is ask him "Are you hungry???" and everything's good in the world again.

 

Fireworks? I don't think he'll ever be able to deal with those. The sound is too loud and sudden.