Is Your Dog Afraid of Storms?

This past week, we've had several storms in the middle of the night. Usually, I sleep through them, unless they're particularly loud. But when I wake up in the morning, I see little Sammy, my Lhassa-Poo, has come upstairs to sleep next to my bed. My little dog is afraid of storms.

Actually, he's gotten a lot better. He used to run upstairs and jump in my bed, scaring me half to death. He'd dive for the farthest corner of the bed, trying to get under the pillows, shaking and trembling, sometimes pooping in my bed.

Lovely.

I'd never had a dog that was so afraid of storms. My older dog, a cocker mutt, doesn't mind rain or thunder or lightning or snow or any kind of weather. But if there's a particularly thunderous boom, the kind that makes you jump, even Roby will slither into the room where I am. He doesn't shake and tremble but he wants to at least be in the same room, just in case.

But I think Sammy can feel the storm coming long before I even notice it. He might be noticing the shift in air pressure. Or perhaps his ears are better than mine, and he's hearing the thunder a long way off.

If your dog is afraid of storms, what do you do? Do you pick her up and cuddle her? Do you let her jump into bed with you?

That's what I used to do. I'd let Sammy jump in bed, and I'd hold him and tell him it's OK and try to soothe him, but it really didn't help. He was inconsolable.

Then I read somewhere that that's the worst thing you can do, because you're reinforcing the idea that trembling and being afraid of a storm is OK, even good. What we should do is reinforce behavior that is calm in the presence of storms or other loud noises.

So the best thing you can do is let him tremble, let him find a safe place, maybe under a table or in his crate, and be reassuring; but don't pick him up, don't cuddle, don't protect. Just act like everything is OK, and go about your business.

Another thing you can do is to get a recording of a storm and play it softly while you're playing with your dog so that she'll get used to the sound. Give treats every time there's a thunder clap if your dog continues to play or shows signs of coping rather than freaking.

I don't let Sammy jump up in the bed anymore. Time after time, I would gently put him back on the floor and pet him and tell him it's OK, and then leave him alone to deal with it next to my bed. He doesn't even try to jump on the bed anymore. He usually doesn't even wake me up. I just find him sleeping next to my bed the next morning.

He has woken me up a couple of times trying to get INSIDE my night stand. For some reason, he thinks there's room for him right behind my books. Of course, there's not, but a couple of times I awoke to him clawing at the books and papers trying to get in there where it appeared safe. 

That was a couple of years ago, though. He's come a long way since then. He still gets scared, but he's dealing with it much better now.