How to help a dog who is afraid of storms?
Many dogs have a fear of storms. This makes sense - loud noises, flashing light, changes in air pressure and other effects storms have may easily alarm a dog.
Fear helps animals survive. But sometimes it can grow into a phobia. Phobias are strong, debilitating fears. They are not helpful for survival - the response is so strong that the animal cannot function well.
Some dogs are panicked or frozen in fear when a storm is happening, or even before. What can we do to help?
How to prevent the fear from developing
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. An exaggerated fear of storms often develops over time if a dog is put into situations she cannot cope with. For example, if a dog is left in the garden alone during stormy weather, without social support, she may develop a fear of storms. Similarly, confining a dog to a crate indoors means that she knows she cannot escape or find support. This will also contribute to her fear.
Shoud we ignore a scared dog?
Our behaviour is also important. An old myth says that we should ignore our dog's fear, otherwise we end up reinforcing the behaviour. This is not the case - fear is an emotion, not a behaviour. And dogs are social animals - they need our presence and support when they are afraid. We just need to behave in a calm way when scary things are happening.
Fear of loud noises is often connected to pain
But even if we do everything "right", an exagerrated fear of storms might develop in our dog. This may be related to a situaton we cannot control, an event that happened before we even got the dog or many other things. There is one factor, however, that we should pay special attention to: dogs that fear loud noises are often in (chronic) pain! This connection is well documented and also something we see often with our clients. If your dog is very afraid of storms and other loud noises, a thorough search for possible pain is in order.
Management makes storms easier to cope with
Along with searching for and addressing the root cause, we can do a lot to help our dog during storms. Here are some tips that have worked well in many cases:
We make sure our dog is not alone in stormy weather. We can change our plans, ask family members for help or hire a dogsitter.
We close the blinds or curtains and of course the windows.
We play soft music or turn the TV or radio on.
If our dog wants to spend time in a certan room (often the bathroom), we let her do so. We may even join her. Bring a book and a nice chew.
We never confine our dog to a crate, but we may build a "bunker" with blankets and soft materials. But the dog only uses it if she chooses to. Top tip: make it big enough for the both of you!
If you need help addressing your dog’s fear of storms, other fears or behaviours, we can help with online consultations.
