lost1607307474 Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I have a 13-year-old little dog who I've had since he was a puppy and we're pretty sure he is a maltese crossed with something else (possibly miniature poodle.) 13 is quite old for a dog but he is still extremely healthy, zippy, and active! The only problem is that he is ridiculously afraid of thunderstorms. It never happened much when he was younger, but as he's gotten older he just goes crazy when it starts to thunder outside or even just rain moderately. He shakes uncontrollably, whimpers to no avail, pants relentlessly, jumps up onto us licking and scratching us and whimpering, and he just doesn't know what to do with himself. When I try to cuddle him to calm him down he just wriggles out of my arms and continues his noise-making and uncontrollable panting and shaking. We've tried putting him in small, dark rooms with no windows, we've tried playing music so that he can't hear the rain, we've tried ignoring him, but nothing works! It's getting out of control because when he begins one of these episodes he ends up making so much noise and getting so stressed out that we can't sleep or do anything. My parents joke that it's because we've been in a massive drought that he's forgotten what rain is... haha. The vet told me that it is possible he has some poodle in him and poodles are very anxious breeds. He's also extremely intelligent and I was informed that this could also be adding to his stress. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has experienced the same thing or if anyone has any advice?? Link to comment
lost1607307474 Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 P.S. There is a minor thunderstorm and some light rain happening right now and he is going CRAZY! He's jumping up at me while I'm sitting at the computer, scratching my legs and yelping and whimpering... Link to comment
Sparkie Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Hey lost My old dog was the same. She even jumped through a glass french door to get inside once when it was thundering. I don't have any advice other than reassurance. Hope you get some better responses than this one, seeing as the thunder just started up. Nice to see the rain though! Link to comment
lila... Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Aww, poor thing! My dogs are the same. They're chihuahuas so they're extremely nervous lol. There isn't much we can do about it other than keep them company and cover them in their blankets so they're not as fearful. That helps calm their nervousness a little. I'm curious to know if there's any other solution too, other than dog behaviour classes! Link to comment
lost1607307474 Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 Aww, poor thing! My dogs are the same. They're chihuahuas so they're extremely nervous lol. There isn't much we can do about it other than keep them company and cover them in their blankets so they're not as fearful. That helps calm their nervousness a little. I'm curious to know if there's any other solution too, other than dog behaviour classes! Aw I love chihuahuas! A lot of little dogs are known to be very intelligent but very nervous at the same time which I think rings true for mine also. I've covered him in a blanket like you suggested and he's actually calmed down a bit with the noise. Still shaking uncontrollably though. I guess I just have to keep him company and keep him feeling safe until the storm passes! Would be interesting if anyone has any other advice, though Link to comment
greywolf Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 cuddling your dog while he's scared rewards him for his behavior. Link to comment
lost1607307474 Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 cuddling your dog while he's scared rewards him for his behavior. I don't think it's a matter of behaviour changing. We've tried the opposite (i.e. letting him know when his behaviour during thunderstorms is not appropriate and not condoning it) but it just makes him worse. This is because he is genuinely frightened of the weather and regardless of if we train him to modify his behaviour he is still terrified when it thunders and goes crazy. We have had no problem training him in any other aspect in the last 13 years... it's just thunderstorms he gets so frightened and anxious! He almost starts having panic attacks where he hyperventilates and starts coughing. Link to comment
lila... Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 cuddling your dog while he's scared rewards him for his behavior. What? That's like punishing a little kid when he's scared during a thunderstorm. The last thing you wanna do is ignore him. With a frightened dog you want to keep him reassured and ease his anxiety so I think the best thing to do is just cuddle and be with him and just do anything that will help him feel at ease. Link to comment
lost1607307474 Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 What? That's like punishing a little kid when he's scared during a thunderstorm. The last thing you wanna do is ignore him. With a frightened dog you want to keep him reassured and ease his anxiety so I think the best thing to do is just cuddle and be with him and just do anything that will help him feel at ease. Exactly! I actually tried ignoring him/ 'punishing' him for his behaviour and it just made him WORSE because he felt even more scared/ alone. Link to comment
KG Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 lost, We had a dog with the same problem...any loud noise who send her into a panic. But we never found a cure, the vet said it was the way she was wired. Link to comment
lost1607307474 Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 lost, We had a dog with the same problem...any loud noise who send her into a panic. But we never found a cure, the vet said it was the way she was wired. Yeah, that's pretty much what our vet said also. He also doesn't like to be touched a lot of the time and after taking him to a plethora of dog behavioural classes we were informed it is just his personality. Anyway, thanks for the advice everyone! Luckily thunderstorms rarely last that long here Link to comment
greywolf Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 What? That's like punishing a little kid when he's scared during a thunderstorm. The last thing you wanna do is ignore him. With a frightened dog you want to keep him reassured and ease his anxiety so I think the best thing to do is just cuddle and be with him and just do anything that will help him feel at ease. What I mean is that cuddling your dog encourages that behavior, and you want to discourage that behavior. Link to comment
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