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| I may be under the desk, but I'm asleep. Fear of thunder? Balderdash. |
Australian Weather Warning: A severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds, flash flooding and large hailstones has been issued for Brisbane and southeast Queensland.
When I was a child, my terrier mix, named Muddy, was very frightened of thunderstorms (as was my mother – is there a possible explanation of canine behavior there?) We would attempt to crawl under the bed to comfort him, but that didn’t much help.
After we hid in the basement in Michigan because a tornado was passing through the area, our Shih Tzu became frightened of the sound of thunder. Tranquilizers did not help either the dog or us.
So, what to do when your dog is frightened of thunder? Gizmo seems fairly calm if we are in the house. If we are away, his misbehavior vastly increases. He has scratched the inner door to the garage to the point where it needs refinishing. He has re-arranged the bedspread and pillows in our room with more manic energy than before. And he has greeted our return with what can only be described as riotous and long-lasting overwhelming gratitude because we actually came back.
Other than ignoring the dog, what can be done about canine thunder phobia?
“I never married because there was no need. I have three pets at home which answer the same purpose as a husband. I have a dog which growls every morning, a parrot which swears all afternoon, and a cat that comes home late at night.” Marie Corelli
Poor little guy. I'm not sure anything can be done to erase that panic. Yanni used to shake like a leaf even when we held her.
ReplyDeleteRelative to the correlation between the dog being frightened as much as your mom, it was the same situation with my mother and her dog. Maybe Mom's behavior sent a strong signal that thunder was something to be feared.
Thank you: yes, I think we do send strong signals: if our dogs can pick up signals about going out or not from the shoes we put on, they can surely get the same messages about thunder.
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