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Does your dog hate thunder?
By cuzzy | January 22, 2008
Loud thunder can even make an adult jump so it is expected that it could really freak out a dog. We have all read Marley & Me and know what can happen.
Bosco could sleep through a bomb in his bed so I guess I am lucky.
For those of you who have a dog that can’t stand the noice there is an interesting article in the Herald that you should read.
Rick Conrad covers it in his weekly Petpourri column.
DOGS and thunder just don’t mix.
And for those of us with pooches who get freaked in the spring, summer and fall by Mother Nature’s rumblings, winter can be shelter from the storm.
Or at least it usually is.
Already this winter, we’ve had at least a couple of thunderous disturbÂances.
So I called Hubert’s dog walker Adina MacRae, who is also a dog trainer and behaviourist, for some quick fixes on how to deal with thunÂder- (or snowplow-) triggered anxiety.
As you might have guessed, there are no quick fixes. It could take up to three months or more to alleviate the fear factor, according to Adina, who runs Adina’s K9 Coaching (k9coach.ca). She and her partÂner also have seven dogs of their own, so they’ve had lots of experience with various pooch personalities.
For the full story you can go here.
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Topics: Halifax, dog news, info, tips and advice |
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:39 pm
My dogs are afraid of their own shadows. They bark at everything.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 am
Aww yes…waking up with a 70lb dog on my head every time it rains is just another sweet part of doggie ownership! Thanks for the article.
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Hi. Love your blog–just found it. Coincidentally, I happen to have just posted an article for this evening’s edition of my blog extolling the virtues of chocolate Lab rescue dogs!
On the anxiety issue and thunderstarm phobia. I read the article you referenced and while I agree with it I have one persnickety comment about it. The trainer he references urges owners to stay away from drugs. While I would ordinarily agree, the feeling of veterinary behaviorists on this issues has changed in recent years and I thought you should know. They now recommend starting the drugs (for a few months at a time, certainly not for a lifetime) earlier in the process–before they get to the point where they’re freaking out more with each subsequent season, as typically happens. The drugs (Reconcile, Clomicalm) are dog-approved and help pets adapt to the behavior modification techniques which are the mainstay of treatment. We consider the drugs just as a sideline benefit, certainly not as the quick fix so many tend to expect.
Cheers!
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:29 pm
thanks for the comments.
May 30th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
I have 2 dogs and they are polar opposites. One shakes so much you could use him to make churn butter. The other looks up at a loud crash of thunder and rolls back over. I wish there was something I could do to calm him down. He is a very nervous dog when we rescued him.