smooch Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Over the last couple of days we have had some noisy thunderstorms. I have been giving Smooch Rescue Remedy and using the thunder shirt. The Rescue Remedy seems to work a bit if the storms are not really that close, but tonight the storm was right over the top of us, smooch was that bad he tried to climb through the wall. smooch is terrified of all types of noise, he hears the tipper truck in the back of the hardware store before I do, when the air breaks come on he is straight under the computer table. the noise from the gravel sliding out of the truck also frightens him. Than the bang from the tail gate of the truck. Really any type of loud noise sends him under the computer chair. With more storms forecast over the next few days smooch is going to be a complete wreck. Has anyone got any ideas on what else I can try on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I don't really have much to add except my sympathies as I too have a storm phobic dog and I know how distressing it is. Lately we have had more storms than she's ever been through and is a wreck as soon as the thunder starts. I just put her thundershirt on, give her some rescue remedy and cuddle her on the couch or in bed. She shakes like a leaf an pants away but has stopped doing things like trying to get behind the toilet, trying dig through tiles and walls and pacing. I hope someone else comes in with some good ideas so I'll be following the thread! Goodluck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I don't really have much to add except my sympathies as I too have a storm phobic dog and I know how distressing it is. Lately we have had more storms than she's ever been through and is a wreck as soon as the thunder starts. I just put her thundershirt on, give her some rescue remedy and cuddle her on the couch or in bed. She shakes like a leaf an pants away but has stopped doing things like trying to get behind the toilet, trying dig through tiles and walls and pacing. I hope someone else comes in with some good ideas so I'll be following the thread! Goodluck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dee lee Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) My dog suffers a bit of phobia too. I was advised to create positive experiences during storms- play games, feed treats etc. But she is too aroused and just keeps whining and racing around if I try those things. The best I can manage is being tough on her & trying to get her to do some training. She tends to respond to that. I spent about an hour reinforcing her staying on her bed the other night- its the only thing that seemed to calm her. But it's pretty exhausting to have to do that- she breaks her stay constantly & eventually I just cave & let her run around. (though afterwards the training does seem to take the edge off her anxiety) We are also close to Sydney harbour & it's firework season, so we get a double whammy.... Edited November 30, 2012 by dee lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 If the dog will take treats, a counter-conditioning program may be helpful. I use a kind of bar open/bar closed approach. The moment the thunder roll starts I start shovelling food into the little E's mouth. When it stops, food stops. I use that because lots of food gets Erik excited. It helps for him to associate it strongly with something or he just gets over-aroused. Moreso. We have now graduated to down-stays. It is a bit of an art form adjusting the reward rate. Erik runs around barking as well. I don't let him. The more he runs around the more aroused he gets and the more reactive he gets. Down-stays are the opposite. If he's doing well, I can start rewarding for a quiet down while the thunder is rolling. He gets the treat if he was quiet and still until it ends. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it. Yesterday we had rolling thunder for over an hour. After about the first 20 minutes Erik literally wandered off and took care of himself. It was incredible. Erik is sensitive to any deep or sharp, loud sounds. We are making a lot of progress with counter-conditioning. It's very effective with most sounds, but takes persistence. Storms and fireworks are harder because they tend to provoke extreme reactions and the dogs get overloaded. Recordings of thunder may help, played at low volume at first and then increasing it, but it might not. I've heard that for the best shot one should try to get the sound from the CD coming from outside with speakers to best imitate a storm. E gets very aroused by storms, but he is always up for treats. My other dog has recently apparently learnt to be afraid of storms. His fear is different and he won't take treats. Just wants to sit close and shake. I let him press against me. It seems to help him. My previous dog was storm phobic all her life and I never did manage to combat it. She would shake, pant, and not eat. It seemed the best we could do was just let her find somewhere she felt safest and make sure she had access to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianca.a Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Molly is over the top anxious in general now and storms are the final straw She has been on Prozac for nearly 3 weeks and it is helping. Usually I have to dose her with Xanax during storms but tonight I didn't give her anything and while she was stressed, she was much better. P.S I did not head straight for medicines either, we have tried so many natural therapies first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlaznHotAussies Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Is there any such thing as doggy earplugs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantis Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Kenny was hopeless during storms, I bought the tape & he never reacted to it, I think it's because there is a smell associated with thunderstorms. He was hopeless, used to put his head under my arm pit, like he was trying to block out the scary noise. One day while I was at work, we had a really bad storm that blew my side fence down, luckily my neighbour was home & when he heard Kenny barking at his door to be let in, he just took him home & closed the back door, so he couldn't get out again. Luckily my new rescue dog Cougar, doesn't even lift her head up off the couch. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigirl Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I have 2 storm phobic dogs. They do stuff like literally tear doors off their hinges and smash their way out of,dog crates and so on. I use rescue remedy and thunder shirts but they still freak. I just try and contain them as best I can, they are both large dogs one is. 35kg golden and the other is a 55kg bullmastiff cross so they are very strong. I just live with it as I can't do much about it. I don't fuss over them I just try and act like its no big deal. Plus I turn up music or tv to try and help drown the storm out. The golden always breaks into the spare room for some reason when there's a storm? She doesn't stay in there but she crashes into the door til it opens, no idea why. Last big storm the bullmastiff cross almost choked himself he rammed his head thru the bottom of a locked door and got stuck there. His neck was being jammed between the door and the door frame. I was away and had a friend staying with the dogs, she heard him making wierd noises and went to checkin him and found him jammed in the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ams Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Thunder shirts are supposed to help storm phobic dogs. They dont work for all dogs but they have a high success rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara and Sam Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 When Tara was alive she hated thunder storms ( like me ) and fireworks I tried the tapes and playing ball with her at the time but didnt help she would hide in the bathroom or toilet I use to bring her into the bed withme and hold her until she settled down she would go frantic if happen to be outside when it started and would try and get through back door to hide inside thankfully I was home everytime there was a storm one thing that helped her and me in storms was Bush Flower Emergency spray if I knew a storm was coming I would spray around the room we were in prior to the storm , and if a long storm keep spraying it around and it seemed to calm her down and me also I find it very good for stressfull situations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooch Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 Is there any such thing as doggy earplugs? Found these..... http://www.safeandsoundpets.com/onlineshop.html I am going to see if I can modify a pair of human ones today and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooch Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 Thunder shirts are supposed to help storm phobic dogs. They dont work for all dogs but they have a high success rate. Unfortunately it hasn't worked for Smooch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I have one storm phobic dog. I hate being at work when one is brewing. I put him on lead and tie him next to me inside the house. He immediately calms, maybe I'm lucky but maybe he has some association that I'm now in charge or he is safe somehow. If I bring him inside, even when I'm holding his collar it does nothing to calm him but the lead is some sort of comfort/security. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toshman Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Thunder shirts are supposed to help storm phobic dogs. They dont work for all dogs but they have a high success rate. One of my Border Terriers is very storm phobic - we had a big storm just before midnight last night, it was horrible I give her rescue remedy which seems to help as long as I start it early enough and keep it up every 5 minutes or so - she seems to recognise that it helps her and is quite happy to take it. I don't have a thunder shirt, but I wrap her in anything to hand - sheet, towel, clothes - and that helps too (she looks very funny sometimes, like a little mummy :D ) One of the benefits of her age now (she's 12 1/2) is that she's quite deaf, so if it's a "quiet" storm and during the day she doesn't always pick up the vibes, but if it's at night she sees the lightning, which starts the whole process off...a couple of times I've slept with the lights on so she doesn't see the flashes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Molly is over the top anxious in general now and storms are the final straw She has been on Prozac for nearly 3 weeks and it is helping. Usually I have to dose her with Xanax during storms but tonight I didn't give her anything and while she was stressed, she was much better. P.S I did not head straight for medicines either, we have tried so many natural therapies first. Medication should not be considered a "last resort". It's not a failure of yours if your dog is helped by medication more than behavioural modification or training. For dogs who react in a big way to storms, risking injury to themselves and destruction to property, or if they are hysterical and can't settle down at all, medication may be the best thing you can do for them. I urge people to break away from this idea that medication is a last resort and consider instead how bad your dog is feeling when there is a thunderstorm. Is it acceptable for your dog to feel that way? Would you change it if they didn't have to feel that way? Medication may well mean that they don't have to go through that every time there is a storm. It's worth investigating in some cases IMO. Not picking no you, bianca.a. I'm glad you got your dog on medication and I can guess what a huge decision that was for you. There IS a stigma attached to it and I think that is wrong. Those of us who love our dogs are unlikely to be using medication to simply manage something we find irritating. We are doing it because we love our dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 My young BC boy is not at all fazed by noises & the loudest thunder storm...he will just sleep through the lot, thanks to the work his breeder put into her puppies when they were little. But my older BC girl is completely different. The thunder shirt does nothing for her, probably because I think, that instead of being frightened by the storm, she trys to fight it. Best thing for her is to put her in her crate, covered except for the front. She soon settles & goes to sleep :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) We had lots thunder and lightning last night. Mosley is pretty unphased but Lili hates it. Shakes, pants, races around, she has never hurt herself or anything. I usually just act normal and sit with her, am thinking of getting a thunder shirt though, can't hurt. Edited November 30, 2012 by Aussie3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazyWal Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 We had lots thunder and lightning last night. Mosley is pretty unphased but Lili hates it. Shakes, pants, races around, she has never hurt herself or anything. I usually just act normal and sit with her, am thinking of getting a thunder shirt though, can't hurt. I recently purchased a Thundershirt for Stan as his fear was escalating to the point where I had discussed medication with my vet. I was very sceptical as they work brilliantly for some and have no effect on others. Well it's brilliant. I can not believe how well it works for him. He's almost dopey with it on, and I don't mean his usual dopey :laugh: We have had a storm everynight for the past five nights and Stan has remained calm, even taking himself off to my bed and sleeping. I'm so glad I tried it as I almost didn't. Smooch I'm sorry the shirt isn't working for you and I hope you find something to help soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fainty_girl Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 We have two dogs here that are afraid of storms...when there was a particularly bad storm the other night, Jessie wanted to hide in the bathroom, but normally they will both look for somewhere to hide. They are not scared to the point of hurting themselves, but they just get very nervous, so I try not to take too much notice of them, because patting them only makes them more afraid. My dog Tilly isn't afraid of storms at all, in fact, the other night when she heard thunder she looked out the front window and wagged her tail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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