Hi all -

My female Staff (going on 4 yrs) is becoming more anxious with thunder and lightning. A couple of nights ago I woke up to a 32 lb pit bull trying to curl up on my head, panting very heavy and drooling. It was thundering and lightning outside and it was lighting up the sky. Both our dogs have beds outside their crates next to our bed and they will either sleep in their bed or their crate depending on the how cool or hot it is. Should I secure her in her crate when a storm is expected, should I look into medication for her phobia????? She becomes like a bowl of jello, she does not get aggressive or anything like that....I feel like there should be something I can do for her. All suggestions welcome, she has never been this odd about storms before.

storm link

Valerie, The dogs that I have that don't like bad weather do better when they are in their crates. It is my belief that they feel more secure in their "cave", I go about my business as though nothing is happening. I try not to react at all. Of course, it isn't very pleasant to be awakened with a blow to the gut in the middle of the night. When there is no lightening we go outside for a walk in the rain.

The thing that makes it hard is that we don't have this type of weather everyday....sometimes it may be 5-6months without much weather noise. If you really want to try and desensitize your dog start with a recording at a very low volume and play it when they are eating, playing or recieving good treats. Slowly increase the volume til it is no longer bothering them. Takes some time so be patient.

Try doing a search on this site for some more good info. I do remember some threads regarding this.....

Regards,
Debbie

I think I read somewhere that sometimes desensitizing the dog to the noise will help.

If I remember correctly they said that you should start by purchasing a cd of thunderstorms, I know they sell them because the odd nights that I can't get to sleep, I put one on. For some reason thunderstorms put me right to sleep.
Play the cd, softly at first in the presence of the dog and whenever she's doing something pleasurable, like eating dinner, then just gradually increase the sound over a period of time. I guess it would work with giving her treats too, just so long as you only gave her the treats when she wasn't reacting to the noise.
I am not sure how well this would work, but I do know that it worked when a friend moved into a neighborhood with a train track running behind her house. Whenever a train went by her dog would freak out, and it was made worse by the fact that since the train tracks crossed a Street, they had to blow a warning signal as they approached the crossing, plus the clanging bells and everything. She had a cd of train noise made (a friend downloaded the sounds and burned a cd)and played it inside the house whenever the dog was doing something pleasurable like eating her dinner...it took a little time, but it worked.
I do understand that some dogs may be so far gone that this won't work and maybe medication is the answer...but from your post this is something thats just come on, so maybe it would work for you?

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Hi all -

My female Staff (going on 4 yrs) is becoming more anxious with thunder and lightning.

Melatonin sometimes helps with sensitivity to thunder storms or firecrackers. Melatonin is available over the counter, I don't remember the dosage though.

Hayley -

She is pretty unaware of most noise, she does bark when the teenagers next door role up with 7 billion db sterio and the base pumped up all the way. It seems to really be a combination of thunder and ligtning. Last night I secured her in her crate and covered with a blanket so she could not see the lightning and she seemed to do better..I did not hear the heavy panting, but this morning I did find drool...yuk