# Developing fear of thunderstorms later in life



## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Not with thunderstorms, but I've gone through the same thing with my dogs and fireworks. They never showed any fear of them until this past New Years Eve, when all of a sudden they both were terrified. Now anytime there are fireworks or even just loud noises outside (cars backfiring, etc) they both are extremely afraid. The other day a traffic cop was directing traffic outside my house with a loud whistle... and granted, he was blowing it almost non-stop (there was a huge sandcastle tournament event with almost 350,000 people crammed into my little beach town with my main cross street being the only road out).. and both dogs were seriously anxious about all that noise.

I think before NYE this year, I will discuss options with my vet, or atleast pick up some Rescue Remedy and try that... I don't want to go through another night of fireworks with these two being so visibly distressed. And I feel like their fear was building off eachother's... not fun.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Rescue Remedy makes a mixture for pets. The only place that I know you can get it from is online http://www.rescueremedy.com/pets/ Dont ever use the other types because it has alcohol and the pastilles is sugar free that is toxic to dogs. It helps to calm the dog without doping him/her up. Some people use melatonin with good results. I would try these things before trying anything stronger like valium. 

Mine have gotten worse over the years and I think they have picked up on it from each other. So far I have been able to talk with them and try to turn up the tv loud with music. But we dont go out now on holidays like NYE or 4th of July at night because of the fireworks. Thunder isnt so bad unless it is really loud and often.


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

BeauShel said:


> Rescue Remedy makes a mixture for pets. The only place that I know you can get it from is online http://www.rescueremedy.com/pets/ Dont ever use the other types because it has alcohol and the pastilles is sugar free that is toxic to dogs. It helps to calm the dog without doping him/her up. Some people use melatonin with good results. I would try these things before trying anything stronger like valium.
> 
> Mine have gotten worse over the years and I think they have picked up on it from each other. So far I have been able to talk with them and try to turn up the tv loud with music. But we dont go out now on holidays like NYE or 4th of July at night because of the fireworks. Thunder isnt so bad unless it is really loud and often.


The Rescue Remedy I have been using is the for pets kind. Do you know how much Melatonin to use?


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

How much Melatonin can you give a dog? And, is the human kind safe? I have a bottle of CVS brand Melatonin, and a severe thunderstorm is starting.


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## Merlins mom (Jun 20, 2007)

Just when you think you don't have a thunder phobic dog! Merlin is similar. Never had any issues until we had an almost direct hit on the house (or it may have actually hit the house as it flipped breakers, and fried some electronics). It scared me too and I'm sure he fed on my reaction. It's not bad unless the thunder is close by and then he's shadowing me and panting.

What's bothering him now is all the hickory nuts that the squirrels are throwing (  ) at our roof....especially when they hit the chimney. It's freaking him out. Every morning and early evening they are up there (the tree towers over our home). I'm thinking about using rescue remedy, but tomorrow I'm going to try and make a treat game out of it and see if that helps him. He's never been scared of anything like this before and it bugs me that he is now. I want to fix it!! I hate to see him so anxious.


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## booklady (Mar 3, 2009)

I agree with Carol, I do think it's infectious. My longest resident dog has always been fireworks and thunder phobic. When my two senior goldens were adopted last year they had no problems with noise phobias, but over time Buddy has "caught" the problem.

I've always hated drugging the dogs and Rescue Remedy just hasn't quite done the job. So this last 4th I went the t-shirt route. It really did help a lot. We are only a few blocks from a major fireworks display and the two phobic ones were not exactly relaxed, but they weren't terrified and they weren't quivering and they weren't trying to dig their way into a corner. I also like the fact that the t-shirts can be donned without a lot of advance notice.


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## GoldenMum (Mar 15, 2010)

Bonnie and Clyde, now 9, have also gotten worse with age. Calvin and Hobbes (14 Months), and Cooper (15 Months) could have cared less. But since the 4th of July, Calvin is now a basket case, last night Bonnie, Clyde and Calvin were a basket case quivering with fear until 2AM, while Cooper and Hobbes snored the night away. Bonnie and Clyde have gotten so sensitive, they seem to panic before the storm starts. I wish I knew exactly what would relieve their anxiety.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

The average age of thunderphobia onset is 7 years. (This can include also fear of fireworks, guns, etc...) It sometimes coincides with a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, whetherthe two are linked or not is unsubstantiated.


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

Pointgold said:


> The average age of thunderphobia onset is 7 years. (This can include also fear of fireworks, guns, etc...) It sometimes coincides with a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, whetherthe two are linked or not is unsubstantiated.


That's really interesting. So far no hypothyroidism diagnosis.

I tried the t-shirt thing, and it really seemed to work, or maybe that was the melatonin - I did them both at the same time, and she was considerably more relaxed. Poor woofy-dog doesn't like thunder one bit.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

Happy she is doing so much better with the two solutions.

What Laura said about the thunder phobia connection to hypothyroid is interesting. Gunner is hypothyroid (doing well on meds) but has alot of anxiety including fear aggression. That has improved greatly with more positive training but I think they are all related to the low thyroid.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Tufts University conducted a study on the Anxiety Wraps. The results will come out this fall according to the website: http://vet.tufts.edu/behavior/case_current.shtml#1
I'm curious about this. We used a T-shirt on Barkley during his chemotherapy to keep him from scratching and we noticed he wasn't as afraid during storms. He was also going deaf so maybe he just stopped hearing them. In previous years we tried the Downy dryer sheet remedy (trying to remove the static charge). That did not work for us and I was doubtful an anxiety wrap would work either.

I have a book by Dr. Dodman at Tufts. I need to pull it out because I thought he mentioned in one of their studies that many dogs with storm anxieties are rescue/shelter dogs. He also mentioned the average age of developing phobias as 7. Two of our rescue dogs developed these phobias at age 7 like clockwork. Both had low thyroid btw.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

I pulled out my book by Nicholas Dodman, copyrighted 1999 (so the info may be dated) titled _Dogs Behaving Badly_. I was not exactly right about the connection of shelter pups to thunderphobias. Actually, the connection is between shelter/rescue pups and separation anxiety. There is also a connection between separation anxiety and thunderstorm anxiety. 

On p. 70 he lists several techniques he's tried (again, may be dated), including:
1. Static spray sheets
2. Misting (with water from a spray bottle)
3. Arranging for the dog to be a conducting surface such as tile or linoleum
4. Spraying the dog's feet with antistatic spray
5. Having the owner put the dog inside a car during the storm (and driving around in a storm...hmmm).


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## doug31 (Aug 27, 2010)

my GR has been afraid of thunderstorms her whole life.


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## Jackson'sMom (Oct 13, 2007)

Tia is terrified of thunder, which we very seldom had in California. But now we're in New Mexico, which gets some hellacious afternoon/evening thunderstorms during the summer. Melatonin helps a little, and she seeks refuge under my desk, which is enclosed on 3 sides. Gage was terrified of thunder and loud noises when we got him (he was relocated from Memphis to California due to the terrible thunder there). I tried an Anxiety Wrap on him and didn't find it helpful, but will try a T-shirt on Tia next time we get a storm. Even the sound of a heavy rain makes her nervous. She was a mess on July 4, when the fools across the road set off huge fireworks all evening. I can hardly wait for New Year's Eve.


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## cavaliergirl (Jul 18, 2010)

We are going through the same thing with our Jake. He was never afraid of fireworks, loud noises, or thunderstorms. Now at 13 he is so afraid that the minute he hears anything loud he goes upstairs and hides somewhere. He is very hard of hearing, but apparently has not lost all of it, thank God. I cringe everytime I hear that we have a chance of a storm. I did try the dryer sheet thing, but it did nothing. My heart breaks for him when he gets so scared, because he is just quivering all over, and they say the more you try and comfort them, the worse it gets. I can't help it though, at 13 you want him to know you are there for him and maybe that would be some comfort. Well Fall is fast approaching, so the storms should be few and far between.


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## golden girl1 (6 mo ago)

I have a 6 year old gr. She has developed anxiety related to thunder and lightning within the past year-year and a half. She pants, shakes and it seems like it is always at night. I don't let her on the furniture but when she gets her anxiety, she will not take no for an answer and jumps up in bed with me. I would let her stay if she would let me calm her but she just wants to burrow under me. I have moved to the couch in the family room and even to the sectional in the basement thinking she would not be as afraid down there. I have given her meds from the vet, and tried CBD chews (not at the same time), and a thunder coat. The last time it happened, I put her in the crate in the utility room in the basement and put a blanket over the crate. 

Part of me wonders if this developed because there was a period when I was working a lot. I had a neighbor girl letting her out and walking her in the afternoon and then I would when I got home. Now I am in a position where I walk her every day, sometimes 2-3 miles and am home a lot more and am no longer in need of the neighbor girl to help as much,

Any suggestions or insight in to why this may be happening? Any suggestions on how to reduce her anxiety? Is this characteristic of golden retrievers?


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## michaeldwilson (Aug 14, 2012)

I don't know if this will help you, but with both my dogs I played a very exciting game with them the first time they heard fireworks and thunder so that they would associate those kinds of noises with playtime. Like many Goldens, my dog is extremely motivated by the tennis ball. So when I heard fireworks and thunder, I would toss the ball in the house, and it was a great game. Now Emmitt does not care about fireworks, which is really good our neighbors love shooting them off, many days after the Fourth of July, maybe even tonight. When Emmitt hears thunder, he does growl a little bit, but nothing more than that.


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