We had an almighty thunderstorm last night & Bouncer was whining his head off. I let him out in the garden for a wee, he didnt mind the rain at all. There was a great big thunderclap & the ll fella came flying in the back door scared out his mind. I held him & stood at the back door watching the lightning & listening to the thunder. He was ok when I was holding him but wouldnt go anywhere near the garden while the storm was going on. I hope I handled that correctly. I was a bit suprised as he comes from a working dog line so I thought load noises wouldnt bother him. Now im worried about Firework night.
Re: Thunder? Others will give you advice. I am too new at this. My pup 6 months old has heard thunder and very loud noises....leaf blowers, huge trucks hurtling down the road, lawn mowers, my food disposal grinding away....but when thunder rang out I laughed and in a high pitch voice just kept saying "how wonderful......how lovely....it's OK..."and stuff like that. I did not hold him, just wanted to reassure him that it was a noise like any other and it meant no harm. I'm sure others on the Forum will have much better info than me, though.
Re: Thunder? from what i've read, and i'm no expert mind you.... it's best not to "reassure" them when something frightful happens (like thunder, a backfiring car, a gunshot)... but to simply carry on normally, perhaps a treat or two, business as usual. in this way, they learn it's absolutely nothing to fear. we did this with orion, and now, he calmly sleeps through even the most ferocious thunderstorms and only barks if the wind begins to rattle the panes... and even then, it's his "alert" bark ("MUM! MUM! SOMEONE IS RATTLING THE WINDOW! MUM!" and settles down when i tell him quiet) and not his fearful bark. i hope this helps! just treat it as part of everyday life, speak to him normally, but no petting or coddling or "it's okay, it's okay"... they will associate that with the fear response and it will make him think it's right to be fearful, as opposed to "oh, this is okay, my mum or my dad is not at all rattled."
Re: Thunder? The worst thunder I have ever heard here for 2 days now, my windows have been rattling I was out on my walk during a thunder storm yesterday Hattie didn't bat an eyelid but she is 7 years old, Charlie currently lolling in bed and not bothered either and he is 3 years old : I wonder if not making too much of a big deal with thunder is better, just go about your routine and your puppy/dog will think everything is normal, if not do a little bit of indoor training or playing to distract them, giving little treats as you go to make good associations with the loud noise. Just my thoughts but probably wrong : x
Re: Thunder? If your young pup has now had a fright with a loud noise of thunder, I'd be tempted to take some precautions in the form of desensitisation to other loud noises, and preparation for the next thunder storm. This article is about a gunshy dog, but it might help generally: http://totallygundogs.com/gunshy-dog-can-it-ever-be-cured/ I personally see nothing wrong with comforting a fearful dog - which is different from appearing to be alarmed yourself and giving the message that there is something to be alarmed about. Comforting a dog is not the same as doing something to make the dog more fearful. My dog certainly gets attention and treats throughout anything that I think he possibly might find alarming, and I think the positive associations help.
Re: Thunder? My two are fine with any loud noise but my last Labrador would shake and try to hide . I bought a CD from Amazon , a desensitising one ( google and it will link to it ) . Start playing it now , it starts off softly , have it in the background as you go about whatever you are doing, play it most days , dogs therefore begin to accept these noises are being normal and are far less stressed . I also found that if I made too much fuss of Tess , I was compounding her fear , so relaxed and normal is the order of the day x
Re: Thunder? My last dog was petrified of thunder & fireworks, maybe I made too much fuss when he was a pup. Will look itno the CD option while he is still young.
Re: Thunder? Ah, found it. I knew I'd read some interesting stuff on thunder phobia a while back. By Patricia McCornnell - a series of blog posts on whether you can, or cannot, reinforce fear. Hope helpful/interesting. http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/th...ou-cant-reinforce-fear-dogs-and-thunderstorms http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/reinforcing-fear-ii-thunder-phobia-iii She also wrote a booklet on dealing with dogs and thunderstorms, but I can't find that right now - I'll post the link if I come across it again.
Re: Thunder? My German Shorthaired Pointer loved gunshot but was terrified of fireworks and thunder. My present, younger Lab was brought up with one of those 'crash, bang, wallop' CDs in his kennel as a pup and consequently is not frightened of any noise. Though I am ;D
Re: Thunder? Well believe it or not, someone just let off a firework, Bouncer didnt even take notice. He is too busy in the garden destroying his sleeping pillow
Re: Thunder? Definitely play it down and try not to make a fuss over them about it. My lab hates gunshot and bird scarers but isn't bothered by thunder or fireworks. However we have the village display going off at the end of our field and it is VERY loud so on that night I do put the radio on to dull out some of the noise. We are currently sat here listening to a storm and neither of mine seem remotely interested! Chloe
