Dogs and T Storms!

[whatdidyousay!]

We have 3 dogs. 1 is really scared of storms and fireworks, she would jump into the bathtub and stay there, but come out to check on us to make sure we are ok then go back and jump back in the tub. She had been doing this ever since she was a pup.

The other one is a little nervous, but not that afraid, she would lay down under the computer desk when someone is on the computer, or be close to people.

The third dog, doesn't give a damn about the storm.

The thing is. dogs react differently because of how they got treated.

When Elsa, the first dog was little, she got startled by the sound of fireworks and storm, and we would soothe her, pet her, say it alright and everything, so now she thinks that its the right way to respond to the storm. Another factor is the breed of the dogs too I believe some dog breed are not as sensitive as others or nerve-whacking as other dogs.



The second dog, Angel, she learned the behaviour from Elsa who is 11, Angel is 3, so Angel sees Elsa act like this and she thinks that something is terribly wrong so she gets a little nervous.

The third dog, he is 8, but we didn't get him til this year, so he did not learn any behaviour from our other two dogs, and the fact that he was left outside in the storm by his previous owners (he was left outside 24/7 til my aunt got him and then he was indoor dog), but that plays a factor over his nerves over the storm, he doesn't care about the storm or fireworks unlike the other two dogs.

So many things play a factor for different dogs, whether it's learned behaviour, breed traits, bad experience or good experience.

We treat our dogs like nothing is going on, what we treat them daily is what we treat them when there is a storm, so they don't think it's a big deal. But it's too late for Elsa as she is terrified lol. We do soothe her and try to make her feel a lil better.

I had tried sounds on cd for her, but it doesn't work, she knows the difference between real storm and fake storm lol. She can also feel it, as she has bad hip, so we imagine the storm impact her him like my father who has RA.

I don't have any advices of how to calm a dog, perhaps take them outside, let them see there is nothing wrong, just rainy and sounds. Or try the cd thing it might work on some dogs, or if they are really young like puppy, don't react at all just act like nothing happen. Dont even get excited about the storm. When Elsa was a pup, I was 12, and I get really excited with the storm lol.

That all I can say.
:-D

Poor doggie she must be exhhausted from jumping in and out of the bathtub all the time!

 

[Bottesini]

We had a huge storm one night and there was very loud thunder ! I slept right throught the whole storm ! People told me the thunder woke them up!

My dog got so afraid he wrapped himself around my head! I woke up at 5:30 AM as I could not move my head ! I was weaing my dog at as hat in my sleep! I do not get afraid of storms, I can sit down and watch TV during a storm. When I was a teenager I use to go the beach with a friend of mine so we could watch the huge wave in the lighting and all! And the last storm we had I took a shower during it and most people will not go near water during a bad storm! I did take dog to the broadwalk
tonight so we could cool down! He got uptight and started panting like mad!
The sky was getting very black ,so I knew storm was coming from the way my dog was acting and the sky! My dog was right, the rain came down on our way home! I am glad I listen to my dog that time as my HA would had gotten too wet to work! So this time it was helpful that my dog is a big baby!

Oh well, it was just a theory. Maybe I just have two very calm dogs as a coincidence.

Either that or I am not very observant and they are actually both terrified.

 

[DeafDoc1]

My service dog is not bothered by storms at all. Part of the problem is that they sense our emotions so well. If we are afraid of storms, they will become afraid. If they show any innate fear, and we coddle them, baby them, console them, they learn that this storm is a terrible thing and their owners need to console them through it. That makes their fear behavior worse. One thing to do is create a positive association for them. Whenever a storm is coming, bring them to a "safe place" and distract them; teach them a new behavior; reward them for calm behavior with a favorite toy or treat, turn on the tv to distract them. Try not to reinforce the behavior by cuddling or consoling them. This is what my dog's trainers taught during our team training.

 

[Aussie_Dog]

Try not to reinforce the behavior by cuddling or consoling them.

That's the first thing one should do, definitely. The dog may have a fear, but when his human starts cooing and petting, she's essentially telling the dog that there's something worth being afraid of, that his fear is completely legit. Thus, he's not going to be calmed, he's going to be even more anxious. If a dog has a fear, simply ignore him (you don't see any danger around, therefore you're calm and maybe stupified on what the dog is acting like a fool). Don't "flood" him (dragging him to what scares him, or bombarding him with what scares him), don't pay any attention to him at all. If he's afraid of something you're walking towards, simply walk slower, stop entirely, or pick another path around the scary thing. If you can, you can try walking up to it and letting the dog check it out (maybe it's a couple of balloons tied to a Garage Sale sign and the balloons are flapping around in the wind) but if the dog is freaked, go another way. Do NOT pay any attention to the dog, just make like crossing the street was your intention all along. Don't let the dog think you're crossing the street to get away from the balloons.

Another thing you could try, with thunder storms, it to put a snug t-shirt on the dog. I'm not sure why it works, but it does. Maybe the dog feels more secure with his body snug, less exposed.

My dog isn't a big fan of thunderstorms either, though he doesn't go bananas. If thunder erupts, he'll bark his warning "something's there! A danger! Heed my warning, you may all be in doom!" but he won't howl like a dog dying. Since he still has sanity (and I love thunderstorms, lol), I'll stand by the front door and watch and that seems to help Jake, seeing me calm and seeing for HIMSELF what's going on outside. He seems to feel a little more safe, being able to watch for danger. If you try to put him in a room or contain him, he won't calm down, because he knows there's danger but he doesn't know WHAT danger. If I can let him check out the backyard when he hears something fall over, he can see for himself that there's nothing to worry about and he'll calm down. But if I keep him in the house, he'll just keep barking and pacing the house, sure that imminent danger is about to befall all of us.

I should add that he may be upset throughout the duration of a storm, but his worst behaviour is in the beginning. He may huff for a while until the end of the storm, but he will no longer be barking. He's seen from his people that the booming noises aren't worrying, and if you've done your job in asserting yourself as Alpha, he'll be calmer, knowing you're in control and will let him know if danger is coming, and you'll do battle with the danger yourself. But at the moment, danger is not coming and he's allowed to remain calm.