HI everyone, I haven't posted in quite sometime now, but am concerned about one of my GSD's. Rudy is 2 1/2 years old, and generally and very out going young man. He has a fear of thunderstorms, which we have know about. He gets into the bathtub when he feels one coming, this is well before I know the storm is coming. What I am concerned about is lately he is showing fear of bee's, snakes and spiders. The other day there was a spider on his bed in my room, my husband killed it, and of course thought that was the end of it. That night when it was bed time, Rudy started pawing his bed around, and was very jumpy to the touch. He never settled on his bed, he got in the bathtub off our bedroom. I have seen him walk around the yard flipping rocks, or my daughters toys to be sure there are no snakes under them. My dogs have a ton of toys in the yard, and I have seen him flipping them also. If there is a bee that god forbid gets in the house again off to the tub he goes. This is a faily new behavior at least to the spiders and such. The thunderstorms we just ride out. I put a blanket in the tub so he is comfy, but now I can't help but wonder if I am encouraging this behavior. Is there a health issue that could be causing his weak nerves? In general he is a very out going boy. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Kay

Hi Kay,

I think every dog I have ever owned started out being nervous during thunderstorms when they were young. They would pace from room to room and eventually as they matured would just settle in what ever room we were in. I don’t really think it hurts anything to allow your dog hide out in the bathtub during the storms if that is where he wants to be. I wouldn’t baby him; just act like everything’s fine and let him deal with it on his own.

My last dog did chase after all flying bugs, had done it for years and then one day we noticed him running from any bugs that were flying around him. Not sure but I think he had probable had snapped at a bee or something and got stung because for the rest of his life he reacted to any bug buzzing around him by running away or just wanted in the house. It could be that the same thing happened to your dog and he wants to stay as far away from them as he can get.

As far as the rest of your post about killing the spider earlier in the day and his pawing his bed that night or flipping the toys looking for snakes. Could be your over thinking that a little bit, dog’s are not as squeamish as us humans tend to be. : > )

JMO

Heyo,

I really don't know how a dog would flip things over looking for snakes. Maybe a dog that wanted to kill/play with snakes, but not one that is afraid of them. Why do you think he is looking for snakes? If he was afraid of snakes and thought there was one under the toys he would avoid the toys IMO. Also your dog could smell a snake, does not have to flip a million toys over to "find one".

On the topic of bees and beds I have this to share. My dog would always spend nights/and other times resting in a kennel in my room. Didn't even have a door on it after puppyhood, he chose to sleep there. Then one day he refused to enter his kennel. He would sleep outside it. After a day of noting this behavior, I looked inside and noticed a large dead wasp.

Now I don't know if he lay on it and got stung at some point, or went in there and the wasp buzzed or what but when the wasp was removed, he still refused to enter the kennel on his own (I washed bedding too)

It took considerable effort for me to get him used to the kennel again (food and patience). He had no problems with the kennels at work.

Don't know if something like this may have happened to your dog. If he was stung snapping at a bee once, he might now be afraid of them. I have no idea about the spider.

I work around a lot of loud explosives. I make a point whenever possible of doing something fun with the dog like drive work during these times, thunderstorms too. If we are at home and there is a thunderstorm, we go out for a walk. I know many dogs are too far gone to learn to have fun during a thunderstorm, but you need not make a bed in the bathroom for him.

Cheers,

My first Malinois was a very "hard" dog with strong nerve. But he did not like thunderstorms. He would become very aggitated. He paced, whined, growled, or would chew on a cabinent, water dish, etc. We were never able to cahnge that behavior. Since we live in Florida, we have lots of thundestorms and I just learned to live with it.

We have two snakes as pets in cages. Both are under 6 feet. One day, I had the corn snake wrapped around my arm while I was cleaning the cage. My lab mix got too close and the snake nipped the dog on the nose. Since that time, if I have the snake out of the cage, or even pull a snake skin out of the cage, the dog will snort, shake her head, and back up. It seems to me that she's demonstrating stimulus-response-feedback based on getting nipped on the nose.

My Border Collie and new Malinois will snap at flying insects. Prey drive I'm guessing(?)The lab will hunt for hours the zillions of lizards we have in the yard. None of the dogs show any interest in spiders (though my wife will pound one into dust when she sees any)

Starbuck's first run-in with a Stink Bug

http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa155/Nightmare_pics_999/?action=view&current=StinkBug.flv

Keith, too precious
I love a puppy's joy at everything! It's so contagious. Starbuck had me laughing