Our family has 2 adopted mixed breeds, both approximately 1 1/2-2 years old. Our first, is a small-medium black lab (Reagan) and she's afraid of just about everything EXCEPT storms! Our second, is a black dachshund mix (Olive), and she's not afraid of anything EXCEPT storms! Ironic, huh? Well, we've had Olive in our family since September and have only realized her fear of storms over the past 3 weeks or so. It seems like it's been storming overnight here every night. Our dogs are both crated during the night and even before the thunder and lightning hits, Olive is barking and then crying/whimpering. She's extremely anxious, even if we let her out. Obviously we cannot just let her bark because we have 2 young sons, but we also don't want to get her used to sleeping outside her crate at night. (That will come eventually, but we want to chose the time, not let her choose it for us.) She's been house-trained (no accidents) for the past 6-7 months, but is now having accidents because she's scared to go outside when it's raining (NOT when it's storming, just raining). Needless to say, we're frustrated! ...and sleep-deprived, it's like having a newborn again! Does anyone know of ANYTHING that we can try to calm her down during storms? We love her very much and want to figure out something that works for all of us.
Thank you for all of your wonderful answers. Ironically enough, I had used the Rescue Remedy with Reagan before, but had forgotten about it. That's the first thing I'm going to try!! I am going to work with Olive on some calming techniques. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), we didn't have storms last night and it looks like the next several days/nights are clear. I'm also curious to try the dryer sheet... Thanks again!
My sister has a Bichon who has a panic attack every time it storms. The Vet gave her a prescription for Ativan (very small dosage) an anti-anxiety medication, that has worked for years.
http://www.thundershirt.com/
Obviously won't work for every dog, but I do have a friend whom this works for.
here is a good article
http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/pets/2010-06-10-ve...
Once again some of the things can be a bit out there, but hey if you tried everything.
Go to caesarmillan.com He is the dog whisperer. You can also access him on National Geographic dot com or watch him there on the channel. Your dogs have behavior problems...that is what he specializes in.....I think www.dogwhisperer.com has info too...
I'm not sure of the spellings of the name...but NatGeo should get you there.
Try Rescue Remedy. It is a tincture by Bach's and it is designed for people, but used by many dog rescues to take the edge off of anxiety for dogs. There are lots of herbal remedies that you could try with her as well. See if you can find a vet in your area that does some non-western treatments. Mine has been fabulous dealing with anxiety in my rescues.
You didn't say where her crate is. Could you move it to where she can see you? it is tough because you certainly don't want her anxious in her crate because if she starts associating her crate with the anxiety, it no longer becomes the security that you want it to be.
And if it gets bad enough, any vet should be able to give you other meds. We put one of our dogs on prozac after a long time of working with trainers and trying herbal remedies. It's what she needed and after a couple of years was able to be weaned off of the prozac. I'm not a pusher of meds by any means, but it was what she needed to have a healthy existence at the time. Her anxiety was hard to watch and hard to have in the family.
Good luck.
If her crate isn't covered try that and move it towards the center of the house. Also don't give her a lot of attention when she is getting worried, I know that is really hard, but it can encourage the behavior and make it worse.
When there isn't a storm work on rewarding calm, relaxed behavior. You can teach her to do a down with her head down, put blinking or yawning on a cue, etc. Start this when there is no storm and then also do it when the storm is first starting or right before, to see if she will relax. It may take awhile, but again only reward the calm, if she starts to get worried she can go in her covered crate or stay out, but don't give her tons of attention.
They do make wraps they can wear or a tight t-shirt can help. The pressure is calming to most dogs. Rubbing her ears the full length can also be relaxing, as well as long strokes down her whole back to the tail. You can try yawning, deep breaths while looking at her, or sticking your tongue out just a little for a second. Many of these are calming singals to dogs and will help her relax. There are also thunderstorms cds that you can start on low volume and gradually as she gets more used to them increase the volume or the amount of time the cd is on, but not both at the same time.
When it is raining go out with her on leash, be very excited and playful and what a wonderful time it is out there. I grew up with a golden that was terrified and always wanted in the smallest place possible and we had a neighbor with a golden that would escape if it thunderstormed. Nothing like a 125 pound dog fitting through about a 8 inch hole under the fence to get free. She also jumped in a car that had the window rolled down, luckily the person was nice enough to take her home.
Good luck to you, the thunderstorm battle is always a hard one.
This will sound crazy, but I swear it works! I think I heard it on Martha Stewart. Watch the weather so you will know when it is suppose to rain. The day before rub a dryer sheet on your dog. (it also helps her to smell good). Supposedly there is an elecrical change in the atmosphere when there is a storm that some dogs can sense (all dogs can sense it, some just freak out I guess). My dog used to always freak out in storms...cry, bark, be attached to me. I tried this and now we have no more problems. Good Luck!!
I have a 100 pound Golden/lab mix who freaks during storms. He's not destructive, well I guess he could be. But his thing is he has to be by someone, the closer the better! He does a little pacing and panting too.
I talked to my vet and we could have gotten a prescription, but over the counter (even generic) benadryl works just as well! Since he is 100 pounds I'll sometimes give him 2 (50mg total) but usually start with 1 pill wrapped in a piece of cheese and it calms him down. Doesn't make him sleep, but he's not pacing and trying to climb in my lap or on my head!
I also try to do things in rooms with very few windows and that seems to help. During the night storms are a little different. He is not crate trained (long story but he was adopted and I don't think a crate was safe for him in his old house) but sleeps in our room on the floor. Again, if I know the storms are coming, give him the meds before bed and it helps.
Good luck,
i think if its bad enough you can get a prescription from a vet for a medicine to knock him our or releive his anxiety.
have you read "marley and me"? so heartworming .. anyway, it centers on a dog who is freaked out of storms -- just something lighthearted to read so you can commiserate!
We had a neighbor who had an Akita who went absolutely beserk when it thunderstormed and the dog was home alone, so much to the point that it would hurl itself out the front picture window (even injuring itself in the process) to try to find comfort with SOMEONE, ANYONE to be near during the storm. We found this poor pup on our front steps or at our door during MANY storms, as had several other neighbors. In an attempt to stop the dog from hurting himself, the neighbor began crating the dog when he'd be gone during a storm.....Didn't work...the dog literally tore the crate to shreds, managed to get himself loose and still jumped out the window and came to our house, VERY injured. The neighbor took the dog to the vet, explained what happened, and was told by the vet that the by crating the dog, he'd created even MORE fear and apprehension. The Vet also told our neighbor that the dog will eventually associate crating with storms and it will be harder to crate him when its necessary. So even though I don't have any good solution for you, I wanted to provide this story as a warning about crating her for storms.
does she have a lovey? We had a dog for awhile that had a stuffed dog that lived in her crate with her.
Also, is it possible to crate the dogs together in one big crate?
Check with your vet and see if it is o.k to give the dog some benadryl.
