Thunder And Lightening,"oh,no!"

[cleptogrey]

this has become annie's new mantra. she has taken on the characteristics of the cowardly lion in the wizard of oz! basically she has always be a shy dog, but has come out of her shell and is pretty secure of herself- after 2 years of residing here. annie will be 5 in september.

 

the frist summer we had her she managed very very well during an intense electrical storm at the beach which lasted all nigh. i leashed her to the bed and told her, "down, back to bed." nothing dramatic, she survived.

 

since there are been some pretty freaky electrical storms with huge branches/limbs falling and some crashing into our driveway, hitting gutters, ect- remember last oct 29Th(my birthday) that freak snow storm. she also tolerated the arborist the year before and after the storm with out any major problems.

 

once when boarded she slipped out the door, inbetween my friend's legs, when my friend's young dog was being turned out. annie generally has an excellent recall but when she scooted out, crash/bang a bolt of lighting and thunder....december in ny? she freaked, ran in the pouring rain and luckly annie returned to the house's garage- left open- after falling in a pond and an excusion thru the woods in the storm. that chokes all of us when we think of it. the next day annie was FINE- that night after the storm subsided and a bath, she just conked out.

 

it's spring time in ny and the storms have been rolling in. felix doesn't flinch, he barks at thunder and would run like a mad dog if i let him, he loves storms! yesterday the two were running like mad in the drizzle then ran so during a regular rain, she's fine. at night....it's a different story. 2 nights in a row, storms...2 nights in a row, pacing-panting-shaking. felix sleeps in his security crate(he won't get out of it) and annie moved herself into our bedroom(which is an icebox) during the winter.she normally doesn't budge off of her bed- one comatose pupper at night.

 

i put the ridgid creature into bed during the storm. she shook,panted,shook. wrapped her up tight in a blanket, it worked the first night- not the second night. after the storm passes she's back in her bed.

 

any suggesstions? i'm not one for drugs, less is more in my book. behavior mod, training tricks? stick her in the bathtub so she's grounded? let's hear what i can do to recondition her. when we had tons of noisy tree work i stuck her in a crate w/ kongs. kongs to her are ...the ultimate!

thanks for sharing your knowledge in advance.

[Jerilyn]

I feel your pain, two nights of storms here too. And I don't have any really helpful suggestions. I have seen some reduction in Lila's stress with Rescue Remedy but that seems to be something that works for some dogs and not others. I have contemplated the desensitization CDs but she does not react to noises on the TV so I assume she can tell the difference and they wouldn't work. The Thundershirt is next on my list to try.

 

I have found that Lila is calmer if I sit by her and pet her or quietly talk to her. Some people think that just reinforces their fears, I don't think so. If a child was scared and upset would you just ignore them? Patricia McConnell advocates counter conditioning, thunder = chicken or some other delicious thing.

 

I hope you find a solution that works for Annie.

[Walliered]

I feel for you because I have one just like her. NOTHING has helped including several drugs from the vet. We just suffer through the storms.

[OwnedBySummer]

Summer shakes and trembles and goes to her special thunderstorm hiding spot. BUT if I get the Thundershirt on her in time... she's still afraid and still often goes upstairs BUT she goes on my bed and actually sleeps, instead of going to the hiding spot. Sometimes, she will actually stay in the family room with us! Thundershirts aren't effective for every dog but you can buy them at your local pet store (at least, you can here so I assume you can there) or even online from them or from GEM in Michigan. I like the local pet store as they do have a return policy and if it doesn't work at all, you can return it within a certain time period and it's easy because it's your local store.

[Guest Tequila]

Would it help to have a TV or radio on loud? (not so loud that it's annoying, but so that it's a little bit of a distraction)? Maybe try a Thundershirt?

[Moneypenny]

I know this may sound silly......once when the power went out and my storm phobic boy could hear every thunder bolt and see every flash of lightening (it was nighttime), I read a book out loud to help calm him Hearing my voice seemed to offer him some comfort and he layed down and listened, he was still panting and concerned, but he did lie down. I knew my voice offered him comfort, but ran out of things to say , so I thought, why not read out loud? He did better during storms with the power on because I would turn up the tv and keep lots of lights on so he couldn't see the lightening, but without power I had to improvise

 

I have heard good things about the thundershirt, I don't have any storm phobic dogs right now, so I haven't tried it personally, but for some hounds I hear it works wonders.

[EddiesMom15]

Sweet Pea is helped by a Thundershirt, however it does not eliminate the need for drugs. If the storm isn't too bad, she can get by with one Benadryl. If it's bad, or at night, she needs a Benadryl and a 25 mg ACE. For best result, I need to pill her about an hour before the storm arrives. Will be watching the radar today! We have popcorn thunderstorms forecast.

 

Editing to add: We've been suprised by thunderstorms the last two nights. Both mornings we awoke to find that Sweet Pea had the poop scared out of her, literally.

Edited May 3, 2012 by EddiesMom15

[GreyTzu]

Thundershirt!!!

 

http://www.thundershirt.com/

[cleptogrey]

generally i ignore, but this is occuring at 3 or 4 in the morning.so, no radio or music at that hour. in the past, a distraction worked well- THE ALMIGHTY KONG! and me looking away. but she was swaddled(same as a thunder shirt) and pet, i'm exhuasted and it now looks like T storms all night! we shall!

[cleptogrey]

generally i ignore, but this is occuring at 3 or 4 in the morning.so, no radio or music at that hour. in the past, a distraction worked well- THE ALMIGHTY KONG! and me looking away. but she was swaddled(same as a thunder shirt) and pet, i'm exhuasted and it now looks like T storms all night! we shall!

i just pulled out one of emily's old tummywarmers(i made it). the design is similar to a thundercoat and w/ annie's deep chest it's really snugg on her. she generally has tried to undo the velcro. hopefully she won't be too hot, this girl likes to hang out in the snow w/o a coat on! storms are predicted from 1am on thru the morning,off to the health food store tomorrow to see what i can find-

[BatterseaBrindl]

Thundershirt!!!

 

http://www.thundershirt.com/

 

Yup!

It has worked on our aged GSD and three friends Greys.

[cleptogrey]

well, put the coat on, she did wake up just before the first strike of lightening, stood at the side of the bed. i lifted her up, put her in and voile...she settled and went back to bed. no shaking, no panting! let's see if the tight fitting coat helped or what. i do communicate w/ greycare on facebook. it was started by an australian vet who has had greys for years. she had some good suggestions as well and a "scarey noise" cd for desensitizing. check it out.. thanks for the help guy

[Guest BrianRke]

Sweet Pea is helped by a Thundershirt, however it does not eliminate the need for drugs. If the storm isn't too bad, she can get by with one Benadryl. If it's bad, or at night, she needs a Benadryl and a 25 mg ACE. For best result, I need to pill her about an hour before the storm arrives. Will be watching the radar today! We have popcorn thunderstorms forecast.

 

Editing to add: We've been suprised by thunderstorms the last two nights. Both mornings we awoke to find that Sweet Pea had the poop scared out of her, literally.

You may want to read some of the threads about Ace. It does nothing to calm your dog, it makes it so they can not react but they are still terrified inside. In my opinion it should NEVER be used to treat anxiety simply because it is NOT an anti-anxiety drug, it is a tranquilizer. Xanax or Valium is a much kinder option.

[cleptogrey]

my aim is to treat it w/ behavior mod and stay away from drugs. for a couple of years i had the pleasure of keeping a neighbhor's/friend's grey who had seperation issues as well as storm thobia here w/ my calm, cool, collected grey emily while my friend was at work.my friend's grey used to open the door and wander the neighborhood when left alone. when she couldn't open the door she went thru a plate glass window. she also broke a crate escaping! my friends dog was exactly the same w/ her drugs, just stoned and pacing and panting. but she wasn't destructive or crazy when she was with emily, so she used to hang here.

 

i'll be saving bully sticks for annie when a daytime storm hits, a safe secure crate and a bully stick as well as working w/ her and the 'scarey sounds' with good treats- she's super food motivated, will take time...but i'll give it a try.

[Guest BrianRke]

my aim is to treat it w/ behavior mod and stay away from drugs. for a couple of years i had the pleasure of keeping a neighbhor's/friend's grey who had seperation issues as well as storm thobia here w/ my calm, cool, collected grey emily while my friend was at work.my friend's grey used to open the door and wander the neighborhood when left alone. when she couldn't open the door she went thru a plate glass window. she also broke a crate escaping! my friends dog was exactly the same w/ her drugs, just stoned and pacing and panting. but she wasn't destructive or crazy when she was with emily, so she used to hang here.

 

i'll be saving bully sticks for annie when a daytime storm hits, a safe secure crate and a bully stick as well as working w/ her and the 'scarey sounds' with good treats- she's super food motivated, will take time...but i'll give it a try.

Good luck. I hope that works out. I tried EVERYTHING you mentioned and some other things with Diamond and none of it worked. She is very food motivated but wants nothing to do with any type of food during a storm. My other 2 greys dont care about storms at all. They go on like nothing is happening. I was hoping Diamond would learn from them, but no such luck. I wanted to stay away from drugs too, and it was my last resort. Diamond drools so much she was becoming dehydrated to the point it was dangerous for her health so I had to do something. Xanax is the only thing that works on her.

[carol]

Baylee our 6yr. old female is scared of the storms, shakes drools that her chest was soaked, always trying to get in a corner. Tried benadryl, rescue remedy, nothing worked that well. We have a large closet on the first floor of our home, I was shocked to see Baylee curled up in the corner when I returned home from work. We did have a storm that day, she seemed to pretty calm. When we start the storm seasons I always make sure that closet door is open , when I know a storm is predicted I leave the radio on and I also put a dog bed in the closet for her. Seems to work for her!

[msjpk]

Last night we had bad storms. Plummer was pacing and distressed.

I gave him Rescue Remedy and thankfully he laid down and weathered the storm.

[GreytNut]

Rescue Remedy may help. Playing some music or turning the TV on to help drown out the noise might also help. Giving her a safe place to hang out like a closet or bathroom also helps.

 

Fortunately neither Raven nor Riley care about thunderstorms (good thing, because we had severe storms one after the other last night) but Argus was terrified of them. The Storm Defender cape didn't help him because he was frightened by the sound of thunder, not by the electricity. Anything that sounded like thunder--like moving a cooler across an upstairs floor--would set him to shaking, panting and sometimes peeing on himself. Rescue Remedy did seem to take the edge off if given in time but it wasn't a total cure.

[cleptogrey]

the soundbible on the internet has lots of variations of storms, thunder, wind, rain and just about every sound that will make a sensitive dog bug out. i've started playing them softly and giving her treats and petting her while they are on. let's see if this works. playing music or anything of that sort at 4 or 5 am doesn't fly for me, as i mentioned i'm comatose and don't function very well in the middle of the night. during the day she finds comfort or what ever, thank d-g she's not destructive. but the bathroom is availabe- she can ground herself. not enough room in a closet even though the coat closet is always open during the day. she also has the crate- it's the night time disruptions that make me"meaner than a wolf"- (that's what my students giggle and tell each other when they are giving me a hard time and don't want to settle down. i have a fantastic group of students and they tell each other to watch out---- andrea will be meaner than a wolf!they all giggle and settle quickly)

 

have any of you used the herbs avaialbe on greyhound gang? one is targeted towards anxiety. most of the people around here don't have much success w/ rescue rememdy.

[Guest SusanP]

A good hiding place seems to help the most around here. In fact, I was just working on a lightweight storm shelter for our little Lab, Mabel, this morning, but I think it may be too small. I cut a large, styrofoam cooler into a cave, thinking we could put it where ever we wanted, and that it would help mute sound. The idea needs more work, and I don't think they make greyhound-sized coolers, though. Our Dr. Doug hides in an old soft-side crate draped with blankets in the basement. Zippy has never found much relief anywhere, but thankfully, her hearing is starting to go, and with some Alprazolam, she sleeps throught tinier storms now. I wish there were a one-size-fits all solution, but we have yet to find one. I've been reluctant to spend money on the Thundershirt after our experience with its predecessor, the Storm Defender Cape, which did nothing for her.

[Beachbum1]

A good hiding place seems to help the most around here. In fact, I was just working on a lightweight storm shelter for our little Lab, Mabel, this morning, but I think it may be too small. I cut a large, styrofoam cooler into a cave, thinking we could put it where ever we wanted, and that it would help mute sound. The idea needs more work, and I don't think they make greyhound-sized coolers, though. Our Dr. Doug hides in an old soft-side crate draped with blankets in the basement. Zippy has never found much relief anywhere, but thankfully, her hearing is starting to go, and with some Alprazolam, she sleeps throught tinier storms now. I wish there were a one-size-fits all solution, but we have yet to find one. I've been reluctant to spend money on the Thundershirt after our experience with its predecessor, the Storm Defender Cape, which did nothing for her.

PetSmart has a 60 day return policy on Thundershirts, and that would be plenty of time to see if it might work.

[EddiesMom15]

You may want to read some of the threads about Ace. It does nothing to calm your dog, it makes it so they can not react but they are still terrified inside. In my opinion it should NEVER be used to treat anxiety simply because it is NOT an anti-anxiety drug, it is a tranquilizer. Xanax or Valium is a much kinder option.

 

Thank you for your concern. I have already discussed switching to Xanax with my vet.

[Jerilyn]

Well, I tried the Thundershirt with Lila and instead of laying in her bed panting, she stood up and panted. She hates to wear any kind of clothes, so I'm sure that had something to do with it. She was not at all concerned with the thunder while I was feeding her bits of cheese.

[Walliered]

Neither Storm Defender or Thunder Shirt worked here. Nothing works here. I will try putting a dog bed in my closet, but will have to move all shoes, purses, etc. out of there as he eats things like that.

[lotsoffreetime]

we use the Thundershirt for Tiana, but it only works to a certain degree for her...we also use music, she hides in her crate, frozen in fear, she pants wildly, will not respond to touch, raw meat or any other type of food. I will massage her if I can get close to her (hard to do when she is in her crate, but if she is out pacing, I will do so). I will talk in a reassuring, upbeat voice to her. I have tried Rescue Remedy, and it did nothing. We are now using Aconite, and it has some benefit for her. I have heard people that use Melatonin, but we have not tried that yet. She is much better than she was two years ago when we got her...then we would have to carry her outside hours after a storm had passed to show her the weather was okay...at that point she would still be frozen in fear. Now, she will eventually come down by herself and willingly go outside.

 

I find the problem with Tiana, is it is not just storms, it is also what she sees as "scary noises" on tv or video games, even from our neighbour's house (we live in a semi-detached). She will bolt upstairs to her crate when we put a DVD on (a kids' Disney DVD). We won't see her until morning, no matter what we do. We continually do desensitization with her, but we cannot NOT watch tv or movies in our own home or ask that of our neighbours... I am hopeful that with more time, she will continue to improve.

 

It is nice to know I am not alone in dealing with these poor pups!