My dog is afraid of storms and getting worse, any suggestion

[jellybeanscloset412]

My dog is afraid of thunderstorms. I think he has gotten worse since our other dog passed away. He freaks out! He moves furniture to find a corner spot. We found him under a computer desk one night. I have no idea how he fit, he's about 150 pounds.

We had bad storms last night and he was up all night. He starts way before the storms do. He's been sleeping all day but crying alot in his sleep. We feel so bad for him.

Does anyone know if there is anything to help him? It doesn't matter whether we are with him or not. I was thinking Benedryl. I am going to call the vet but wanted to see your suggestions.

[Tabby]

Have you tried a ThunderShirt? Evidently they really do work.

[jellybeanscloset412]

No but I will look into it. Thanks

[Deleted]

Poor pup! I could use some suggestions as well. My dog has a terrible time with them too and the dreaded fireworks. We typically head to the countryside each 4th of July in an attempt to dodge the fireworks.

Things we've tried:
- Loud music/tv: moderate results depending on how loud the storm is.
- The thundershirt: have friends who swear by it, but it didn't help my guy. Ended up returning it.
- Rescue Remedy has helped a little but he still paces, frets and pants.
- Our friends tried positive reinforcement on their beagle: she got a treat and everyone cheered when the thunder rolled. She comes running for treats whenever there is a loud noise now. This didn't work with my Border Collie. One, he isn't particularly food motivated and two, he is way too smart for me to bluff with. He refused the treats, looked at me like I was crazy and went back to hiding in the closet.

It's tough. I wish we could do more to make him comfortable.

[Deleted]

I well also recommend the thunder shirt. While I have never had the need for one of my crew I do know of 4 foster dogs whose family tried them. In three of the situations the difference was unbelievable. The fourth dog...it wasn't as extreme. There was a slight uptick in the dogs comfort but nothing as drastic as the other 3 dogs. I should also note that the shirt was not used for thunder it was for various degrees of discomfort the dog experienced.

I would say try that and go with the benadryl. It's really a fairly benign drug.

Dosage is usually 1mg for every lb of dog but it can go as high as 2mg for every lb. So your 150lb boy could easily have 15 of the 10mg tabs or 8 of the 20mg tabs.


I am NOT an advocate of benadryling a dog just to mellow them out. That being said for cases like this...ie once in a while...it's fine.

There are several different types of doggy "prozac" your vet could prescribe however I would go with the benadryl long before trying those. Some of them if they don't work have the opposite effect and make the dog hyper. Some can cause aggression and others literally make the dog a zombie.

One of the worst things you can do is try to comfort your dog. Believe it or not talking all sing songy and soothing actually reinforces this behavior. You are better off to behave matter of fact or ignore as hard as that is.

If he's trying to get in small spaces...and IDK if he is crate trained or you have one set up...you might want to in times like this cover his crate so it feels more like a den and just leave him be in there with a nice kong or raw bone. He might not want them but they'll be there for him. And the covered crate will feel like more security for him.

[sunsetpainter]

We have 1 German Shepherd who used to be quite scared of storms, panting, shaking, whining. We didn't have a thundershirt, but we did have an old t-shirt that fit her tightly. It did help to make her a little less anxious. Now she will just go in the basement into her crate and wait there until the storms pass or the fireworks are over.

My other German shepherd, on the other hand, is a NUT! She barks at the thunder until I put her in her crate, then she settles right down.

My terrier couldn't give a ding dang darn about anything except tree rats in her yard!

We did have a yellow Lab who was prescribed a seditave so we could clip her nails.  She would totally freak out if anyone touched her feet.  Well, we gave her ½ a pill and she absolutely passed out cold.  Scared us to death!  Never did that again.  She would eventually let us do 1 foot at a time if we fed her peanut butter while we were clipping.

[zoesam]

I got a thunder CD & began getting desensitization when there wasn't actual thunder. We made a conscious effort to do no comforting & even moreso, to act like exaggeratedly normal ourselves, even when the thunder/lightning was really bad. The Thundershirt didn't exist at the time & Rescue Remedy didn't help at all.

eta; I've also had a dog that was fine with thunder, but had severe clinical separation anxiety & he got doggie Prozac, it wasn't actually Prozac, but was a human psych drug & along with behavior mod, it worked miracles!!!  Don't know that I'd use it for something like T-storms though, that aren't usually an every day occurrence.  

[jellybeanscloset412]

Thanks everyone for the great info! The Thundershirt comes in XXL and it says >110 pounds so I am thinking it won't fit him.

Sunset I may try another shirt. We did some research and what everyone says about not reinforcing the behavior keeps coming up. He is also a barker and that's what we were told to do about that. We will try to ignore him but it will be hard. He will come up and just try to lean on you. The one table he moves is next to where I usually sit in a corner of our family room so that will also be hard to ignore.

We are expecting storms later today. I may try the Benedryl. He did have it one other time for an allergic reaction but the vet said to give him the adult dose which is two 25mg pills. It worked for the allergy and he didn't react any other way. He sleeps all the time so its hard to judge.

[Deleted]

My black lab, Nomad, use to be scared of loud noises. He died a year and half ago at 16.

Anyway, during storms, Fourth of July, guys shooting outside, etc.. He would crawl under our office desk and I would put a throw blanket over the opening. I made it his little hide away and I'd sit with him until he would fall asleep. I once tried some ear covers for him, but they didn't last long. You can get good ones that reduce the sound.

He was always a sensitive dog. I think he originally got scared by my BIL shooting a gun close by him when he was a puppy.

[jellybeanscloset412]

We had bad storms but they came in the middle of the night. My DD's got up with the dog and stayed with him. I didn't even know it stormed so I didn't medicate him.

[jandsknight]

150 is > 110.  In English that says 150 is greater than 110.  So XXL is for a dog that weighs more than 110 lbs.

Also, their website says xxL fits a dog with a chest from 37" to 50".

[Deleted]

WE use a thunder vest for our dog. It helps a little. I found that a combo of the vest and an OTC herbal relaxant works the best.

[jellybeanscloset412]

Mup what kind/brand of herbal relaxant? I am not a fan of giving him benedryl or any med for that matter.