Ash Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 We've been getting plenty of thunder storms in UP MI. The weather here has been unusally hot. Anyways, this terrifies my dog it always has. Even rain scares him. He pants hard and actually shakes bd during a storm. This can't be good for him... Did any of you ever deal with the situation before, and ifso what do you do? Smokie is kind of skiddish and scard of a lot of things, but you wouldn't guess it meeting him for the first time. He's terrified of fish, lol. My parents had to get rid of that singing fish thing, lol. But anyways, I mean its been going on for years, but what do you think? his place of comfort is the bathtub, but goes around the house driving everybody crazy. My poor doggie. Any advice at all is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomeranians Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 I've never had that sort of problem, but for the thunder, I believe that if you play CDs of thunder, and get them accustomed to hearing the noise, the fear will lessen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Chaos Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 I saw an episode of Good Dog (Stanley Coran is awesome) about desensitising dogs to thunderstorms. What they did for this dog (a standard poodle) was start by playing a tape of a storm VERY low and just toally relax and ignore the dog (who was crated). If you pay attention to the dog while he's freaking out it just reassures his fears that there's something to be afraid of. Maybe play the tape once a day for about a week or until the dog stops responding. Then turn it up a bit more, and more until its full blast, like a true storm would be, without the dog responding. The key is not to give the dog ANY attention or coddling if he freaks out. Eventually he'll see that his owner isn't making a big deal out of it so its not a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 ok this is just a theory of mine... I have had multiple dogs, but only one that was afraid of thunderstorms, and we get some doozies here in the midwest...tornado's too. my Golden was scared of them, but so was my sister and my mom. they would go into 'lockdown' when a stormwas coming, closing blinds and drapes, etc. now I LIKE thunderstorms. I will sit on the porch and watch them roll thru. I find them calming in their power and intensity, reminding me that there is a power greater than all of mankind out there. so...are YOU afraid of them? because since I moved out I have not had a single dog that reacted to them, and I believe its because I dont. they can fell your fear. my theory is that if you fear them,. they will too, no matter how you behave, because they can feel below the surface you are showing them... 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 Thanks so much for the info guys, sorry I didn't reply to this sooner. (I havent been around much). But thanks guys im looking into every suggestion as we speak. I fogot to mention that isn't just thunder but mainly, it's very loud noises. Like when there was workers working on my parents roof, he was afraid. We thought he thought it was thunder. And he's afraid of firecrackers too. My poor dog :) But thanks sooo much, you've been more help then you can know. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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