Guest SusanP Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 We adopted a middle-aged Labrador, a stray from the local shelter, last summer, and she has become very, very attached to her greyhound pack (We have 3 greyhounds). When we got her in August, Mabel showed no sign of thunder phobia. We were relieved, because two of our hounds are thunder-phobic, one severely so. Then this spring, the first time it thundered, Mabel got scared. Now she hides in closets, between the toilet and tub, shakes, pants, follows me around. Where did this come from? Could she have learned it from the other dogs, or was settling into a new home last summer stressful enough that it somehow masked this fear at the time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I think so. I think a lot of phobias are aquired, and that we often inadvertantly make them worse (I don't mean specifically YOU!). My old dog was always nervous when I had to fly with him (12 seater Cessna) back and forth to Nantucket. I swear my Mom, meaning well, made it all worse by "Oh poor baby"ing him all the time. On the other hand, Dad's last English Setter was terrified of thunder, and then one day he wasn't--turns out he had lost his hearing! Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnF Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 A severe thunderstorm will make any thinking pet animal just as uneasy as it does their humans; when there are high gusty winds as well I really don't like it either though I try not to make a fuss. With my last dog it was best to allow her to deal with it using displacement activity... she went to what she though was the safest part of the house (under my computer table as it so happens) and the thunder always went away. Peggy doesn't mind thunder so much, it's the hail, probably because we got caught outdoors once and I refused to go under the only tree nearby for shelter. I'll bet it was my own worries about lightning that did it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laur Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I'm not sure...I have thought about it. Our golden retriever ( almost 13) never was afraid as a youngster but from age 5 up it has become worse and worse. When it storms we turn on classical music for him, turn on the washing machine and other white noise/normal activity sounds,things that we normally do but MUST do if a storm is coming AND he goes in his crate. Uncrated he would try to run into the bathroom and squeeze under the toilet... or run upstairs and try to smash his way through a window onto the porch roof...peeing as he goes ! ( we have nightmares of possibly explaining to firemen why we have a freaking golden retreiver on our roof) We discovered last year having a fan on the top of his crate seems to work the best.. vibrations and the noise seem to block out the worst of the thunder,or maybe then he can't sense a storm approaching ? Of our 3 greys, one was thunderphobic, one looked mildly concerned but dozed, one slept soundly. The one that slept soundly only uncharacteristically reacted to a storm once... and he suffered a stroke the next day.. and now he has been thunderphobic ever since. Our original thunderfreaker has since past away. The 3rd remains mildly concerned, but dozes The 3 greys didn't hang out enough with the golden to transfer any learned behavior...not that we noticed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindles Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Thunderphobia can absolutely be learned. It can also be unlearned. Quote | Rachel | Dewty, Trigger, and Charlotte | Missing Dazzle, Echo, and Julio | Learn what your greyhound's life was like before becoming part of yours!"The only thing better than the cutest kitty in the world is any dog." -Daniel Tosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nichole Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I was told my 12 yr old return girl was afraid of thunderstorms. We do not make a big deal about storms, just situation normal. She has yet to even raise her head up from the dog bed during storms. Quote Flying Racine 7/25/08 and Twelve Pack 12/1/2004At the Bridge- Abenacki Icebox (Kiaba) 4/21/2002-4/1/10 and Wumps Niece (Tehya) 4/21/2002-11/26/2010www.greyhoundwelfare.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFullHouse Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Yes it can. I had two girls in my home and several boys when we brought Bebe in. Bebe had severe thunder phobia when we took her in and suddenly my girls Gee and Heart became thunder phobic. It was like they were feeding off of each other. Since the passing of both Gee and Heart, Bebe is not as bad as she was. Go figure. All my boys by the way were not bothered in the least. Quote Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I'm not sure and I've had lots of thunderphobic dogs. It does get worse with age. I had a Dobe who achieved her WAC with no problems, then as she aged and we moved to Houston she got very thunderphobic and she was an only dog when this happened, so she didn't learn it from anyone. I've also had them get better. Austin was close to ballistic when I got him and over the years, he got better. Found his safe spot and he would go there and he was fine. Poor Tootsie was the worst. She did like the CD and by the time we got to the third song her Calm Spirit was kicking in and she was ok -- as ok as she could be. Right now Batman is getting better and Isaac is getting worse. Quote Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrianRke Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I can only go by my personal experience with this. Diamond is VERY thunderphobic. Frank and Daytona are not, at all. The two boys act like they dont even know its happening and Diamond is a nervous wreck, drooling, panting, shaking, pacing, etc... So in this case, Diamond has never learned NOT to fear thunder being around Daytona and Frank, and the boys have never learned fear by being around Diamond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest madredhare Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 My oldest greyhound, Tom, was never scared of storms until we had a roof put on our house several years ago. Now he is not only scared of storms, he panics when he sees the flash of the camera. My sister did manage to break her greyhound of being scared of storms. I haven't had such luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrianRke Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 My oldest greyhound, Tom, was never scared of storms until we had a roof put on our house several years ago. Now he is not only scared of storms, he panics when he sees the flash of the camera. My sister did manage to break her greyhound of being scared of storms. I haven't had such luck. Diamond is afraid of camera flashes too. All someone has to do is point a camera at her and she freaks. This makes taking her to greyhound events very difficult because lots of people are taking pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.