YOUR TURN #1 - Storm Anxiety

I was having a hard time deciding on a blog topic and asked for suggestions. My friends came up with so many, we'll have topics for weeks. Thank you so much everyone. I am honored that you spend time with I'm a D.O.G.!, and I am honored that you find support here. This week, I will try to cover the difficult experience of Storm Anxiety.

Storm anxiety, or sometimes it is described as Storm Phobia, is often seen in your dog through the panting, pacing, trembling, drooling, whining, dilated pupils, and wanting to hide during the months of thunderstorm activity. In extreme cases, dogs may react to the sounds, smells, and changes in barometric pressure by ripping apart rooms, scratching and biting at doors, walls and crates until their paws and jaws bleed, peeing and pooping throughout the house, and leaping through closed windows to run into busy streets or be lost for hours or days.

While many dogs will be stressed this storm season, it is likely that if they were stressed last season, and their humans found no calming intervention, they will be more upset this year potentially displaying even more agitated behavior. According to Ilana Reisner of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, "If a dog is showing any discomfort at all, it's time to intervene." Hopefully you'll find some strategies here so you and your dogs will have a more peaceful Spring. "There aren't any magic wands," says Animal Behaviorist Lee Livingood (seriously, that's his name), "but quickly finding an effective antidote is vital."

Whether you call it Storm Anxiety or Storm Phobia, your dog is afraid of thunderstormy weather, right? A fear is classified as a phobia when it is out of proportion to the danger of the real situation. Phobias generally become worse, not better, with repeated exposures and dog owners can become frustrated with their dogs' reactions. I don't see dogs responding with stress to thunderstorms as out of proportion. One of our dogs, Satchel, became very stressed hours before stormy weather arrived. We called him "Doppler Satchel." He paced and panted and usually found refuge under the stairs or in our closet behind my low-hanging clothes. He drooled a lot, often trembled for hours, and sometimes tried to jump on top of the kitchen counters or cooktop. The jumping up on counters reminded me of a sort of "Head for the hills!" mentality and I encouraged him to find his storm shelter instead, but animals are not stupid. There are reports of communities being alerted to tsunamis due to animals moving to higher grounds in packs. Since our dogs are not living in the wild, we can encourage them to find safe havens while not destroying our homes. This is our job as their leaders.

Satchie in a safe haven fort made with a sheet over furniture and a fan to keep him cool.

You may have tried several things over the years, or you may have read several things to try, or you may have been told several things to try. There are several approaches to helping your dog cope with storm anxiety. I believe the most effective tool is you, and I will highlight how you can be a source of both anxiety and calm, but I will also highlight some of your other options. Providing a combination of you and them will hopefully reduce your dogs' anxiety so you can get through this storm season together safely and peacefully.

I'll do my best to explain these treatment options:

You

Behavior Modification

Sheltering and Distraction

Supplements

Wraps

Human Medications

Satchel and Luna hanging out in one crate telling us 4 hours before stormy weather arrived that it was on its way!

Sources:

Special for USA Today, Sharon L. Peters

Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue, Inc.

Victoria Voith, D.V.M., Ph.D. and Peter Borcheidt, Ph.D.