pyrless Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 Well as it turns out Baxter, our new Pyr, has a severe thunderstorm phobia. I had got the DAP plug-in to help Sasha with her generalized nervousness, and it doesn't seem to do jack for her, but the DAP combined with a few drops of Rescue Remedy makes a huge difference in Baxter, who just paces for about a half hour then sleeps. Before he would cry, whine and drool. Hope this helps some other folks! I have also read that 3g of melatonin for an average-to-large dog also helps. (D.O., I still have to try the CalmPlex for Sasha...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ESSlover Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 I wish we had known for Mocha! She would get so terrified. We would lay right down next to her, she'd be shaking, whining, drooling.. mah poor baby. She wouldnt go to sleep until an hour after the storm stopped. It didnt help that I have thunder phobia too. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lokipups Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 Easiest way to cure thunder phobia is to pick up a CD of storm sounds, play it so it's just barely audible, and make a game out of it by playing with the dog and a favorite toy or using great treats. Gradually turn the volume up a little at a time during these sessions and pretty soon the dog will associate the sound of an oncoming storm with good things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrless Posted November 15, 2005 Author Share Posted November 15, 2005 lokipups, to an extent you are right, unless the dog is not responding to the sound at all, but to the lightning, the barometric change, the wind, the temperature dropping, the rain on the roof, whatever. it is why thunder phobia can be hard to desensitize a dog to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drjohn Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 Hi, Desensitizing against Tstorms is difficult in many cases, esp. if you live in an area prone to storms, but it can be done There is a new product called "Composure" that is a nondrug, nonherbal calming supplement that works very well in SOME dogs. There is also a new herbal remedy made by Homeopet called "Anxiety". They just reformulated for different types of anxiety. I'd list websites but I don't need the hassle again. If anyone wants more info on these products and where to "obtain" them, shoot me a private message. If the anxiety is severe enough to where the dog may injure itself then drugs are called for valium or xanax work well I wrote an article on Tstorm phobia for my newspaper a few years ago and it's available on my website Dr John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 I wonder if they wouldn't benefit from an anxiety wrap? I used an old sweat shirt for a GSD with severe seperation anxiety, he tore through thick metal cages like they were nothing, ate dry wall like it was the best stuff on earth. It was horrible. Just leaving the room would send him nuts. I worked with him for months and finally got to where we could leave him for about 4 hours with out incident. One day I tried to put the sweat shirt on him and you could see the change in him. I took him to the adoption event that same weekend and the group could even see the change. His adoptive family bought him a bunch of sweatshirts with hoods and he loves them! He asks them to put his shirt on him every morning. Here is an actual wrap: [img]http://www.kvvet.com/KVVet/assets/product_images/82021.jpg[/img] [url]http://www.kvvet.com/KVVet/productr.asp?pf%5Fid=82029&gift=False&0=product%5Ffamily%2Easp%2Cfamily%5Fid%3D1199%26Tree%3D%2CThe%20Anxiety%20Wrap&HSLB=False&mscssid=0C92C2C9B1B8F4D5390554AC54691E17[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrless Posted November 16, 2005 Author Share Posted November 16, 2005 Tammy, I have heard that that works for some dogs, too. drjohn, please list the sites, i would be interested! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotten_two Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 you can get the homeopet anxiety at [url]www.jefferspet.com[/url] didn't work worth a flip for gaia's general anxiety problems but it could work for baxter. the trick is knowing before the dog that a storm is coming and managing the behavior during the storm. then you can work a cc&d protocol in nice weather. as for management during a storm, pyr, do you have any rooms with no windows, no skylights, no view of outside? gaia used our powder room as a safe haven cause there were no window and it was dark in there. lots of dogs prefer bathrooms and even bathtubs (the old heavy ones not the newer fiberglass type). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrless Posted November 16, 2005 Author Share Posted November 16, 2005 He likes to pace, and I let him, but once he settles down he goes into a corner of the living room. So I set up some pillows there for him. It has been a rough week here-the winds are awful, so I have been giving him RR at night and he has pretty much been able to sleep. So far! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotten_two Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 oh definitely K you don't want to encourage the stress behaviors by coddling them. go on about your business as usual and if you happen to see calm behavior toss them a treat or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotten_two Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 think small treats K they don't have to get whole steaks ya know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drjohn Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 [color=red][b]ATTENTION.....THIS IS NOT SPAM, I REPEAT....THIS IS NOT SPAM.....THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN REQUESTED BY A MEMBER!!! DO NOT DELETE DO NOT EDIT THIS IS NOT SPAM.....[/b][/color] ok, now that we got that out of the way (and it was meant to be humerous) here is the REQUESTED info you can go to [url]www.homeopet.com[/url] and look at their products including the anxiety relief. I don't think they updated their site as there are 2 or 3 different anxiety formulas, for storms, or travel. I've only started using them, so I can't really vouch for their effectiveness, however, I used the anxiety formula on a stressed out, aggressive cat on a housecall last week and once we umm, caught the cat, restrained it, pried fingers out of mouth of cat (thank God for gauntlet gloves), moved couch, moved chair, trapped cat in corner, and caught cat again....... it worked very very quickly...........the cat was actually handlable......I'd like to think it was the remedy you can also go to vetriscience.com and click on the "Composure" link of course, both of these products are available through my housecall practice....email me or PM me if you would like cost/shipping charges (pay by PayPal) (hey, I'm not gonna do all the work and tell you to buy if from someone else :D ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_Debbie Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 Thanks for that tip Dr.John...... I have a monster tiger cat that when we go to the Vet he literally turns into a Mountain Lion........:o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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