Thunderphobia. Now what?
Hi Darcie: My hound is not a fan of thunderstorms, specifically thunder. She will find a spot that feels most secure to her–a corner, her pet porter, a walk-in closet–and sit or lay down until the storm passes. She may pace a little, but nothing extreme. This past Sunday night we had an average thunderstorm–lots of thunder, lightning, little rain. She began the usual sit in a corner routine. But then she started to bark each time it thundered, and then sat by our back door thumping her tail against it, and barking with the thunder. She wanted to sit in the backseat of my car, which we did for a bit, and no barking. The garage was too warm to stay out there for the duration of the storm. And frankly, completely indoors seemed safer than the garage. As the storm slowly blew over, she began to pace and pant a lot. No more barking. At the end of the storm, she flopped on the floor and slept like a rock. Any clues as to why this sudden barking during the storm and pacing? We’ve never seen her more aggravated than finding a secure place to sit or lay down. I was so surprised I didn’t quite know what to do to help her, but I did stay up with her and keep a light on as I didn’t want her to be alone–and bark more. Her health is good and she has no misalignments or conditions recently. When I gave her a few treats during the storm, she seemed to ignore the thunder. But I don’t think I can feed her during the duration of every storm this summer–she’ll become huge! 
Thanks for any insight or advice! Amy
Dear Amy, I know that some dogs do start having more intense reactions as they grow older. But some dogs have less intense reactions to storms as they grow older. So, the answer you’ll get from me is…I don’t know why she acted like she did. Our storms around here seem to be more violent than they used to be. Perhaps your storms are changing, too. Dogs can detect those changes…I don’t know how they do it, but some of them seem to. Dancer was my dog who didn’t like thunderstorms, when we moved into the underground house, she must have felt and realized safety more…she calmed.
Because your girl sat at the back door to bark at what you thought was the thunder, maybe it was something other than that that started the barking. That was different, she wasn’t hiding, looking for a safe spot as she usually does.
The good news is that she took food and maybe you can change her fear to fun with clicker training…I’ll talk about that a little lower down this page. A highly anxious dog usually refuses to eat.
If you find that you need them, we have some really good anxiety relief products at SitStay.com, take a look at both pages of them here.
I know it’s tough to have a dog fearful of storms. Until we moved underground, my Dancer hated storms. She came by it honestly, it wasn’t something she was born with. When she was about 7 months old and we still lived in Lincoln, the day was lovely and sunny and blue. No storms on the horizon. We went to an afternoon movie downtown and halfway through the movie they moved us all into the basement. A super cell had popped up and a tornado was on it’s way. The storm cloud moved over the top of our neighborhood, lightning hit a tree in the park and split it into a million tiny pieces. The neighbors who were home that afternoon said that the sound was deafening. I sat in that basement and worried about our older dog, Kari, a Golden Retriever, and my poor little puppy. Dancer was in her crate, Kari had the run of the house. When we got home about twenty minutes after the lightning hit the tree, Dancer was still in a panic. Through her years, she was our weatherman. She knew within an hour when a storm would hit our area.
I don’t think anyone has yet to understand exactly why thunderstorms affect dogs the way they do. Some think it’s the static electricity, some the smell of the storm, some the sound and the wind, some believe the dog can hear the storm before we do (and the things that we can’t hear during storms), some think it affects dogs at a more cellular level…an instinctive thing. I wish I knew the truth and maybe some and all of this is true.
Try some different things to see what works best for your girl.
Some people say, I never did, that they have good luck playing a CD of thunderstorm noises, starting at a low noise level and turning it up over time. I did try this with Dancer and it sent her into fits of anxiety at the lowest level, she never calmed at all, her grief escalated. Her experience with the lightning was so extreme, that was not her cure. Pet Natural Calming might be your remedy. Or the Anxiety Wrap, that did wonders for my Dancer. HomeoPet TFLN Drops have helped many dogs.
When working with thunderphobia, I like to first see if I can find that dog’s particular button, the one that shuts off the fear before I start supplementing. Then go to the supplements that are more natural. Some dogs do seem to require prescription drugs…at least that’s what I’m told. I’ve never had a dog get that far gone that I’ve had to resort to the heavy duty stuff. I don’t like that stuff so I’m glad I haven’t had to go to that.
The very best thing we can do when we first get our dogs it to live as though storms are just a part of life. Treats or meals or games while the storm rolls in and does it’s thing creates an environment of safety and normalcy. So many of us rescue so we get what we get and all of their baggage from the past. That’s when we have to kick in our understanding of what caused what reaction and how best to change that behavior.
The training to change behavior can start with simple things, to get her to focus on something else instead of the storm. Lots of fun. The time can be filled with “what’s in this hand?” And “which cup is the really yummy treat under?”. And hide and seek and retrieving games. “Come find me!” Lots of laughter and genuine fun. The fear of the storm may become a thing of the past because you’re pairing it with fun and good energy.
I used clicker training with Dancer and although her brilliance was enhanced by it on good days, it did not work during storms for her. She was too anxious, she’d refuse food and games. But remember, she had a really terrific scare at an tender age. Because your dog does not refuse food, clicker training might be your ticket past this anxiety of storms. SitStay has several clicker training books and DVDs, here’s where you’ll find our SitStay’s Clicker Training Kit.
Being afraid of storms doesn’t have to last a lifetime. It all depends on the individual dog and what happened to cause them to be afraid. Let us know how it goes for you. Thanks. – Darcie
