Thunderstorm Phobias in Dogs

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Thunderstorm Fear

Dear WOOF:

We are proud owners of a 2 1/2 year old male pitbull who is scared to death of thunder and lightning. When it storms he tries to get to the highest level of the house and pants, shakes until the storm is over.
I am afraid that he will one day hyperventilate or have a heart attach. Do you have any suggests to help us work with our dog through the stormy weather?

Hi-

This is common problem in dogs and with the storm season upon us, it's something that many other dog owners will also be thinking about.

The standard approach to treatment of fear related behaviors is called desensitization. This technique involves gradual non-fear provoking exposures that are paired with good things *like yummy food
treats or whatever your dog LOVES* with the eventual goal being to establish (at "full intensity" levels) a new and positive emotional response to whatever the dog was afraid of.

Unfortunately, storm phobias are very difficult (if not impossible) to treat using this technique. Reason being that in order to successfully treat a fear related behavior, we must identify and desensitize all of the triggers that elicit the behavioral response. Even if the dog is initially only afraid of the loud sound of
thunder, eventually other factors that "cue" the dog to the impending thunder will create the same response - before the storm even hits. Think of it this way, when a storm is approaching, there are
atmospheric factors like changes in barometric pressure that dogs sense long before we do that "cue" him that the thunder is coming. Obviously, barometric changes can not be actively desensitized, therefore, neither can the response.

Before you get discouraged, there is hope for your storm phobic dog! The following links provide great information on the use of Melatonin (a non-pharmaceutical hormone supplement) to treat storm phobias. We hope that you find it helpful for your dog.

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/melatonin.htm
http://www.peoriahs.org/melatonin.html

If we can help further in any way, please don't hesitate to contact us. We'd like to know how you and your dog are doing so please keep us posted.

Good Luck!
Lisa (Laney) Patrona, Dip. DTBC, CPDT, CBC

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