Noise Phobia

[Phaedra3]

I adopted my 5th greyhound 2 months ago only to discover that he has severe noise phobia.   Fireworks, thunder, gun shots or any loud noise. He can sense a storm coming several hours before it arrives.  He will refuse to go outside before and several hours after a noise event.  He has held his pee for 12+ hours due to his fear.   Once he is in this state of mind he also will growl and snap  at us if we get too close.   My vet just gave me trazadone to try and I tried it for the first time yesterday and it did seem to make him sleepy. We are expecting thunderstorms almost everyday this week now so another stressful week ahead of us.  The July 4th holiday was terrible for him.   He is majorly affected by these events before, during and after.   The rescue group suggested a behavioral trainer but finding a greyhound savvy one will be almost impossible where I live.  He is the only dog presently in the house as I lost 2 hounds in 2020.   Any help with this would be appreciated.   

[1Moregrey]

You could try to desensitize him by getting a recording of the sounds that bother him most.  Thunderstorms might be the easiest to find and play it in a very low almost so you can not hear it in the farthest room from where he is.  Would be easier with two people.  Have him do a few things (mini training session) look at you, sit, lay down etc.  a minute or less a few times a day.  As long as he does not react you can slowly increase the time/volume to desensitize him.  

If he is responding to air pressure atmospheric conditions you could try a thunder shirt too.

[HeyRunDog]

The Dogs Trust have free downloads of scary sounds and booklets for dogs to help with their phobias

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/dog-behaviour-health/sound-therapy-for-pets