OES and Thunder
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| My oldest dog used to be terrified of thunder. She would try to squeeze into any small area-- even if it was obviously entirely too small for even a cat to fit! She'd also go under the bed and wind up lifting the whole bed up like in the Exorcist. If we knew the storm was coming, and got the timing right, acepromazine was the only thing that really helped take the edge off for her. She'd wind up sleeping through the storm. As she's gotten older (she's 13 now) she's calmed down a lot and we haven't needed meds in years. |
| I had the same situation with my Roxy when she was alive. She LOVED to be in the rain...and more so when it would lightening and thunder.....she would run 100 miles per hour in the back yard and look into the sky and bark the whole time. I had to make her stay away from the patio door...or I swear she would run through it to get outside. As soon as I heared thunder in the distance...I would try and keep her calm and turn the t.v. or radio on to block the noise of the thunder....and shut the drapes so that she couldn't see the lightening as much if it was dark out. That seemed to help a little.
Good Luck!! |
| Something to try: (I have the same problem with Barney) I talked to a trainer friend and he suggested the dog needs to feel more security in his pack. When he is frightened by thunder, put him in a "down/stay" and keep him there until he relaxes, at which point give him plenty of praise. That way you are teaching him to choose an activity that focuses on you when he is frightened which is pleasing to him because he wins praise from you. Depending on the intensity and duration of the thunder and degree of fright, will determine how much time it will take for the dog to finally relax and amount of repetition of the training.
I recently tried it with Barney, and it seemed to work, but haven't had another opportunity to repeat it since it's been so dry here the last week. |
George wrote: Something to try: (I have the same problem with Barney) I talked to a trainer friend and he suggested the dog needs to feel more security in his pack. When he is frightened by thunder, put him in a "down/stay" and keep him there until he relaxes, at which point give him plenty of praise. That way you are teaching him to choose an activity that focuses on you when he is frightened which is pleasing to him because he wins praise from you. Depending on the intensity and duration of the thunder and degree of fright, will determine how much time it will take for the dog to finally relax and amount of repetition of the training.
I recently tried it with Barney, and it seemed to work, but haven't had another opportunity to repeat it since it's been so dry here the last week. George, I tried something similar with Lucy-- kind of a distraction technique. I'd definitely recommend that method first if it works. I wish it would've worked for her. I'm glad it's working for Barney! |
| I have a CD that has scary sounds on including thunder.
You play the noises to the dog and overtime they get used to them. It has worked for George on Thunder and fireworks! Here is the link http://www.petbehaviourcentre.com/us/index.htm |
Violet had never had a problem with storms before. We live in Florida and the summer is our rainy season, which means if we get one storm a day it is not unusual. Of course the storms are of short duration. We live in a cinder block house, so most of the sounds are muffled. A couple of weeks ago, a summer storm came up pretty quick and intense. I walked out into the Florida room to see if I could see Pearl the cat out there and bring her in. For some reason, only known to Violet, she went out the door into the storm. The rain was coming down so hard you could barely see in front of you. Violet was less then five feet from me and she got disorianted as to how to get back in out of the rain. It was the first time I had ever seen her frightened. I directed her back into the house by my voice. She was sopping wet. I got her towel dried and she seemed ok. Ever since then, everytime we have a storm, she looks for me and stays right at my side. My poor girl is now afraid of thunderstorms. I hope this is only temperary with her. Oh and Pearl was fine, she came in after the rain. She had taken refuge under the Chinese Palm.  |
| Genevieve is also freaked out by thunder. If we're outside and hear it, she races through the yard as fast as she can barking at the sky. If she's inside, she runs through the house barking.
We have two fool proof techniques to calm her down. One is to crate her. As soon as she's in her crate, she lies down and rests, eventually even sleeping if the storm lasts long enough. The other is to do similiarly to what George mentioned he does with Barney. I bring her near me and put her in a down position and pet & praise her while she relaxes. Good luck with your girl. |
| One thing I forgot to mention in the routine: until the time the dog reaches a state of relaxation there should be no interaction between the dog and the trainer. During this time the dog has the freedom to figure things out for himself. If he gets support while he is still in the state of fright of flight it reinforces that response. The praise comes when he finally settles down and relaxes, thus reinforcing his acceptance of the noise as non threatening. |
| So much advice....the reason that I love this forum. I will definitly try it next time we have a storm which here in Colorado seems to be every afternoon. Thanks again yall. |
| Good point, George. It's definitely important to make that distinction so as not to reinforce the fear response. |
| I tired bach's Rescue Remedy for the fireworks on the 4th of July and it seemed to relax my puppy. thunder and fireworks have the same sound so maybe that will help..
My first OES was CRAZY when it thundered. I put a fan on as background noise and the tv or radio on to drown out some of the noise. He also felt more comfortable in his crate with a sheet covering three sides and the crate right up next to my bed so I could stick my hand in and pet him! |
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