Spring Storms- Do they upset your doodle?

[Deena Womack]

We just had a fast moving storm go through with lightning, thunder and hail. Cali can not sit still, she has been all through the house and she is whinning. Normally by this time in the evening she is asleep on the couch or just ready to go to bed, this storm has not made her happy at all. We have petted her and hugged her and she is not easily pacified at this point. How do your doodles handle the storms or what do you do to make your doodle less afraid or more comfortable?

[Janie]

Our doodles show no reacton at all...my elderly pom has a very hard time with storms.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

My neighbors dogs went balistic at 2:00a.m. last night with the storms we got. Above me is a Jack Russel and next door is two Bagles (Beagles) I know ...pvt. joke...they barked for over an hour, because they barked.... Hannah barked, which set off Honey....I think they all should recieve awards last night for their storm singing. But, I did manage to get mine under control with the "NO BARKING" command, and they both went back to sleep within 5 mins of this singing. However, the other three dogs continued into the night for over an hour. With windows open all you heard was "SHUT UP"...lol..etc. I think with time, and the dogs getting older and their reaction to storms, their owners are loosing sight of why their dogs are acting the way they are, or they never accomplished getting their dogs fears under control. These dogs probably would do better on meds when it storms... at least the neighborhood would get some sleep...lol.

[Stella]

Our older LD is 18 months old and doesn't react at all to thunderstorms. We had some good ones last year when he was a puppy and we just pretended nothing unusual was happening and carried on with whatever we were doing. We just turned the TV or the radio up a bit (we always have one or the other on) so that he could hear sounds that were familiar to him. We were lucky that we went to a really good trainer for socialisation classes and she would play a CD of unusual noises (including thunder) during the playtime sessions.

I wasn't sure how our new puppy (5 months) would react as he is a lot more highly strung and barks at the slightest noise outside our house. But, we were actually out walking the other night when one started. So, we calmly walked home as if nothing was happening, even though it was crazy out there with the wind and the rain! When we get home it is time to feed the dogs, so through the worst of the thunder (very loud!!) he was eating his dinner and didn't react at all. I am sure it helped that our older dog isn't phased by it at all.

When Cali is distressed it is best not to pay too much attention to her as you might be reinforcing that behaviour. I agree with some of the other posts that if she has a place to go to that feels safe, even directing her to her bed/ blanket, this should help. We learnt how to 'excite' and 'relax' our dogs in classes, so you could try this (sorry, you didn't say how old she is), so we can send ours to his blanket and tell him to relax - good when the puppy play is getting a bit wild! Then give her a favourite toy or something to chew on. When she is calm, then you can give her attention.

Good luck!

[Sessa]

Thankfully, my doodle is not afraid of storms...doesn't phase her in the least.
As a pup we would actively go outside and play a bit while a storm brewed up....or, I would go out and run around with her in the rain for a quick moment too....fun. ;)...while in the house, we also would just continue our routines as normal---even if the lights went out too! ;)

Awhile back, I rescued a young dog that would literally become paralyzed from fear during storms...believe me, it was a tough situation all around....once, while hiking, a storm caught us---instead of being able to run back to the car, we had to hunker under a rock outcropping b/c Denali just wouldn't budge (and he was too heavy to carry)....anyhoo, long story short---I used a CD with natural storm recordings to desensitize him over time....I believe someone else mentioned this in another reply....it REALLY helped immensely as I would play the tracks randomly--even while drifting off to sleep. Denali never got fully over it (he had already ingrained his pattern before he came to live with me) but I was able to employ these techniques the rest of his life that didn't allow him to FULLY shut-down during a storm...the key is patience and tough love--no coddling is really good advice!

GOOD LUCK!!