afraid of thunder

A quick fix is to use a t-shirt. Put it on your dog, then cinch it up on their back so it is nice and snug. My kids have done this successfully with their dogs. My sister has several dogs scared of thunder and she does the same thing. They all claim it works great.

Dale

kickstart wrote:
One thing I have used is dryer sheets .lightning produces static electricity which will mess with a dog's fur, Rub a dryer sheet over the dog and it should remove the static.

I've also heard this. The static electricity from atmospheric changes is irritating to the dog.

campn4walleye wrote:
His fear is not as bad as some. If he's out of his kennel, he's fine.

We don't react to thunder or coddle him. He just sits in his kennel making low growling noises.

Just a crazy thought, here: All dogs "protect": either us or their property, or usually all-of-the-above. Maybe your dog worries he can't properly protect you/the house from the thunder interloper when he's in his crate - so is putting on a lovely show of aggression towards it? :-)

The reason I offer this: Jack, our late Cattle Dog, would go nuts with fireworks - but it wasn't fear - it was a display of bravado. Running around the yard with his hackles up and growling - keeping those "things" away from our house..... sigh....

Thank you for the help. I will try the thunder shirt. Your validations are good enough for me. I don't believe in meds (in this case). His fear is not as bad as some. If he's out of his kennel, he's fine.

We don't react to thunder or coddle him. He just sits in his kennel making low growling noises. I don't like knowing that he's in distress. It's his only issue. How can such a small dog be such a bed hog?:B

He's a darling.

One thing I have used is dryer sheets .lightning produces static electricity which will mess with a dog's fur, Rub a dryer sheet over the dog and it should remove the static.

We should thank Temple Grandin, PhD for the concepts behind thundershirts.

Actually we just had this come up this year with our approximately 5 y/o rescue Boston. This year he is extremely anxious around thunder or other strange noises. I was recommend here to try the Thunder Shirt. We have had it now for about 10 days and have been through 3 pretty major thunderstorms and we simply cannot believe how well they work. Like many before me I highly recommend them.

This past weekend he starting getting very anxious and the wife asked if it was suppose to storm and I said yes but not until the wee hours of the morning. He must have sensed it as about 10 minutes later it broke loose. We put the thunder shirt on and he layed down on the couch beside the wife and went sound asleep. We are actually ordering a second one just too keep in the camper being's he's our full time camping partner. All I can say is WOW!

Get your dog used to wearing the Thundershirt from time to time when there IS no thunder so he doesn't associated it with something unpleasant. The swaddling effect really is calming to most dogs.

I've had some success with the Thundershirt. Don't let him out of the crate/up on the bed, etc when he's upset...it's a scam, and he's playing you!
If the Thundershirt doesn't work, the type of drugs BCSnob mentioned would be the next thing I'd try.

Incidentally, if he's already out of the crate when the thunder starts, don't put him in. The key is to remain status quo. If he's loose in the house when the thunder starts up, try to make a game of "hear a boom, get a piece of kibble".

Our girl has issues with fireworks. We have had great success with a product called Bachflower. They are herbal supplements available at health food stores. You look up the issues (anxiety, stress, fears) and use the supplement to help it. We put the drops in her water everyday and put the drops directly on a treat for immediate needs. We have seen vast improvements. Beware you can go to specialty shops and pay big $$$. We found them at NeutritionSmart and mixed them myself and saved some bucks.