Dog terrified of thunder.

[Madondogs]

Hi just spent a spent some sleepless hours with a very scared and panty dog.
Ddog1 is 7 yr old Goldie and is increasingly terrified of thunderstorms.
Ddog 2 is less nervous but picks up on his brothers anxiety.

I'd really appreciate any tips to make him feel better.

im on the sofa with our jrt, he wouldn't sit on the sofa and settle until he made sure that me, dp and our 5 week old were all ok

Unfortunately it's very commoon and for some reason doesn't affect younger dogs, but the fear sets in later on in life.

Try an Adaptil diffuser, it helps some dogs, or in extreme cases your vet might be able to prescribe a sedative. It might also be worth trying desensitisation, i.e. play the sound of thunder at very low volume and associate it with something pleasant for your dog like food.

Our vet used to prescribe ACP sedative tablets for my old greyhound bitch. You could tell by looking at her that thunder was on the way, half a tablet and she was as mellow as could be :)

the only thing which helped with our old lab was a sedative - as she got older she got progressively more distressed by loud noises (thunder and fireworks were the main culprits) and nothing we tried made any difference as she was so terrified she was beyond comforting

The sedative calmed her down enough to be able to comfort her and let's face it it's not like we have so many storms in this country to start worrying about drugging up your pooch ..

Thanks for replies. Poor boy, he is such a bombproof dog normally... Nothing bothers him , but he was shaking with fear.

It was like the scene from ' The Sound of Music ' at one point, both dogs, my daughter and me all on my bed.

Hope it doesn't thunder tonight! May contact vet to discuss sedative, as I know from past experience that it tends to get worse as they get older.

I am trialling a thundershirt,with mine (google it) or a tight t-shirt might do it, or wrapping tight in a towel or blanket,
The theory is that the close wrapping helps calm nervousness, a bit like swaddling. I have used it on senior dog who gets anxious in the car but may have to use it on junior dog who does not like thunder or fireworks. Dogs' hearing is much more acute than ours. My behaviourist friend's advice is always don't over fuss the dog, make it as normal as possible and turn up tv, radio and distract if possible. If you reinforce the fear, it can be rembered. Fingers crossed for tonight.

Hi took Ddog to vets tonight. We discussed sedatives and various homeopathic methods. Both came to conclusion that sedatives are not for us. Heart absolutely fine and physically very fit. He advised trying to ignore him, as not to reinforce his fear. Vet also happy to prescribe Zanex for his anxiety of he becomes worse.
Will try thunder shirt and try not too make a fuss of him. Hopefully no more thunder tonight, maybe will try to introduce some desensitisation techniques.

Going to have disagree with a statement above. It is absolutely fine to comfort a dog frightened by fireworks or thunder. Fear is an emotion not a behaviour and it cannot be reinforced. If a child was scared of a thunderstorm we wouldn't hesitate to offer them comfort and closeness to calm their fears.

Sorry I expressed that wrongly.. V tired last night. I didn't mean ignore, and neither did the vet, just meant not to over compensate and make a huge fuss. I definately would offer comfort, I'm obsessed with my dogs and love them very very much.