# Fear of thunderstorms



## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

June has had a fear of thunderstorms for years. At first her thunder shirt, and her getting to lay in the bathroom closet helped. We used the tv, or radio to drowned out the storm. Later we tried adding a pheromone spray. As the years progressed, she kept getting worse. Tried different natural products to help her, including CBD oil. None made a difference. She no longer felt safe in the bathroom, and had to be crated. That lasted for a while, with the crate covered. Then she started trying to tear the crate door off with her teeth. So she had to be muzzled in the crate, in a effort to save her teeth. 
Last Wednesday, she started trying to shove the muzzle into the crate door with such force. She was going to hurt herself. I have tried very hard to keep her off prescription meds, but called the vet as we had rain in the forecast for the next 4 days.
We will be trying Valium on days that rain is forecasted. I'll have to keep up with the weather forecast, and radar in the area.
I don't want her taking it, on days it's not needed. I just hate when the weather forecast is wrong. It takes a hour for the meds to kick in.
Me and June sitting in the Durango waiting for them to work. Rain was suppose to be here at 2am, not 8pm.


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

I'm with you on the use of prescription drugs. But there is always the trade off and in June's case, easing her fear would be well worth the occasional use of Valium. Fear is such a terrible state and Valium has been around so long that it should be very well understood and "safe". (I know, I know - you, of all people, do not need to be told about "safe" drugs.)


Here's to your and June's peace of mind in storms.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

As with any drug, there are some side effects I have to watch out for.
But with summer coming, I needed to try something to ease her fear. In Texas we have high heat, and humidity. That leads to heat showers, on top of the thunderstorms. I just hope it's the right answer for her.


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## NutterButter (Mar 5, 2016)

This is one of our concerns regarding our upcoming move to Texas. Where we live in California now thunderstorms are rare (maybe 4 times a year). When they do occur, even planning ahead, the drugs and thundershirt seem to have no beneficial effect at all with Sadie. Her final solution seems to be to bury herself under a pile of clothes in my closet. If not enough in the dirty clothes pile, she will pull clothes off the shelves in my closet to get a big enough pile. She pulled the clothes dryer door open and climbed in there one time too. Crates definitely don't work and she trashed the metal door on one "heavy duty" model we had and fortunately did not hurt herself. She also hates some tv show theme music, and will go out to the garage to escape the sound.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

She's not going to like Texas.
We've had rain 4 days this week, and still have a chance of rain today.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

Just out of curiosity, how did the becoming afraid of storms happen? we have the opposite challenge, Bende kept wanting to go out and play during Harvey and last weekend during a dock diving event when everyone was rashly leaving due to a quickly forming big storm on the countryside, he decided he wants to go back to the dock and jump more, while thunder and lightning was all over! he is a very smart boy, but seems to be the anti-storm-fear type?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

At a little over a year old, June decided she was not a fan of storms. Not overly scared at that time, just didn't care for them. Fast forward, and we had a transformer blow just as it was starting to rain. The transformer is only a few feet from my yard, and we were coming in the back door. That's all the convincing she needed, to believe storms are scary.

Her mother didn't like to be outside durning rain, but was fine in the house.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

that explains a lot more. i really wanted to understand how the thunder-phobia happens, i see so many dogs having that issue, some even running away...


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Gabica said:


> that explains a lot more. i really wanted to understand how the thunder-phobia happens, i see so many dogs having that issue, some even running away...


I think some dogs are more prone to it.
I haven't seen it being listed as a hereditary issue, but I believe it could be.

It was one of the questions I asked about Shine's parents, before purchasing her.


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## skillingsworth (Jun 1, 2018)

*Tstorms*

I had a lab that was scared of thunderstorms but then several more that were not. My V is not afraid at all of storms. Thinking back more on my first lab though. With him it seemed to be the noise that he did not like. He was also gun shy for the same reason. Is your V afraid of loud noises? If so, you might try some conditioning around loud noises using treats or fun activities. It could be finding a way to make a loud dramatic noise at feeding time or to signal play time. With training my V for hunting, I started with slamming a book on the ground near the pup as he received his food. Then I used treats and a person standing far off with a gun. I would feed him a treat each time the gun was fired. Soon he didn't even notice the sound but looked to me for a treat. Fast forward 3 1/2 years, now when he hears a loud noise it catches his attention but that's about it. Take out a shotgun and he becomes very excited. All dogs are different so yours may have an issue either conditioned, physical or inherited but their life is long and Texas has plenty of Tstorms so you might try some conditioning to see if that helps.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

With June, it's not just the sound of thunder. The drop in pressure, or the smell of rain sets her off. We do plenty of loud things around the house, but it's only a couple of things that set her off.
She has no interest in treats, when it comes to approaching rain in the area. Her only thought is to hide, and she turns into a panting mess.


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## Kimber (Feb 20, 2018)

Our last V was terrified of thunderstorms and fireworks. We finally got to the point where we had toput her on medication. We were scaredthat she was going to hurt herself – her eyes would glaze over and she would becomea completely different dog. We would closelyfollow the weather channel so we would know when to put on her Thundershirt andgive her a doggie Xanax. Those were theonly two things that would give her a little bit of peace. 



After researching and deciding to get a new puppy, wespoke extensively with our breed about anxiety and fear ofstorms/fireworks. We wanted to try toward off as much of the anxiety as we could in the beginning. They showed us the Master Voice System andthey played the cd’s for all the puppies. We bought the Thunderstorm/Fireworks set to continue training after webrought Kimber home. It is a Noiseshycure and conditioning system and can be used on puppies or adult dogs. Kimber (now 5 months old) snores through boththe cd’s and seems to have ZERO fear of anything (not sure if it is the systemor the fact that she is a super confident V). 


My friend has an 8 year Boxer that is super scared ofstorms and she is starting the Thunder cd this week. Not sure rain in theforecast in San Antonio right now but I will update you when she gets to see ifthe system actually helped him. 


Best wishes for you and June! 😊


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I have the cds too.
June never paid any attention to them.
She knew the difference between them, and the real thing.
Maybe if I had started her as a puppy, it might have helped. I bought them after her problem started. June is a thinker, probably to smart for her own good.


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