Is your dog’s fear of thunderstorms affecting his or her life? Is it affecting yours? Are you worried only for your dog when storm warnings flash across your phone? If thunderstorms are affecting your dog negatively, learn how to prevent and stop fear of thunderstorms with these simple tips from the experts at Appalachian Dog Training, LLC.

Be honest and rate your dog’s fear of thunder:

A- doesn’t notice a storm
B- mildly agitated but goes about eating, sleeping, playing
C- significantly affected by pacing, panting, drooling, vocalization, hiding
D- fear of many noises such as fireworks, gunfire, tools, construction

Dogs in the A and B category can be helped with PREVENTIVE training methods. If your dog is in this category, you will have the greatest impact on him or her now. Waiting, or ignoring the early signs of fear of thunder will not make it stop, decrease or go away. Acting with behavioral tips and training can halt and reverse the early signs of fear of thunder.

PREVENTING Fear of Thunder

• Engage in play with your dog before and during storms
• Counter-intuitive to our nurturing human instincts, do not coddle or soothe your puppy or dog when they react to a loud bang or any loud noise
• Instead, cheerfully encourage them to keep walking and engage them with play or excitement.
• Distract your dog from the thunder, focus him or her on walking, sit, down, come, or games such as tug, chase, retrieve, or chewing a tasty bone
• If your dog wants to go in his crate, keep the door open, but encourage him or her to come out and play with you on the living room rug as you enjoy a night in with your fur baby
• Show your puppy or dog how fun thunderstorms are! Do not be worried or jumpy yourself, your dog is watching you and does copy your behavior!
• Walk your dog in the rain. YES! Potty trips even in the rain. NEVER in electrical (lightening) storms or in high winds of course. Safety first!
• Run a fan on high, turn the TV up, play louder music (jazz or classical), or run a sound machine to decrease the noise level of the thunder.

TREATING Fear of Thunder
Dogs rated in the C and D categories benefit from behavioral treatments. Progress is possible at any age, do not despair.

Treatment may include pharmaceuticals in cases where the dog is self-harming or in cases of extreme anxiety. You must work closely with your veterinarian for this type of treatment, as behavioral protocols (training) must be adhered to and adjustment of type and dose of RX medication must be closely monitored by you and your veterinarian.

Medication is not a requirement, and you may find significant affects from homeopathic treatments such as Rescue Remedy, DAP Dog Appeasing Pheromones, and the anti-anxiety wrap known as the Thundershirt.

• Implement the “preventive” tips and techniques listed above
• Contact your veterinarian and request a behavioral evaluation
• Comply with your veterinarian’s RX guidelines and training tips!
• Follow up with your veterinarian to adjust RX medications and report progress, changes, and improvements.
• Contact Appalachian Dog Training, LLC to learn how training positively impacts and decreases behavior problems, including fear of thunder and other noises!

Treatment is crucial not just for thunderstorms, but for the high likelihood that the fear of thunder will generalize to fear of many (or all) loud noises. This is a health problem. When a dog is fearful he or she is stressed, and we know that stress causes disease over time. We want your dog to be happy, healthy and living life to the fullest with you!