To make a long story short we rescued a now 90 lb. Male GSD from the local pound. Well the first rainstorm it was obvious why he was picked up by the dog catcher. Scared to death of thunder and or lightening. I haven't found anything else he is scared of, I don't want to have to put him down but I cannot leave him at home if there is a storm. Luckily where I work my boss said I can bring him to work with me or run home and get him because he eats his way out of my house. Three times now, what can I do? Is this reversible? He is so good with my female GSD and my 6 grandkids I don't want to get rid of him or put him down but my goodness the pure panic that comes over this poor guy when it storms PLEASE HELP.

Got the same problem with Maggie, good solid crate and a chewtoy.
also, this may be hard to do but you shouldn't try to sooth or calm or pet the dog when the storm approaches, you are re enforcing the unwanted behaviour by telling the dog that its ok to freak. first thing you want to do is start crate training while the weather is good and work the obedience.

Thanks for the reply Dennis, I do not try to calm him down. The only have I have been doing is putting his leash on him to keep him in the house, which 2:47 in the morning I struggled to keep him in the house. I tried the crate thing first and he just about destroyed it trying to get out, very powerful dog.

It was just pure panic and freak out.

that's the reason for the crate training, the dog needs to learn the crate is the safe place. I think a few people here have tried some meds, I don't know the success rate of that.

Bob, here's a search result here, too:

http://leerburg.com/search/dosearch.php?terms=storms&Submit.x=0&Submit.y=0


As I recall, there are some threads about meds, as Dennis mentioned, as well as about desensitizing with recordings, etc., and also doing both.

Thank you Connie!! I have tried drugging him, but I really don't like doing that. I am very interested in the swaddling not sure how this would work on a 7 year old dog. The first storm I put him in the crate, well he was absolutely destroying the crate. I had to pull him out of it to keep him from hurting himself and destroying a pricey crate. He doesn't just shake, whimper, full tilt tries to get out of the house. He has knocked the window a/c unit out twice, been picked up by the dog catcher once, caught up with him the 2nd time before he got hurt or picked up. I really love this dog but after a 2:47am storm cell and a 5:35am storm cell we can't continue like this. This drought Texas was in gave us a quite summer but so far fall is kicking my behind.

Hey, Bob.:smile:

I don't have any more advice, but do have a couple questions.

What about the storms makes him react? Thunder? Sound of rain on the roof? Or is he freaking out well before the storm actually gets there? Maybe the pressure change?

How does he react to the 4th of July fireworks?

Or distant gunfire?

I truly feel for you on this one. It's got to be tougher than I can imagine.

It's both thunder & the lightening. Oh I am sure he will freak on the 4th but this past 4th it was so dry they didn't sell any fireworks this year. We were playing in the back yard and a truck had a blow out on the interstate and you could see his whole body flinch and then he came and sat next to me. I have not idea what could have made such a huge impact on a dog with such a great personality. I want to make his senior years the best for him but I can't until we can get past this huge hurdle.

I have tried everything but my old girl gets so panicked nothing helped. I also tried desensitizing with a recording of a thunderstorm, but she totally ignored that.

I finally realized it is the combination of flash and bang along with the change in pressure that really does her in. Fireworks are a real problem for us too.

Currently I am medicating with Valium and giving her a king filled with chicken babyfood, or cream cheese or something else really yummy. I also randomly drop her bits of steak and cooked chicken during the storms.

I don't know if the kong or the treats help, but she calmer overall with the combination of valium and something to chew to get her anxiety out.

This has gotten worse with age and without some kind of medication she just wouldnt respond to anything, refused all treats, and would get to the point of urinating on herself.

Acepromazine made her physically calmer but she would still drool and pant and shake, I have been told that it calms the body but not the mind, which sounds like a nightmare during a phobic episode to me!!

I only use the valium for strong storms and/or when I have some notice before they hit, we keep a close eye on the weather here!!

Here is an article someone linked for me in my thunderstorm thread. It is really good and I think you will benefit from it.

Bottom line: this dog won't get better without professional help. If he were my dog, I'd start trying drugs until I found one that worked well, then start behaviour therapy.

My dog is not as bad as your dog, but if I ever feared that she would injure herself or others that is the route I would take.

http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=136493

P.S. - I took valium before a dental procedure and it did the same as acepromazine (sp) does for dogs - I felt woozy and drugged, but still as anxious as before I took it. However, it works on the majority of people otherwise they wouldn't prescribe it. So, I would say that if one thing doesn't work, try another and work closely with your vet.