Storms

[Mum]

after 2.5 yrs my Abbey has become terrified of lightening and thunder. I give her benedryl and that helps some..but I hold her and she pants and shakes. her little sister cuddled right next to her and laid her head on Abbey's back.............finally after hours of holding and stroking her we fell asleep and woke to Abbey's head on sis's back! Anything else we can do?

[Britster]

People have had great luck with the Thundershirt.

It didn't work for Jackson but most think it does!

[OkieMoe]

I've heard really good things about Thundershirts. Good luck,

[BlueBelle]

I have been referred to Composure mini treats by my vet and they are sort of a natural chill out treat.

[Patti]

My Pixie developed an intense fear of thunder last spring. She was 5 years old and never had any problems with it before. She would act just how you describe your Abbey does. I bought the thundershirt and it helped a lot. She would still be shaking a little but not panting and freaked out. Her vet gave us a liquid medicine that is all natural called Nutricalm. Between that and the thunder shirt she lays quietly now during storms.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Many think that distraction and playing with them such as fetch or tugowar while the TV or stereo sound is turned up to kind of neutralize the thunder and rain sounds outside is more effective than trying to soothe them so much. There is that thought that saying loving things and cuddling a scared dog reinforces/support the current panicky behavior and they become conditioned to the fear-reaction. I've read that de-sensitizing the dog by frequently playing a CD of the sound of rain and thunder fairly often while playing and roughhousing with the dog can work well, too, with lots of praise or treat reward for ignoring the sound and keeping focused on the games. And of course, the Thundershirt seems to work wonders with some on YT.

I've never had a dog frightened of storms so I cannot speak from personal experience at all but I do have a dog who came to me at 9 mos. of age absolutely terrified by certain sounds - mostly from things in the house or on TV that perhaps he hasn't heard before. He would run from the room when I touched the curtain rod over the big den window as I closed the curtains. I would find him in the back bathroom behind the toilet shaking and drooling, his ears flat back against his head, eyes wide. Behavior modification training and routine desensitization to those sounds while staying upbeat and positive but never coddling him during the panic reaction, though it took about 9 - 12 mos. in all, eventually brought him to 99% freedom of the fear of those sounds now and taught him a different way to react when he hears them. Once in a while though, he will still lay his ears back or shake when he hears a sound he fears and I immediately start the distraction process and he snaps out of it.

[Boopster500]

Buster just runs up and down the hallway barking at the thunder.
by the way what is a Thundershirt?

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by Boopster500

Buster just runs up and down the hallway barking at the thunder.
by the way what is a Thundershirt?

Here's a great thread about the Thundershirt.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...p-anxiety.html

I have own two, one for Bogey who uses it for thunder. It works the best if I put it on his before the storms start and give him a dose of Rescue Remedy. He use to shake, pant and pace about whenever it stormed. When he has the thundershirt on he will sleep at me feet (which is unusual for him since he's usually on my lap if I'm sitting) but he is totally calm. The other thundershirt I bought because Pebbles barks for the fireworks around the 4th of July. It worked for her as well.

If you try it alone and there is still some fear I would absolutely recommend adding the Rescue Remedy. Neither worked alone for Bogey but together is sure did the trick

The only complaint that I have about it is that their long hair gets caught in the velcro. To fix this I now put a little T-shirt on before putting the Thundershirt on them.

When they first came out it was a mail order only business. But now they can be purchases at Petco and Petsmart for the same price as they sell for on the website. They are 100% guranteed or your money back. I would highly recommend that you give it a try. It worked wonders for both my dogs. With a return policy like they have there its a win/win situation.

Thundershirt | The Best Dog Anxiety Treatment

[gracielove]

I hope you find something that helps. So far Gracie is fine with loud noises. My Shih Tzu was terrified of loud noises like thunder and firecrackers in July. He would always want me to hold him and he would shiver when the storms came through. I would feel horrible when I was away at work and there was a thunder storm because usually no one was there with him. I guess the thunder shirt is the only thing that might help if a storm came while you are away. I have heard that some people use Rescue Remedy when their dogs get scared but I don't know how long it takes to start working.

[megansmomma]

Wow~I just saw a TV commercial for the Thundershirt! They sure have grown in the past year or so. When I first noticed them it was an ad on Facebook.

[BellarousasMom]

Before I ordered to two of them, I was told about the return policy. Really cool, those that are returned are used in rescue shelters. More or less they are donated, because they cann't be resold. :-)

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by BellarousasMom

Before I ordered to two of them, I was told about the return policy. Really cool, those that are returned are used in rescue shelters. More or less they are donated, because they cann't be resold. :-)

I didn't know they donated to rescues! That's wonderful

[navillusc]

I had a 120+ lb. Shep/Lab who was outside in the wet driveway when lightening struck a tree beside the driveway during a sudden summer thunderstorm, and the electric current in the air was so severe that it made my husband feel sick before he was halfway to the dog. We have no idea what kind of 'jolt' he might have taken and, of course, brought the dog inside immediately, but the incident was sufficient to make him frightfully uncomfortable with thunderstorms...but without all of the trauma your baby is suffering.

Ziggy was quite frightened at first and just wanted to be 'pasted' to me, then always stayed near us after that incident, but gradually lost his terror of thunderstorms and fireworks, I think in part due to sleeping directly in front of the huge speakers on the bottom of our 65" rear-projection TV (we aren't 'with' the times...lol) with the volume loud enough my hearing-deficit DH could hear it during shows with loud, thunderstorm noises in them and the 'shooting' (gunfire) shows and movies, etc., that DH likes to watch. Maybe he lost suffered hearing loss...lol...but I believe he eventually became somewhat 'conditioned' to all the loud, sudden, booming sounds because there were so many and so often and without any danger or concern from us. It wasn't like we were running around shutting windows or closing doors or anything...it was just a channel change...and boom...! He'd jump, look up at me and I'd say "It's okay," and he'd lay back down on his bed...his ears would twitch for a while, then stop, and he'd be fine.

Although I never did this intentionally to 'thunderstorm' condition Ziggy, I have done 'conditioning' for other "noise" reasons which is why I am wondering if it does/would work for thunderstorms, too...maybe at least it might help reduce the terror your baby suffers. Ziggy passed last year at about 13-14 yrs. old or I would try this intentionally myself.

What I am thinking is, if you had one on those "Relaxation" CD's with thunderstorms on them and you played it over and over for her, softly at first so it is 'behind' all the regular noises as just background sound, but with regular/nice weather outside...and make sure to take her out or have windows and/or doors open, etc., so she can see...so she hears the sounds when there is no fear factor...then increase the volume gradually until the storm sounds are prevalent but still background sound, making sure she knows the weather is fine. Be sure to play other stuff...TV, music, etc., at the same time, too, so it all gets mixed in like it would for a real storm outside. If you have a remote for your CD player, you could even start an 'indoor storm' with her outside so when she comes into the house there is already a storm is softly raging inside.

I wouldn't want to increase her fear, or traumatize her in any way, but after what happened with Ziggy, perhaps it might help if it is just the 'sound' that is bothering her.

Good luck. I so hope you are able to find a way to help your baby!

[megansmomma]

Someone is selling a Thundershirt in the For Sale area if anyone is interested. http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ndershirt.html

[givemecouture]

I totally agree but it's just so hard not to coddle when ur baby is scared!

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Many think that distraction and playing with them such as fetch or tugowar while the TV or stereo sound is turned up to kind of neutralize the thunder and rain sounds outside is more effective than trying to soothe them so much. There is that thought that saying loving things and cuddling a scared dog reinforces/support the current panicky behavior and they become conditioned to the fear-reaction. I've read that de-sensitizing the dog by frequently playing a CD of the sound of rain and thunder fairly often while playing and roughhousing with the dog can work well, too, with lots of praise or treat reward for ignoring the sound and keeping focused on the games. And of course, the Thundershirt seems to work wonders with some on YT.

I've never had a dog frightened of storms so I cannot speak from personal experience at all but I do have a dog who came to me at 9 mos. of age absolutely terrified by certain sounds - mostly from things in the house or on TV that perhaps he hasn't heard before. He would run from the room when I touched the curtain rod over the big den window as I closed the curtains. I would find him in the back bathroom behind the toilet shaking and drooling, his ears flat back against his head, eyes wide. Behavior modification training and routine desensitization to those sounds while staying upbeat and positive but never coddling him during the panic reaction, though it took about 9 - 12 mos. in all, eventually brought him to 99% freedom of the fear of those sounds now and taught him a different way to react when he hears them. Once in a while though, he will still lay his ears back or shake when he hears a sound he fears and I immediately start the distraction process and he snaps out of it.