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Thunderphobia and working


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I have looked through older threads and posted on fb looking for suggestions.

I am hoping tomorrow to go to the vet and see what they can help me with.

 

I live by myself and work 40 hours(two 6 hour shifts, and two 14 hours shifts). I dont have a lot of spare money. On my long days working I am able to have someone stop by to let my dogs out 2x.

 

When i am home I dont have issue with my dog's thunder phobia. We do mat games, play ball, train. I will even kennel him sometimes. We are able to manage it.

 

i dont know how much info to give so if i miss anything feel free to ask. I am trying to figure out how other people with thunder phobia dogs handle storms when THEY ARE AT WORK.

 

Val started getting a thunder phobia last year. We had a really bad thunder storm and ever since he hasnt appreciated them. It didnt help his sister has noise phobia and he looks to her for "guidance". As time has progress he has gotten worst. When i am home he can relax and will even sleep. It is when i am NOT able to be home we run into issues. He had broken out of his Vari kennel and his wire kennel (he bent the wire and pop the top off in his metal kennel!). The last 2x i havent been home and a thunder storm came through he has jumped from my window and took off running. :(

 

This last week i got him a thundershirt and 2 different type of calming aids and have been giving them 3x daily. While the aids help with fireworks, they do NOTHING for thunder storms.

 

I keep reading about behavior modification but that seems to only work when i am home!?!

 

Trying to figure out what i am missing and how others people deal with it.

 

one of my concerns with drugs is they only last a couple hours or they take awhile to build up in their system.

 

How do other people deal with their thunder phobia dog, workings, and living alone?

 

ETA:

 

He does NOT have separation anxiety.

 

He does NOT like fireworks. He had a bad experience with a firework as a pup and hasnt trusted them since. Also his sister HATES firework which just reinforced his belief on how bad fireworks are.

 

When i play thunder noises from my phone he looks at my phone and doesn't react. Same when i play thunder sounds on my laptop, or tv.

 

I normally have the radio playing and a/c running as back ground noise.

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Dear Doggers,

 

Thunder phobic dogs react to barometric pressure long before the storm arrives. I've had a number of dogs with medium strength thunder phobia and know no way to untrain it. If you're home, the thundershirt may help. If I had a dog with severe thunderphobia I would crate him in a crate he can't get out of when I was away during thunder months. I might put the crate in the bathroom since - dunno why - thunderphobic dogs find some comfort in there.

 

It interests me that my thunderphobic dogs didn't react to snowstorms.

 

Donald McCaig

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Unfortunately, this may be a better living thru chemistry situation. You would only need to medicate during storm situation.

I don't like leaving dogs unattended in bathrooms or any area where they can potentially damage pipes=flood

My dog's storm phobia improved dramatically after she started loosing her hearing.

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I had a dog die during a thunderstorm while I was at work. I don't mess around with it. If the dogs are very bad I give them zanax, put them in a crate and cover it with a blanket so it is very dark and secure. I also turn on the fans so that they dull the noise as much as possible. My dogs start to react until they actually can hear the thunder.

 

The dogs I have now don't like storms but they aren't too bad. Zeke just hunkers down in his crate and waits it out.

Tommy goes in a crate but she will start digging in her crate. If she is out she will bark at the storms and then start digging on the bed so that's why she gets crated.

 

Joey wasn't too bad last year but he is getting more and more reactive. He just goes in his crate and he is OK so far.

 

If it gets worse which I don't expect from the 6 year old dogs but possible from Joey then I weill just use zanax. It works well for my dogs. Problem is that it only lasts about 6 hours and then you have to redoes.

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It interests me that my thunderphobic dogs didn't react to snowstorms.

 

I think it may be more complicated than simply barometric pressure. There are electrical charges associated with thunderstorms that aren't present in most snowstorms, the rate winter thunderstorm being the exception.

 

I believe this is why some dogs prefer to hide out in bathrooms during thunderstorms. There's a hypothesis that the porcelain fixtures dampen the electrical charges.

 

My dog most terrified of thunderstorms would either climb into the porcelain bathtub (newer fiberglass tubs won't do) or crawl behind the toilet.

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My boy hates the bathroom during storms. He would much prefer to be in open wide spaces. And kennels he destroy in his panic to get out. Curious to see what kennels would hold him. And the thunder shirt doesn't seem to work for thunder storms. Fireworks yes. Thunder nope.

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I've had good results with melatonin as well. It's not a miracle, but it helped my dog enough that he was just nervous rather than panicked. Eventually he didn't need it at all.

 

I understand that it doesn't work for all dogs, but it's worth trying. Inexpensive, readily availale and not dangerous. 3-6 mg.

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Hi SS Cressa,

 

Have you tried pet CD's? I have one I play sometimes for our household, it's a 2 set called Through A dog's Ear..one called pet calm & the other pet healing. Everything about the music has been researched and made at the correct frequencies to calm animals.

 

It may not do anything to help your dogs but it is very relaxing. I will often put it on and soon enough I have a previously empty room now full of sleeping animals,so it's helpful for me to find my animals..haha!! It's also very relaxing for humans

 

can you try Bach flowers (rescue remedy) or Australian Bushflower essences (emergency essence)

 

Goodluck

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The vet prescribed xanax. Will be getting it tomorrow. It is only as needed.

I just got rescue remedy and added it to their water. HAHA IDK about it... It is making Val extra cuddly and lovey? Like he drinks the water then seeks me out to lay super close and cuddle/kiss. Is that normal?

Also just got melatonin OTC. And just gave him a dose. Since his break outs he has been more on edge and keeps waking me up at night. Also just wanted to make sure it wouldnt have the opposite affect on him. So will see how that goes tonight.

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So i think i just figured out what pushed him over the edge into panicking.

 

I live across the street of a closed school. Apparently people, the last couple weekends, have been setting off those big fireworks that make a big BOOM there. On top of that the last two weeks we have been having thunderstorm. Yes, these people are dedicated and even during the storm were setting off fireworks. :(

 

Im guessing V thought death was eminent by electric firing squad. Poor pup, glad he is chilling at my sisters house this weekend.

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