Dog Fears Thunder, Fireworks. Suggestions?

Professor Snugglesworth

Our wonderful Golden Retriever has a common fear of loud noises, specifically thunder, fireworks and firecrackers. Often when one of these things occur, he'll quickly make his way upstairs to my room and park himself on the foot of my bed. Much as I enjoy his company, I grow worried that his anxieties are becoming worse and worse.

One night on New Year's Eve, the unrelenting fireworks caused him to freeze up and start chewing away his fur, and we could feel his heart racing real fast. We had a neighbor whose dog became so terrified by fireworks he ultimately had to be put down due to the shock. The 4th of July is coming up soon, so you can see why I'm growing concerned here.

I've read about some air freshener-type devices you can plug into an outlet, which lets out some smells that are supposed to calm dogs down during thunderstorms, but I wanted your advice on what would work best to keep him relaxed during the next big storm or celebration.

mts

eh, the best way to do it is to not over react yourself and treat for when they are calm during the storm.
if you are freaking out expecting your dog to freak it, it just justifies the freakout. some dogs react poorly

our dog never used to care about noises but as she has gotten older she has started reacting to things like lightning more. our friends dog will dive under trucks or cower in terror if she hears a UPS truck go past

we "used" cat phermones (feliway) for other reasons and i don't think they really work that well.

Aldo

We turn on loud music during new year's day, it just drowns out the noise of loud bangs.

If it's really bad I think you should look into sedatives.

Oh and dogs are great copycats, as mts says: you stay calm and act like it's nothing and your dog will probably think with its peanut brains that the rest of the pack is not bothered so maybe he should chillax as well.

Professor Snugglesworth

Keep in mind no one in the family freaks out (outwardly) when the dog does. We just gather around him and try to calm him down with soothing pet talk and so on.

VisionOfClarity

If you're all gathering around him you could be freaking him out by smothering him.

Professor Snugglesworth

We do it to try calming him down. During the last New Year's spectacle, he was all alone in the house while we were away. We found him hurdled under the bed, shaking nervously and chewing his fur.

I don't think ignoring him would work here.

Metalbourne

VisionOfClarity wrote: »

If you're all gathering around him you could be freaking him out by smothering him.

Basically, when you gather around him, you're all saying to him with your body language, "Oh shit protect me!"

The affection only reinforces that, as you're telling him that you're desperate to buy his protection. When your dog is scared, the thing to do is be a good leader. If you're on the couch reading a book, stay on the couch reading your book. The dog thinks, 'well hey this is scary as hell but the guy in charge doesn't seem to be afraid"

Aldo

Metalbourne wrote: »

Basically, when you gather around him, you're all saying to him with your body language, "Oh shit protect me!"

The affection only reinforces that, as you're telling him that you're desperate to buy his protection. When your dog is scared, the thing to do is be a good leader. If you're on the couch reading a book, stay on the couch reading your book. The dog thinks, 'well hey this is scary as hell but the guy in charge doesn't seem to be afraid"

I don't think it's getting translated to "oh shit protect me" in dog-language, but it certainly gives the dog the idea that something is awry.

Just act casual is what my dad used to say.

chrisofthedale

My black lab hates smoke detectors (smoke now as well) and thunder, she would always come running to me trembling, wanting to cuddle. I found that when I would pet her and talk to her in a soothing voice it would make her trembling worse, even just acknowledging her presence at all would make it worse. I tried ignoring her completely and that seemed to work, she would still come to me trembling, but as soon as she saw I didn't care, she would calm down.

GungHo

Nothing you can do about that but give them exposure to noises and treating when he's calm, as mts says.

If you're hollaring at him for freaking out or if you're babying him for freaking out or getting tense yourself in anticipation of him freaking out, then you're contributing to the problem. Honestly, the best thing you can do is play with him or give him a bath or something so he's not focused on the noise.

You can exercise the shit out of him during the day before the fireworks so he's too tired to care about the fireworks.

You can try a white noise machine to block out the sound or put him in a room that is insulated from a lot of exterior sound.

You can try desensitizing him by using a recording of a thunderstorm/fireworks played quietly and then turned up over a period of time, treating him when he's obeing commands to relax. It takes a lot of patience and may take a few weeks to do this. He'll fail a few times.

You can try counter-conditioning him by giving his favorite treats or his favorite toy during the event so that he looks forward to the storm as an opportunity to play.

The most extreme options you have are to relocate somewhere where there's not a bunch of fireworks or to give him medication during 4th of July/New Years.

VisionOfClarity

When you crowd the dog you're not helping him, you're likely stressing him out more. One maybe two at most people should go over to him. He should have enough room to not feel his space is invaded. The more people that are there the more freaked he will get.

There's also the fact that some dogs will never be comfortable with thunder. My mom's friend has a dog that was rescued from a sewer drain after a really bad storm. The dog is absolutely terrified of thunder 5 year s later and it's likely it will never be ok with it. The only solution was to bring him to the basement and sit with him where the thunder was much quieter. Eventually the dog would go down alone to ride out storms.

Dropping Loads

The vet can sell you very good sedatives for cheap.

Our dog is normally great in the car, but when we go camping he throws himself into the windows when we're going up switchbacks. I guess the rapid tight turning just messes with his balance. One sedative and he's down for a few hours, wakes up happy.

Dr. Frenchenstein

You're reinforcing the behavior, when you baby talk and "soothe" him, you are basically saying "yeah man, this shit IS scary"

it can take a lot of work to fix that i think. it's kinda tough to desensitize them to that kind of thing, as it's difficult to recreate.

My dog is afraid of my swiss ball, but could care less about thunder.

WildEEP

I've had dogs like this all the time - Just hit the vets office and tell them whats up.
For loud holidays nothing beats Doggie Benadryl. They'll sleep for hours and then be fine.

Kistra

mts wrote: »

eh, the best way to do it is to not over react yourself and treat for when they are calm during the storm.
if you are freaking out expecting your dog to freak it, it just justifies the freakout. some dogs react poorly

This works if the dogs isn't worried themselves or is only a little bit worried. If the dog has an all out sound phobia the owner being calm isn't going to do anything to help. How extreme is your dog's reaction? Will your dog take treats? How long does it take for them to calm back down?

You might want to talk to your vet. They should be able to give you advice on whether it sounds like your dog is just worried and you can get through it with counter-conditioning (think pavlov's dogs with thunder instead of a bell) or if your dog is truly phobic they will give you a prescription for something like Xanax. Unless your dog is really tiny you should be able to use one of the human formulations and you can get them at walmart for $4 so it wont break the bank to do this if it is what your dog needs.

GungHo

Dr. Frenchenstein wrote: »

it can take a lot of work to fix that i think. it's kinda tough to desensitize them to that kind of thing, as it's difficult to recreate.

You can try recordings on your computer, but it's not the same.

I have a buddy that would take his dog to the gun range and would sit in back of his SUV with the dog and play and the dog was no longer gun shy after a few weekends (he was going to use the dog for retrieving ducks).

Ferrus

It largely depends on how old your dog is.

With hunting dogs you usually "show" them what a gun sounds like while they're still puppies. The older the dog, the harder it becomes to get him used to loud noises.

Also I need to second/third/whatever the whole "Don't try to calm him" thing. Softly speaking to him only confuses him or, even worse, he'll think his anxiety is alright.

mts

you don't need special dog benedryl, regular people one works fine

Arminas

A friend has been interested in trying this out with her dogs because they also fear thunder. There was a really bad thunder storm recently that made them panic. It sounds like an easier shot than drugs, but what do I know. I like dogs, but don't own any

http://www.thundershirt.com/HowItWorks/

mts

i would be leary of that. they will associate the shirt with thunder/scary and the mere act of putting them on or pulling it out of the closet would freak them out

desperaterobots

My dog was scared of thunder too, also became anxious for a few hours if doors slammed because of wind running through the house. I'd just ignore the anxiety and give him a simple, reassuring pat, but if he looked particularly freaked out I'd hide a few treats around the house that he could sniff out as a distraction.

GungHo

mts wrote: »

i would be leary of that. they will associate the shirt with thunder/scary and the mere act of putting them on or pulling it out of the closet would freak them out

It'd be more acceptable if you played Thunderstruck every time you pulled it out of the closet. Maybe put an AC/DC patch on it. That way he knows he's gonna rock out.

Dogs react poorly when they think they're getting the gimp treatment.

Professor Snugglesworth

I tried the "strict commands+treat" method yesterday, and I think it's taking effect. Early today there were some massive thunderstorms, and rather than bury his face under a couch, he came hungrily running toward me in the kitchen, begging for some treats. He still followed my upstairs afterward, but he seemed pretty relaxed considering the louder-than-normal storms blasting away.

Metalbourne

Professor Snugglesworth wrote: »

I tried the "strict commands+treat" method yesterday, and I think it's taking effect. Early today there were some massive thunderstorms, and rather than bury his face under a couch, he came hungrily running toward me in the kitchen, begging for some treats. He still followed my upstairs afterward, but he seemed pretty relaxed considering the louder-than-normal storms blasting away.

Why? Because he's in the presence of a good leader.