The Sound of Thunder - Page 1

 I've had a dog who hid in the bathroom first rumble. It was so bad, we joked he could only watch movies rated PG (anything more violent was a big NO).

I also had a dog that when it thundered and lightninged, wanted to chase it down and bite it. 

What do you make of that behaviour? Can''t be normal!

RONNIE ducks at loud noises now.  His kids may be out to get him.  LOL

The Chessie always figured she was being left behind from hunting when there was fireworks or thunder and lightening.  Ticked her off, she wanted to go with!  None of my GSD's even blink at loud noises, I never worry about storms or fireworks.  And I'm the one that only watches non scary movies........

     Duke is a thunder runner,chaser. I have to really watch him when it thunders. He is off like a rocket, in the direction of the thunder, And my Curly-girl will take the doors down to get in and hide as soon as,what I think,she feels it. She is off and hiding long before I hear it. Most of my others really don't care one way or another.

Mine don't mind it atall... thankfully!   Jack (deceased) felt the need to give any thunder storm a good barking at when it first started... sounds mad, but I think he was showing Gabi (who was affraid of thunder) that there was nothing to worry about.  She eventually, paid little attention to it herself. 

Never even heard of one that chased it!  Sounds hilarious!

I've never had a dog that was afraid of thunder/lightning - had a girl years ago though who was terrified of fireworks..... poor liitle thing used to shake and hide in the darkest corner. Rescue Remedy helped......

 I have heard of many dogs (of different breeds) throughout the years being a afraid of a thunder storm. I know that many vets prescribe Xanax for this... It is a CNS depressant that basically "chills them out". 

However, before medicating, I would see if the handler's behavior might be contributing to this. I think that handlers, pet owners especially, "baby" there dogs when things like this happen, and they unknowingly add to the problem. Although there intention is to soothe the dog, they end up conveying to the dog that it is okay to be freaked out when a storm hits, or whatever the scary distraction might be. If this happened to my dog, I would first try to change the subject with a ball, food, etc... Show them that life goes on even with scary stuff happening all around you. If this did not work, I would then maybe consult my vet and consider some sort of prescription remedy, as I have seen some dogs (non GSD) shake on the verge of having a seizure when a storm passes through.

I know that dogs that are really thunderstorm phobic or have extensive sound issues the redirect to ball playing or food or what ever.  The problem whether it be genetic or possibly vaccine induced will very soldom be helped by redirect, ignoring or tough love.  A dog that is truly locked into it's fear zone can not be helped by redirecting, ignoring or what every.  This goes to the absolute core of the dog, they can not focus, they can not respond to your commands, by asking more out of the dog than they can handle or deliver just makes the problem even worse.

Things that may help, as each dog responds differently are:
Rescue Remedy
Melatonin
let the dog find it's safe spot (bath tub, closet, basement)
use what I call flooding techique, turn on a fan near the dog (fan helps disquise thunder), turn on the radio and turn on the TV.   I have found that don't laugh War Movies help my dog.  I have things like Pearl Harbor, Midway, Band of Brothers (11 hours all taped together), Saving Private Ryan and several more.
Tellington Touch
Body Wraps
Storm Cape

The things that have worked best for by dog are Tellington Touch, I use ear and head work on her when she isn't having problems so I can some times help her.  Getting her to HER safe Zone and her War Movies.  My dog gets so locked in her fear zone that all she wants to do is escape, she has no clue where she would go.  She designated her own Safe Zone and when storms are coming that is where she heads.

Val