A Discussion Of Thunderphobia 
By Linda Nelson

He was fine as a pup when the thunderstorms arrived, but a few years later around the age of four or five, your pooch turned into a drooling, panting, trembling maniac who will attempt to climb into your pajamas in the middle of the night at the first crack of thunder!  What happened?

Facts are, researchers still do not know the EXACT reasons dogs react to thunderstorms later as adults, so there are as many remedies to this behavioral issue as there are potential causes.  Commonly your pooch will look to you for reassurance when in stress, and it is extremely difficult to settle an upset dog without unwittingly reinforcing their reactions to thunder anxiety.  The very best thing a dog owner can do if they have a thunder fearing dog is to try all of the potential remedies until they hit upon the right one.  Not easy to do, but it is better than the alternative – doing nothing at all.

1.    Medication: Difficult to predict sudden thunderstorms by at least twenty minutes in advance (the time it takes for most medications to start working), most areas of the country do not have thunderstorms you can set a clock by.  Not only do you have to anticipate the event, your dog will be medicated for hours afterwards as well.  However, if there are consistent periods of the year where you area has the most thunderstorms, you can try medicating a few weeks ahead of time and continue it through the end of thunderstorm season.  

2.    “Thunderwear”:  For many years, old time dog lovers have used the same technique that we humans use for young infants – swaddling (more or less), but with a new twist to it.  Called ‘thunderwear’ or a ‘sheep suit’, in essence it is spandex attire that doesn’t bind the dog, but similar to what cyclists wear when biking.  What originally began with show dogs to retain their coats prior to showing, it was noticed this attire diminished the anxiety of the dogs wearing it as well.  One source for this is DogStuff.com but you can Google “thunderwear for dogs” and other sources will be referenced as well.

3.  Desensitizing:  Some dog trainers swear by desensitization of dogs to loud noises, sudden bangs, etc.  For most of us, we undergo this every Fourth of July, but some dog trainers commonly play war movies in the background as ‘white noise’ for dogs they are training.   Others play CDs of storm sounds… what works for one dog might not work for another.  It is a hit or miss proposition, for it is believed some dogs are genetically predisposed to thunderphobia; others believe the dogs take their clues from owners and their environment – you become anxious, so will your dog.
 

4.  Static electricity: Researchers theorize that other aspects of a thunderstorm, such as static electricity and changes in barometric pressure, may also disturb dogs.  That may explain why some dogs seem to detect storms before humans can, and why some dogs who panic when it thunders at home are just fine in the car, or retreat to the bathtub or shower when a storm hits.

Treatment tips for scared dogs

• Find a safe place for the dog and train it to go there during storms, almost like a bunker in a nuclear war.   It could be a spot in the basement with the curtains drawn and lights on to mask lightning, a kennel with an open door and a comfortable dog bed in it, or a makeshift den in a closet with no windows. 

• Initially stay with your dog and offer treats and training to reinforce the idea that it is a pleasant safe place. 

• Turn up the TV or stereo to mute the sound of thunder, but don’t scold the dog or discipline it when it’s anxious. 

• Let the dog stay close to you, but don’t coddle it. 

• If you have a calm dog (or know of one), invite the calm dog to sit and/or lay down with the nervous one as a role model. 

• Try to distract the dog with a fun activity and/or tasty treat, perhaps starting in overcast weather and gradually moving on to mild storms and then more severe storms, to get the dog to associate the weather with something good. 

Bottom line is to not give up – if one method doesn’t work, try another. Extremely stressed out dogs have been known to do harm to themselves, trying to escape or deal with their thunderphobia, and usually when they are home alone without their owners to help them overcome it!