Extreme fear of thunder storms.

[Everose]

First a little about Rose.
She's a ten year old mixed breed (probably anatolian and maybe little lab) Aussie. Spayed. One other playmate (Danny, a five year old BMC/beagle). No other fears or mental conditions (unless you consider rebellion a condition). She's always been very physically fit and only recently has her age begun to show.

Ever since she was a puppy she's had pretty intense fear of storms. Shaking, whining, and hyperventilating whenever a storm is coming.
I have used some meds prescribed by the vet when she was younger, but I really don't like drugging my dog. She's not super touchy feely so rubbing, or stroking her doesn't help. I've tried using dryer sheets, towels, dark spaces, ear massages, nothing seems to help.

Any suggestions for helping her relax during storms? I have always loved using natural methods so anything that doesn't require me shoving a pill down her throat would be much appreciated

 

[EverythingDucks]

My Yorkie has the same issue. She usually goes to hide in a closet during storms, but one thing that has helped is a CBD treat. She is very food motivated so a treat tends to distract her and the CBD calms her down. It works best if she gets the treat before it starts raining much.

Some people use thunder shirts, and it helps some dogs. Sometimes training can help but Rosie usually can't focus on anything when she's upset.

 

[Everose]

My Yorkie has the same issue. She usually goes to hide in a closet during storms, but one thing that has helped is a CBD treat. She is very food motivated so a treat tends to distract her and the CBD calms her down. It works best if she gets the treat before it starts raining much.

Thank you!
She loves treats, not so much when she's panicking because she won't eat, but before the storm I bet I could get her to eat one.

Some people use thunder shirts, and it helps some dogs. Sometimes training can help but Rosie usually can't focus on anything when she's upset.

I looked into those shirts but I'm pretty sure Rose would look at it and tell me to piss off. She's super fluffy when it's cold, and she's never worn sweaters or jackets.

 

[Gizabelle]

My parents had this problem early on with their mini aussie. After trying meds, etc. they decided to try... ice cream.
I know, sounds nuts, but they started buying doggy ice cream and only give it to him during a thunderstorm. Now when he hears the first roll of thunder he gets excited and waits happily by the fridge for his "storm treat."
In a really severe case such as yours, it probably won't work all on its own, but never underestimate the power of classical conditioning. It might be worth a try.

 

[Everose]

Now when he hears the first roll of thunder he gets excited and waits happily by the fridge for his "storm treat."

That made me laugh a litte

I'll have to try something like that. She has a hard time turning her attention, but maybe in the beginning it could help with the intense dread that she feels.

 

[cassie]

The Collie I had when I was a little girl was terrified of thunderstorms. So was my mother. During thunderstorms the two of them would be cowering in the back of an upstairs closet and I would be looking out the big window in the living room watching them.

 

[cassie]

The Collie I had when I was a little girl was terrified of thunderstorms. So was my mother. During thunderstorms the two of them would be cowering in the back of an upstairs closet and I would be looking out the big window in the living room watching them.

Ooops!! Double post. Sorry.

 

[Dandichook]

That made me laugh a litte

I'll have to try something like that. She has a hard time turning her attention, but maybe in the beginning it could help with the intense dread that she feels.

Something like this actually helped with our dog, who is generally high strung and sound sensitive. She doesn't mind storms anymore unless there is thunder loud enough to startle even us, and then she follows our cues.

I'll explain our method below in case it will be helpful. If not, sorry--just thought I'd share!

She is clicker trained, which helped, so you may want to work on click/treat first. The click was very important for us.

We did this first for fireworks, then thunder.
First, treats--find something smelly and a little chewy that she LOVES. Cut them into tiny little nibbles--we used pea-sized pieces. Find a YouTube video or some other recording of the scary loud sounds and bring your pup to sit beside you. Have a partner click play.

As soon as the sound first begins to play (loud enough to hear but not be startling) click and treat. My rule was, she gets tiny treats fed to her as fast as possible so long as the sound persists. I only click once at the beginning of each thunder sound to catch her attention and mark the thing that is causing her to be treated--then dispense treats as fast as possible until it's quiet. Basically we're keeping her too excited about the high value food to worry about the still very quiet thunder sound. Rinse and repeat, slowly increasing the volume *only* when she has fully relaxed at that volume...which may take multiple sessions.

Each session should be maybe 5-10 minutes.

We had to do it every day or two for a week or so before we had a big thunderstorm to do it "real-time" with her, which was a challenge (I sat and fed her treats for more than two hours!) for both of us.

If possible, try to keep an eye out for a day with thunderstorms so you can plan to sit with her as the storm draws near and click-treat her.

It may help to withhold food for a couple hours beforehand so your dog is a little hungry.

For us, this worked well and only took a week or two of dedicated training, then a handful of other thunderstorm training events to cement it, and then we stopped doing it once it became clear the sounds no longer triggered the panic. Our dog was only a little under a year old when we did this though, so your older girl may require more counter-conditioning.

I hope you're able to get her more habituated to storms! Good luck!