Dealing with Dogs and Thunderstorms
Over Memorial Day weekend, the dogs and I spent a great deal of time inside due to extreme heat and thunderstorms.
Comforting Daisy was one of my most important tasks at that time. As she shivered and panted through the boomers, I played music from Through A Dog’s Ear and put her in her Thundershirt.
As we face another round of storms coming up this weekend, I thought I would share some great tools, tips and links that were recently shared by Minnesota Sheltie Rescue. If you have a dog who suffers and shakes in fear during thunderstorms (and fireworks), you may want to check these out.
Create a safe place – The safe place should preferably be sound insulated (soundproof wallboard is an option) and have small or no windows, or covered windows.
Have super yummy treats handy (not day-to-day treats, something exceptional, human foods work well) After every boom, offer a piece of treat. Give the treat instantly, as soon as the noise is heard, but not before. For dogs who don’t eat, just offer the treat after every boom, making a (quiet) big deal out of it (“oooh, look what mommy’s got…!”).
Thundershirt– the best solution for dog anxiety
Thunderstorm cape – A cape to help calm your dog’s anxiety
Calming Cap – worn over the eyes
Mutt Muffs – Protects your dogs ears and can drown out the sound
Comfort Zone D.A.P. plug-in diffuser/collar/spray
TTouch – Use touch to help calm your dog
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
Through a Dog’s Ear – calming music
Essential oils (therapeutic grade) diffused or applied, Young Living Peace & Calming
Hug therapy: Yes, it’s o.k. to hold your dog if your dog seems to find comfort in that! Fear is an emotion, not a behavior. Good things as perceived by the dog lessen fear, bad things intensify fear.
Please consult your vet when using the following:
Melatonin, 1.5 mg tablets (not capsules, not time-released, not sublingual, without extra ingredients). The dose is given either at first evidence of storm or prophylactically when storms are predicted. Dose may be repeated up to 3 times daily.
Composure (also available in liquid)
Homeopathy, consult a veterinarian who practices homeopathy on animals, to make sure you are using the right remedies
Flower essences: www.petessences.com, www.bachflower.com, www.greenhopeessences.com, you can combine up to 7 essences at once, dosing at 4 drops 4 times a day
Medication is NOT A LAST RESORT! Storm phobias tend to only get worse – the sooner you address your dog’s anxiety, the more successful you will be and the sooner relief is found. DO NOT use ACEPROMAZINE with herding breeds. (Update: Based on feedback from several sources, I would NOT use Acepromazine with ANY FEARFUL dogs.)
Dog Anxiety Medications – Information on various medications for dogs.
Some additional information on how to cope with your dog’s anxiety:
Patricia McConnell, Ph.D. – Thunder Phobia in Dogs
Fearfuldogs.com – Storm and Sound Phobias
Leave a comment
No Dog About It Blog 
What a great compilation of links! I’ll be sure to pass these on. Thanks for putting them all together! I hope your upcoming weekend is less stressful on you and Daisy than you expect.
I agree, great links. If it’s okay, I’ll put them on my blog “twoearsandatail.blogspot.com” to pass on the information. I don’t have many followers yet, but every extra person will help the pups get through their anxiety. BJ suffers from that terrible.
Please do share them Lynda! Spreading the word to help others is a good thing!
(P.S. I need to stop over to your blog. So sorry. I am so behind.)
What a great list – Ill pass that on to people I know who can use that. My dog could care less about thuderstorms so we seem to be okay in that department but I know so many dogs who are scared, great info
An excellent post. Sampson sometimes will run outside and bark at the sky if the thunder is particularly loud. 🙂 As a child our GSD was terrified, he would climb up on top of you and shake like a leaf. I’m glad there are so many options available now.
Hi Mel,
Great List…We also use the ThunderShirt ans Treats after every boom. Our Girl Penny seems to go into all the rooms trying to find a quiet place and she usually ends up in the basement or the master bathroom. We feel so bad for her, she shakes like a leaf and pants the whole time. We hug her, we lay down with her. Anything to calm her down. But somtimes the storms last for hours….:-( WE gfeel so bad for Penny.
I know what you mean Alex. I got through many of the same things. I have a Thundershirt and that helps, but sometimes when it’s really bad I will put on Through A Dog’s Ear music and it does what I cannot do. Daisy will usually sleep or at least relax a bit. Maybe that will help Penny? Someone also commented that they used Melatonin and it made all the difference. Worth a try. It’s so hard to see them suffer like this isn’t it?
it sure is Mel,
What is Through A Dog’s Ear Music?
We tried Melatonin once and made Penny Naucious.
Oh no! I am sorry the melatonin made her sick. Through A Dog’s Ear is music designed to be calming for dogs. Here’s the link: http://throughadogsear.com/ I highly recommend it. You can download one song from iTunes to see how it works, but there are lots of CDs to choose from, including ones Lisa designed for dealing with thunderstorms. Victoria Stilwell has joined up with LIsa to promote them.
This is SO timely! We had storms yesterday, though by bedtime the thunder had stopped. At least at human levels I couldn’t hear it but poor Fletch was crying and panting heavily all night! Meanwhile Petunia was asleep next to her dad like she could care less. We plan to invest in a Thundershirt for Fletchy and we’ll let you know how he does with it.
Mel I am curious as to why you write that Acepromazine should not be given to herding breeds? The link doesn’t say that at all. My previous vet (in another state) was AWESOME, almost homeopathic, very concerned for what is healthy for dogs and what is not. He gave me an oral blend of “Ace” for Petunia who is part Border Collie and did not mention any issues related to breed. Now, I do NOT use it all the time, didn’t even give it to either dog last night during the storm and missed the comment when reading earlier. I forwarded your post to a friend who also has a thunder-nervous dog and she brought the line to my attention. Would you address that bit in more detail or send me a private note? Thanks so much!
Ace is a tranquilizer, not an anti-anxiety drug. The effect of the drug is that it suppresses the nervous system, inhibiting behaviors and making dogs slow and non-reactive enough that they seem calm.
If you were to give a relatively fearful dog – let’s say a dog who is afraid of thunderstorms – Ace as a means to help the dog…. and then you were to hook up a brain scanner to the dog in order to see what’s going on …. You would see a violent uptake in the fearful reaction in the brain. You basically have a fearful dog who is unable to “escape” because his ability to move himself is so suppressed.
You can check out this article. http://fearfuldogs.com/acepromazine/
I don’t think it should be used on any fearful dog… I can’t imagine being subdued to the point where I was dopey – barely able to move about – but still terrified. It truly does nothing to calm the dog. It merely sedates him.
Ace is extremely appropriate for your stereotypical, happy goldendoodle who fears nothing and can’t sit still at the vet… who either risks injuring himself or someone else during a procedure or is about to get surgery.
The drug also has a number of crazy side-effects, some of which are: arrhythmia, low blood pressure, over excitement leading to severe aggression, a lowering of the overall body temperature, an irreversible elevating of the third eyelid, seizures…and the list goes on.I imagine that herding breeds are particularly susceptible to one or more of the possible side-effects, but I couldn’t tell you which one.
I have only found one, maybe two, articles that dare to claim that Ace decreases anxiety.
….I’ve had a number of clients use the drug, and I’ve never observed a decrease in overall anxiety. I’ve only ever observed a severe increase in the dogs on the medication when they are exposed to their trigger (the thing they fear). The may move slower, but I usually observe things like whale eye, trembling, hardening of the muzzle, yawning, lip licking, etc. Some of the dogs are so suppressed that they can’t even stand on all four paws.
If I were you… I’d do my research and make a decision for myself. Personally, I wouldn’t put my own dog through that sort of chemical sedation knowing what I know – both on a neurological and anecdotal scale – about the drug.
Thank you for sharing more info on Ace Julie. I shared the list, but wasn’t as experienced with it. I’m going to add a note to ask people to read the comments on this one so they can make an educated decision. Thank you for commenting.
Hi Petunia and Fletch’s mom. Some herding breeds are more susceptible to some drugs than others. Many herding breeds don’t get Heartguard, but Interceptor instead because there is a gene that is in some herding dogs that causes the drug to have an adverse affect. I had a dog client, a Collie, who could not take certain drugs because he had this gene. It’s pretty rare, but most vets like to be cautious, just in case.
I don’t know a lot about Ace, but you may want to read some of the comments further down.
Great list! I am bookmarking it for whenever I see someone asking what they can use for a dog with thunderstorm/firework anxiety.
I had a shepherd mix who suffered from this quite a few years ago. I did use Ace at first and it pretty much knocked her out to the point I had to check and make sure she was breathing. Not really the effect I wanted. I was glad when I found out about melatonin and even gladder when it worked for us. She was her normal self which was great because her anxiety would get everyone else worked up too. Once she got older and her hearing wasn’t as good, the storms never bothered her.
Thanks for sharing Dawn. I don’t like the drugged up effect either. I am glad you and JJ shared some additional info on Ace.
I am also glad you shared your own personal experience with melatonin. I will definitely check it out!
The majority of dogs that are afraid of T-storms will always be afraid of them. Being close to the “boss” is about the only thing we’ve seen that reduces the anxiety somewhat.