6 Tips to Help Your Thunder-Phobic Dog (Page 2)

Normally panic-stricken during thunderstorms, Bean now snoozes to Through a Dog's Ear

3) Sound Therapy has been very effective in helping dogs with mild to severe thunder phobia issues. Play Music to Calm your Canine Companion by Through a Dog’s Ear . It includes classical selections with psychoacoustically designed changes that are clinically demonstrated to relieve canine anxiety issues. It is usually most effective when you first play the music well before the thunderstorm starts, at a time the dog is already feeling peaceful and relaxed. He will begin to associate the music with being calm and content. The music doesn’t need to be loud to be effective as it has been clinically demonstrated to calm the canine nervous system. Here’s a great story from Mel about her dog Bean, a formerly panic-stricken thunder-phobic dog. Though skeptical, she had tried everything else and introduced Bean to Through a Dog’s Ear music right when the storm started. Bean not only snoozed through that storm, but has since slept comfortably through every subsequent storm. Listen to free sound samples.

4) Desensitization and Habituation: Canine Noise Phobia is an innovative desensitization training tool that combines three distinctive elements for the treatment and prevention of sound-sensitivities and noise-phobias: progressive sound effects, specially-designed psychoacoustic music, and reward-based reinforcement protocols. Thunderstorms CD includes training protocol written by Victoria Stilwell, the famed dog trainer on Animal Planet’s It’s Me or the Dog.

5) Wraps: There are two canine wraps on the market that reportedly help sound-phobic dogs. The original Anxiety Wrap was invented by professional dog trainer Susan Sharpe, CPDT-KA. The patented design uses acupressure and maintained pressure to reduce stress and the stretchable, lightweight fabric breathes and allows your dog to wear it in hotter temperatures. The thundershirt is also a wrap for your dog that provides gentle, constant pressure (although made of a much heavier material). Their website reports that over 85 percent of Thundershirt users see significant improvement in noise anxiety symptoms. Most dogs respond with the very first usage; others need 2-3 usages before showing significant improvement.

6) Pheromone Therapy: According to the Dog Appeasing Pheromone website, pheromone therapy has been very effective and successful in treating phobias and stress experienced by dogs. Pheromones are natural chemicals within animals and are said to be the chemical that affects animal behavior. For dog appeasing pheromone therapy, pheromones are taken in through the nasal passage of the dog to produce a calming effect on one part of the brain that is connected to the dog’s behavior and emotion. DAP is supplied to dogs as a plug-in diffuser, a spray (which has been scientifically tested and has been shown to be effective on decreasing stress driven behaviors by more than 85 percent), and a DAP collar.

Does your dog exhibit symptoms of thunder-phobia? What has helped during storms? Thanks for posting your comments below.

Have you seen the new Adoptable Pets page on Care2? Check it out here! Please also share with your friends. We’d love your help in finding homes for these adorable animals!

Have you tried Sound Therapy for your dogs? Through a Dog’s Ear is the first music clinically demonstrated to calm the canine nervous system.

Receive a FREE DOWNLOAD from the Through a Dog’s Ear

Calm your Canine Companion Music Series

Simply click here, enter your email address and a link to the free download will be delivered to your inbox for you and your canine household to enjoy!

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Darla G.

12:31PM PDT on Jul 10, 2012

I’ve yet to try the free sample from Through a Dog’s Ear on my elderly Yellow Lab. He doesn’t like any loud noises because he associates those with the pain of getting two toes blown off at some point in his life. We assume it was a hunting accident as he still has buckshot in the remaining two toes and pad (we had it x-rayed when he started limping about 2 years after we adopted him). He’s slightly less anxious since we adopted a second Yellow Lab who has ZERO concerns about loud noises. Most of the time he just wants to be near someone but we’ve found him in my husband’s bedroom where an oxygen concentrator runs 24/7. It makes enough noise to mask some of the sounds that frighten my boy.

July 10
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Lynn D.

1:48AM PDT on Jun 26, 2012

Great ideas! Mine used to just love to sit in my lap and be held!

June 26
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Sheri P.

11:09PM PDT on Jun 19, 2012

i have a very thunder-phobic cat...wonder if these things will work on cats as well.

June 19
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Carrie-Anne B.

5:37AM PDT on Jun 12, 2012

interesting article, thanks for sharing :)

June 12
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Abbe A.

7:33AM PDT on Jun 9, 2012

thank you

June 9
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Pat W.

10:12PM PDT on Jun 7, 2012

If I am home during a storm I make an extra point to have soft music on and reassure him by
brushing him or just petting him and speak extra softly.. sounds corny but works for my dog
and cats

June 7
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Karen R.

11:47AM PDT on Jun 7, 2012

Here are two articles that cover the methodology behind naturalizing solving thunder anxiety in more depth...

Thunder Anxiety - Part 2
http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.ca/2011/12/thunder-anxiety-part-2.html

Thunder Anxiety - Part 1
http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.ca/2011/11/dogs-and-thunder.html

Cheers, Karen

Deborah F.

8:28AM PDT on Jun 5, 2012

I knew a dog that was terrified of thunder. She was a good early warning system, but I did feel bad for her. These might have helped if I'd known then. Thanks for the tips.