Dog owners - how to keep the dogs from going mental in thunder storms?

[2careless]

We've a 6 yr old border collie and he goes mental everytime there is a thunder storm. He's trained but everything is forgotten in the storm.
He'll just bark continuously in the rain, running everywhere in the garden getting himself all wet and dirty. If we put him inside he'll continue to bark and whimper until we let him out.
I'm a bit loathe to put a bark collar on him but that would be the last resort. How do other dog owners handle this?
P.S. We have had one of the biggest thunderstorms I've ever seen in my life yesterday - hailstones of up to 5cm diameter pelted down and I copped one on the shoulder when trying to catch the dog in the garden. That hurts!

[jwalther]

Drugs. Seriously, our vet prescribed some puppy xanax for our dog. At the first sign of thunder, we'll give him one. While he may still whimper a little, he doesn't have the full blown panic attack.

[idk01]

Originally Posted by jwalther

Drugs. Seriously, our vet prescribed some puppy xanax for our dog. At the first sign of thunder, we'll give him one. While he may still whimper a little, he doesn't have the full blown panic attack.

X2, Our Jack Russell goes totally insane throughout a thunderstorm, fireworks he's worse, sedation seems to be the only thing, he even yelps when the baby cries :-( he's done all this since a puppy and he's now seven, normally he is the best friend anyone could ask for. I hate sedating the poor little fella but I'm afraid he'll end up having a heart attack one nasty summer storm :-(

[HL65]

We hold them and hug them like little babies that they are!!

[CoopJr]

Originally Posted by SteelerFan1965

We hold them and hug them like little babies that they are!!

isn't that nurturing the behavior?

[S/SOnly]

Scotch, single malt.... Chills em' right out.

:-)

[HL65]

Originally Posted by CoopJr

isn't that nurturing the behavior?

Of course--Caesar would be very upset with us. My dogs do fine in storms--they are 100% chill--14 years old. We cuddle with them all the time!!!!

[CoopJr]

Originally Posted by SteelerFan1965

Of course--Caesar would be very upset with us.

[Idle Swede]

Can't wait to hear Faith's reply to this thread.

Her dog must be the calmest of them all.

[idk01]

Originally Posted by Idle Swede

Can't wait to hear Faith's reply to this thread.

Her dog must be the calmest of them all.

X2

[lavaman]

"Dear Abby:

Our dog may be addicted, but we sleep better and he really doesnt mind. Is this ok? "

:-)

[snowbird]

Fortunately my dog doesn't freak out in thunderstorms but I've found more generally that when she's anxious it helps to lead her to a particular spot in the house that's hers (with a blanket, chew toys, etc.), also I notice she'll often go there on her own when she's nervous (such as when there are visitors in the house) . . . maybe that could help?

[Widows Son]

I had a GSD who went beserk during thunderstorms, and VERY destructive. Tried the pills from the vet and all it did was contribute to him having accidents. About the only thing I would suggest is caging him to prevent him from destroying anything or running away.

[Lucy Diamond]

If you have good patience and are willing to put in some time into it,you can overcome this,or at least get his fears down to a low simmer.There are tape recordings of thunder you can buy.You start out playing them at very,very,very low volume.....treating your dog with some of his favourite treats and speaking calmly to him.If he won't take the treat that is your indication he is overly stressed....the sound is too high...back it off.You know you have the correct sound level for this training when he accepts the treat.Start off with just a couple minutes of this and keep the same comfortable volume for at least a couple of weeks or so....then slowly,and I mean slowly,increase the sound ever so slightly as well as the time he is exposed to the sounds.Again,lot's of praise and treats.The key here is to GO SUPER SLOW WITH THIS!You will have a major set back if you push it too quickly.This should take months,not weeks to fix.

Eventually,he will come to associate those scary sounds with positive things happening to him.

Been through this myself so I know what you are experiencing.

Good luck!

[HL65]

Okay--Here they are : Tyson--laying with my wife Lori and Annie who sleeps with her tongue out. Both are 14 years old and were adopted at age of 4 when we first started doing Pit Rescue!! Our babies!
Annie.jpg

Ty.jpg

[onkyo]

Originally Posted by idk01

X2, Our Jack Russell goes totally insane throughout a thunderstorm, fireworks he's worse, sedation seems to be the only thing, he even yelps when the baby cries :-( he's done all this since a puppy and he's now seven, normally he is the best friend anyone could ask for. I hate sedating the poor little fella but I'm afraid he'll end up having a heart attack one nasty summer storm :-(

Dave... my 8 year old Jack Russell does the same thing. We sometimes hold him to calm him down a bit but he would continue to whine. Fortunately we do not get many severe thunderstorms often.

[Ashley]

Some people have luck putting t-shirts/sweaters on their dogs during storms, it can help keep them calm.

[Taffi Abernathy]

Originally Posted by Idle Swede

Can't wait to hear Faith's reply to this thread.

Her dog must be the calmest of them all.

Leo, you are my brightest ray of sunshine and I so appreciate your sincere interest in dear Taffi. Truth be told, Taffi was initially agitated and exhibited what can only be described as the canine equivalent of a panic attack, as evidenced by panting, pacing and cowering under the bed. Nonetheless, by employing a simple conditioning paradigm, I was able to desensitize her from her anxiety reaction. In keeping with the findings of the late B. F. Skinner, and using "successive approximations to the desired goal," I paired food and verbal reinforcement with a sound effects record, "Rainstorm in a Tropical Forest." After several continuous conditioning sessions, it was apparent that Taffi's newfound calmness had indeed generalized to real-life circumstances, and I have successfully maintained her new pattern of responding by placing her on a variable ratio reinforcement schedule.

The bad news is that I have taken on Taffi's old symptoms. At the first crack of thunder or bolt of lightening, I retreat post haste under my bed and shake like a paintmixer on high speed. I also experience tremors, loss of bladder function and occasionally hallucinate, intoning the Aztec Gods to protect me from nature's wrath.

Thanks so much again for your sensitivity in dealing with this private and emotionally-charged issue. Faith

[Idle Swede]

Originally Posted by Taffi Abernathy

Leo, you are my brightest ray of sunshine and I so appreciate your sincere interest in dear Taffi. Truth be told, Taffi was initially agitated and exhibited what can only be described as the canine equivalent of a panic attack, as evidenced by panting, pacing and cowering under the bed. Nonetheless, by employing a simple conditioning paradigm, I was able to desensitize her from her anxiety reaction. In keeping with the findings of the late B. F. Skinner, and using "successive approximations to the desired goal," I paired food and verbal reinforcement with a sound effects record, "Rainstorm in a Tropical Forest." After several continuous conditioning sessions, it was apparent that Taffi's newfound calmness had indeed generalized to real-life circumstances, and I have successfully maintained her new pattern of responding by placing her on a variable ratio reinforcement schedule.

The bad news is that I have taken on Taffi's old symptoms. At the first crack of thunder or bolt of lightening, I retreat post haste under my bed and shake like a paintmixer on high speed. I also experience tremors, loss of bladder function and occasionally hallucinate, intoning the Aztec Gods to protect me from nature's wrath.

Thanks so much again for your sensitivity in dealing with this private and emotionally-charged issue. Faith

Dear Faith,

You lost me after "you are my brightest ray of sunshine" but fortunately I managed to catch up again at "loss of bladder function".

Did I miss anything of importance in between?

[Safetrends]

What did I miss, this is way cool.

Spooky does not like thunder.

[Idle Swede]

Originally Posted by Safetrends

What did I miss, this is way cool.
Spooky does not like thunder.

My Elsa couldn't care less about thunder & lighning but bring out the vacuum cleaner and she's gone for 3 hours.

[Lucy Diamond]

Idle,I hear ya on the vacuum cleaner!Our little malti-poo dives into the closet when that thing comes out and she doesn't come back out for a good long length.Yet our Cavalier thinks the vacuum cleaner means playtime!She loves to chase the end around as one vacuums.

They are all such indivuduals.

[diversified]

Lucy, your pets would really love a Roomba, the robot vacuum cleaner!

[SeamasterGMT]

I made a point of making lots of loud noises (bashing pots and pans etc) when she was a pup. We got her 1 week before bonfire night so there wasn't a night in the first week when there wasn't fireworks going off. I took her out into the garden and stood with her but acted normal when the loud fireworks were booming around us - either ignored them or played with her. As a result, loud noises are not a problem but then again, she would be a pretty useless gun dog if they were. The only thing she doesn't like is her Halti harness.

[boa2]

Originally Posted by S/SOnly

Scotch, single malt.... Chills em' right out.

:-)

Yep.

Our Jack Russell prefers Lagavulin.

[2careless]

Thanks guys. Seriously, can you feed them alcohol?

[snowbird]

Originally Posted by 2careless

Thanks guys. Seriously, can you feed them alcohol?

I think people are kidding above about giving a dog alcohol . . .

[Safetrends]

My dog, Teddy a Cocker Buff (before my cats) loved wine. He would only have some as a rare treat and it was only a small amount. It does not hurt them my Teddy was like a child to me and my vet did not object to it.

[swatty]

Originally Posted by 2careless

Thanks guys. Seriously, can you feed them alcohol?

I wouldn't Kai

[keschete]

Originally Posted by Taffi Abernathy

Leo, you are my brightest ray of sunshine and I so appreciate your sincere interest in dear Taffi. Truth be told, Taffi was initially agitated and exhibited what can only be described as the canine equivalent of a panic attack, as evidenced by panting, pacing and cowering under the bed. Nonetheless, by employing a simple conditioning paradigm, I was able to desensitize her from her anxiety reaction. In keeping with the findings of the late B. F. Skinner, and using "successive approximations to the desired goal," I paired food and verbal reinforcement with a sound effects record, "Rainstorm in a Tropical Forest." After several continuous conditioning sessions, it was apparent that Taffi's newfound calmness had indeed generalized to real-life circumstances, and I have successfully maintained her new pattern of responding by placing her on a variable ratio reinforcement schedule.

The bad news is that I have taken on Taffi's old symptoms. At the first crack of thunder or bolt of lightening, I retreat post haste under my bed and shake like a paintmixer on high speed. I also experience tremors, loss of bladder function and occasionally hallucinate, intoning the Aztec Gods to protect me from nature's wrath.

Thanks so much again for your sensitivity in dealing with this private and emotionally-charged issue. Faith

Hehehe, that is hysterical Faith...

But I do agree with Faith that giving the dog set up scenarios of thunderstorms and then rewarding calm behavior with food and praise would probabaly fix the issue. If you desensitize the animal and reward them, eventually they will calm down.

The worst thing is to reward your dog for undesired behavior....I am currently up to 9 dogs....I was down as low as 6 over the winter, but have taken on 3 dogs in the last few months....2 of the three don't look like Min Pins or Dachshunds.....hehehe, but I took them in any way