It rained two and a half inches yesterday, most of it in a brief rain-slashing, wind-moaning storm that was so intense that the dogs and I sat on the couch looking out the window in a state of disbelief. I believe at one point I said “Holy S*^#!”
It reminded me of the night I drove home in a lightning storm. (Check out the video of a lightning storm in Texas, taken from above by an astronaut.) Lightning bolts struck repeatedly to the right and left of my car as rain drops pelted down like squishy bullets hitting my windshield. Finally one bolt landed so close to the car that the entire world went blank and weird. When I shook my head and came to my senses, the car was stopped as if I’d parked it in a parking lot. But the engine kicked in when I turned the key, and I was able to drive again, barely breathing, hands clenched on the wheel.
When I arrived home I was desperate to sleep. There had been loud thunder storms for several nights running, and I’d slept only a few scant hours in the last three days. I stumbled into the bathroom, cursing the relentless noise of the storm, and took a half of the sleeping pill I use when I travel and can’t sleep. It worked. The next thing I knew, sometime around dark-thirty in the morning, my Border Collie Pip pawed at my face. I have a crystal clear memory of her as she walked out of the room, looking back repeatedly at me like Lassie warning Timmy about the danger in the well/barn/garage/swamp. I remember thinking, the question still as sharp as a needle in my mind, “Why is there smoke rising off of Pip’s fur?”
I unfolded out of bed and shuffled behind her, gradually realizing that the entire house was full of smoke. Lots of it. I called 911, and heard “Get out of the house immediately. IMMEDIATELY. Do not go back inside no matter what.” I gathered the dogs, grabbed the car keys on my way out and ran outside. I put the dogs in the car, drove the car away from the house, and then stood at the far end of the driveway awaiting the firemen.
That’s when I realized I basically had nothing on. There I was, standing in the driveway pretty much naked, awaiting the volunteer fire department, who I knew was made up of my neighbors, the neighbors of my neighbors, along with their sons, uncles and grandfathers. As I heard the sirens approaching the farm I realized I had a choice: Stand semi-nude while a dozen or so guys I sort of knew descended on the farm, or risk my life going back in for some clothes. I went for clothes. I know, not the best choice, but then . . . I mean, really, what would you have done? (FYI, lightning had hit the house, there was an electrical fire in the basement. I owe the Black Earth Fire Department more than I can say, and I will be forever grateful for their quick response. Not to mention Pip (aka Pippy Tay), who well might have saved my life.)
True story, really. I haven’t thought of it for years, until the storm last night reminded me of how loud noises are often signals to us mammals that we are in danger. Dogs are no exception, and I always feel for them this time of year, when both thunderstorms and fireworks terrify so many of them. July 4th fireworks will start soon, and the thunderstorms are in full force. Dogs need our help, because they don’t get to watch the weather report and learn the storm will be over soon, or that fireworks are for eliciting fun rather than frantic fear.
Here is link then to a brief summary of how to help your dog on July 4th. It includes cautions against taking your dog out to the fireworks in the park. (I’m amazed how many people do this!) I should add here that just because a dog is fine with loud noises one year, she might not be the next. As a matter of fact, thunder phobia develops most commonly around the age of three and often gets worse as the dog ages without treatment.
If relevant to you, please check out the section in the Reading Room about sound sensitivity, including treatment options for thunder and firework-phobic dogs. Pip, by the way, developed thunder phobia after the house fire. I used counter conditioning and thunder shirts for two seasons with Pip and her symptoms decreased by about 90%. Like a lot of dogs, she began to lose her hearing at the age of twelve or so, and then slept blissfully through the worst of storms forever after. Perhaps one of the few advantages of getting old? One more quick comment of importance: Please please take the advice of well-educated veterinarians, and never give your dog Acepromazine for sound phobias. Ace is a sedative that acts to suppress movement, but doesn’t alleviate anxiety. In some cases it appears to worsen it, which makes sense. If an animal is frightened but unable to move, will it feel less afraid? Umm, probably not.
By the way, why not do prevention for dogs before they become phobic? Maggie pays no attention to storms right now, but I still give her “thunder treats” after thunder to prevent her becoming phobic in the future. No guarantees it will work, but why not try it?
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: “Back on the farm” is the relevant phrase here, because we just returned from a lovely long weekend on Walloon Lake, Michigan and a brief overnight to Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island is car and motorcycle free–only horses and bicycles are allowed as transportation. It’s simply impossible to imagine what it’s like to be on a busy street with no cars, until you are. It’s heaven, including perhaps my favorite part–the clip clop clip clop of horses pulling tourists, garbage, food for restaurants, and anything else that needs to go from A to B that is too heavy to carry.
Almost all the horses leave the island in fall (I assume that some stay, since there are about 400 residents who live there year round). Here’s a video on their trip onto the ferry that takes them to the mainland for the winter. I was struck by how intently they focused on the ferry, ears all pricked forward, and yet how calm they were while being loaded.
Of course, when on the island I looked at every horse I saw with a careful eye, and never saw a horse that didn’t look in good condition. I expect that the ones driven commercially are in fine hands, although I have to admit feeling sorry for the horses that are rented out to anyone who signs a waiver. I worked at a riding stable in Arizona when I was a teenager, and we never would have let a novice take a horse out of the stable without a guide. I expect the horses on the island are carefully vetted for calm and resilient personalities. Bless their big, huge hearts. Anyone ever worked a team on Mackinac? I’d love to hear if you have.
Here’s a team delivering supplies, among the endlessly gorgeous gardens all over the island:
A few more images, including butterflies munching on banana slices in the Butterfly House.
And finally, what can one say about a store that sells “lilac products” along with knives and cannons? I find myself thinking about other eclectic stores. Organic vegetables and Hand Grenades? Crystals and Switchblades? Any other combinations on your list…?
Judi says
Lafayette, Indiana used to have “Marge & Bob’s Gift and Gun Shop.” It was next door, and had a connecting door, to The Sportsman Bar. The Sportsman was definitely a townie bar, not a college hangout (Purdue University is in West Lafayette), although some of us did go there to celebrate successful thesis defenses.
Lora Frost says
Thanks for this article, my border collie cross developed a huge phobia to thunderstorms last year and I just attributed it to living somewhere new with larger storms. This year however in another new location he is just as terrified. Last year he turned three and I’ve been unsure what to do (other than counter conditioning while it’s been happening). Looks like I will explore other options as well to make sure he doesn’t get worse.
Crystal says
My girl was fine with thunder until a storm last year and a bolt hit near the house and scared her. Now she’s nervous, seeks me for comfort, usually I cuddle her or let her crawl into bed, it seems to help. Past dogs had serious thunder phobia, it was easiest to let him be in a room alone.
Rich Kosh says
I dread the 4th, and New Years eve. Jolie, who is now 12, hates fireworks. She’s a Golden Retriever, who evidently doesn’t know she is from gun dog stock.
I will be spending the 4th at home, in bed, with the noise machine turned up on high. We will go to bed early and she will lay against me. I will put my arm around her and she will gradually quit shaking and go to sleep. Even at 12, her hearing is fine. Sigh.
Frances says
Both of mine were fine with loud and sudden noises until Sophy decided two summers back that distant sounds of rabbit shooting meant we should go home at once. The sounds were so distant that it took me a while to realise what was worrying her – she would react to noises I could not hear. Fortunately I worked it out before the firework season (late October/early November in the UK), and was able to help her using internet sounds, played at first very softly and building up very gradually while she lay on my lap and I massaged her ears. So far it has worked – if there are bangs or thunder she comes to me for reassurance and an ear rub, and as long as the noises are not too loud or too persistent a few seconds are enough. A quick ear massage, a cheery word about how loud the noise was, and she gives a shake and trots off to sniff the grass again. We don’t get the sort of storms you describe, thank heavens – I suspect we would all be sheltering under the duvet together if we did!
Jana says
I loved hearing your comments on Mackinac Island. As a native Michigander, it’s one of my favorite places to visit. Yes, they take excellent care of their horses, both the ones for commercial hauling, and those rented for riding or driving a wagon by tourists. It helps that there’s no really good place to really ride faster than a walk, a lot of trails, and no noise from cars etc to startle them. I have 5 sisters so the 6 of us would go to Mackinac every fall for a long weekend. We now tend to go to Traverse City. We’ve been doing this for over 35 years. We have one brother, Jim. One year we decided to rent their wagon pulled by one horse to tour places we didn’t normally get to. Ironically, the horses name was Jim. Since I have a lot of horse experience, I drove and Jim was wonderful.
Frances says
I should add that I use ear massage rather than food or play because it is one of Sophy’s favourite things, sends her into a state of deep relaxation when she is snuggled on my lap so it was easy to see when a particular sound level no longer bothered her, and means I don’t have to keep chicken in my pocket at all times – I can always rub her ears, but can’t be sure of having really good treats to hand. Also, a little food goes a long way with a toy dog – I can massage her ears for hours if necessary, where generous helpings of treats for an hour would be the equivalent of several meals. Play wouldn’t work – Sophy only plays at particular times and places, and games are instigated and controlled by her. I discovered how much she loves ear massage almost by accident when taking a two day dog massage course – it was worth the price of the course just for that!
Rhody says
Unrelated to dogs but highly relevant:
When in a building with smoke or fire the first thing to do is not call 911, it is GET OUT. Call 911 from outside. Those moments may save you. I know someone whose child was burnt because the child called rather than getting out of the house.
Lighting comes from the sky, lightening is what you do to get blond hair if you’re a brunette. ?
Related: my BC s survive T storms by getting into their crates. One likes the door shut. But dogs have different reactions.
Love your column!
Alison says
On New Year’s Eve, our only main fireworks time in Australia, we drive 2.5 hrs away from the city and go camping. Our terrier hate fireworks and out in the bush camping he never has to experience them.
Gaby Portilla says
Dear Trisha, I love you blog and I’m a big follower of your work. I am currently reading “The Education of Will”, and as with all your books, you really inspire me to keep up with my dreams and the way I want to change the world for good (I’m a co-founder of a non-profit in Mexico dedicated to educate about dogs and help people to understand them, and my husband and I just started a project for english speakers called spiritbond.org to focus on the love and spiritual bond between us and the animal kingdom). Thanks for sharing your life and experience with the world. I identify myself a lot with you and I hope someday I can write a book so inspiring as you have done several times.
What an intense episode the lightening and your house on fire. I always remember the time you wrote that you gave Pip a treat and you had chocolates for yourself on your night stand. So funny and real. One of my dogs is thunder-phobic and I thought I was the only one who got “thunder startles” because of working with him to desensitise him, so after reading your experience I started to treat myself too 🙂
I laughed at the “eclectic shop” comments, because I am from Mexico and live in Mexico and here is very very common, at every corner you might find signs of “Sugar, Oil and Shoes”, there is a store that makes my husband laugh every time we pass by that says “Natural Medicine, Doctor here -knock- and Office Supplies” it is so hilarious.
I send you a big hug and blessings for you and your family. Although you don’t know me and I feel you as a dear friend that helps me learn more and more about dogs, families and the most important of all: love.
Thank you for continue with your blog.
Ellen says
Thunder shirts are marvelously effective for anxious dogs, no matter what they are anxious about. I had one dog who wore hers to agility class where she had been badly frightened by an out of control dog appearing right in her face as she came out of a tunnel.
You don’t mention, no one seems to mention, using earplugs for dogs bothered by loud noises? Why is that? Horse show people certainly use them for show horses (bet you thought those fancy ear nets show horses wear were for flies, didn’t you)
And, mightn’t fear of loud noises be a result of more acute sound sensitivity? Might it be painful?
My house was under a line of thunder storms moving from north to south right over the top of us. It was like being under an artillery bombardment for hours. Not frightening because I have always liked thunder storms, but highly unpleasant.
Trisha says
First, I love the examples of other stores with a creative mix of goods. Second, good grief, can’t believe I spelled lightning as “lightening” before being prompted. Sigh. Maybe cuz I really did “lighten” my hair when I was younger?
More importantly, great comment from Rhody about getting out of a smoky house first, then call 911. Alas, if I had tried that I’d still be standing in the driveway, since we have no cell service at the farm. But a great reminder to the majority of the world who does.
And Ellen, I love your question/comment about ear plugs for dogs. Why haven’t we talked about that? Seems there is a product for dogs for everything else now. And I didn’t know that those fancy ear nets helped to dampen sound; love that you’ve educated us.
Trisha says
To Gaby: How wonderful that you are working so hard to bring progressive, benevolent (and effective) training to your area. Here here! And thank you for such kinds words to me–I mentioned in an earlier post that the only thing I missed a little bit about being off work in May was the connections I’ve made on the blog. What a village this has become. Lucky me.
maggie jones says
We farmed for more than 20 years with horses (about 50 miles west of you), and owned a suffolk mare that had been on Mackinac Island. We bred her to a suffolk stallion and we had our best horse out of her, a gelding we kept until he died of old age. When we broke him I said repeatedly it was as if someone had already done the job for us, he was so amenable to the harness and driving. Thanks so much for the stories. Maggie
Gaby Portilla says
Thanks for your reply Trisha 🙂 It’s amazing what internet allows us to do in terms of connection and getting closer to people that otherwise we would never meet.
About the ear plugs that Ellen mentions, I tried some DIY with my dog (just puffy knitted balls) but he couldn’t stand a second to have something in his ears, specially not blocking his hearing! He gets hypervigilant and I can almost see on his face a “Mom, are you serious? I’m trying to spot every little thunder or the possibility of a firework coming our way, trying to save our lives here, please don’t block my ears!” I did some research and stumbled upon a product called “Mutt Muffs” which are like “ear covers/head phones” (I lack of a better word) to protect dog’s ears while on a helicopter or airplane, something like that. Yet I never ordered them. My dog also hates thundershirts, although he does like a more “saggy” t-shirt and calms down a bit. I think some dogs that are hypersensitive to noises, can be also hypersensitive to other kind of stimuli, right? Like not wanting “mom” to “plug” his ears 😛
PS: sorry about -lightening- too
Grace says
During the weeks I waited for my puppy to turn 8 weeks old so I could bring him home, his first family was doing some renovations to their house. That early exposure to noisy power tools must have done the trick because in the 3+ years that I’ve had my boy, he has never reacted to thunder or lightning. I have thanked his breeder repeatedly for this!
muttzrule says
Thank you for the article on noise phobia. I’m always looking for ways to help Duncan, my 7 year Golden mix who has severe thunder and fireworks phobia. He’s had it since at least 5 years ago when I adopted him. A neighbor recommended Xanax which helped her dachsund during storms. I’d be interested to know if anyone here has tried it and if it worked for their dog.
That store front reminded me of a small gift shop which was next door to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in Crested Butte, Colorado years ago. It had a table full of bumper stickers with peaceful, environmentally friendly themes like save the rainforests, save all kinds of wildlife, visualise world peace, coexist, etc…all except one. In the midst of all the others was one which featured Uncle Sam encouraging the reader to join the Army, travel to exotic lands, meet fascinating people from many cultures…and kill them! Someone had an offbeat sense of humor.
P.S. Duncan just snuggled up closer and bumped my arm as I was sending this. I’m not sure if it went through and I apologize if I am posting twice.
Charlotte Kasner says
Believe it or not, even 4,000 miles away in England we also have fireworks on July 4th and increasingly throughout the summer. From October to January is particularly difficult for animals. We have tried to petition parliament for mandatory use of quiet fireworks at public events and I have tried to lobby locally on behalf of clients for other large events to use quiet fireworks but to no avail. Perhaps you might have more success?
It was lovely to see Mackinaw island and the Belgians. I first came to the US in the late 1980s and taught English riding in Michigan for 3 months. Later I joined Michigan Trail Riders and crossed the state three times between Lakes Michigan and Huron. I never made it to Mackinaw island or Isle Royale though. One of these days between dogs maybe, and maybe even the “cheese state”. In the meantime, keep sending the posts please!
lee says
Thanks to dear Pip for waking up our beloved Trisha!
Can you (or any other commenters) give a link or more info about the thunder (noise?) phobia developing around the age of 3? Is there variability depending on size (noting that the socialization window may be variable depending on size of dog). Do some breeds (BCs or herding, in particular) tend to have more noise sensitivities?
I seem to remember reading 10+ years ago that some genetic predispositions “kick-in” at 2-3 years of age but have not been able to find any references to it.
I dread the 4th (and New Year’s Eve) because of fireworks but hope that you and your family, fur and furless, have a happy Fourth!
lee
Chloe DE Segonzac says
Martin Clunes the British actor who plays in the series Doc Martin has a love affair with horses. He owns two Working horses and has filmed a few documentaries that took him all over the world about horse. Such a lovely man. Check it out.
Kathy says
I had a collie several years ago who developed different phobias; his first phobia was of fireworks when someone had thrown some “black cats” in the yard when we were gone and it scared him so badly that he tore the screen off the porch door and was huddled against the front door when we got home. After that cars backfiring, lumber slapping together at the nearby lumber mill and the neighbor’s screen door slapping a certain way would set him off. Then we lived on a farm where he developed a fear of the site of guns and fire due to the owner shooting black birds out of the ensilage pile and they also burned trash and often aerosol cans exploded. But he was not afraid of thunder – yet. His fear of thunder would come a few years later when he was about 9 years old. We lived outside of a tiny town and were sitting on the big porch during a thunderstorm as is it rolled in and then lightning struck the roof of the metal barn that was about 100 feet from the house. It sounded like a cannon was shot. We both jumped, and at that point he was afraid of thunder from then on. It always amazed me that he had all the other phobias for so many years without being afraid of thunder.
Brenda Pawloski says
Dear Patricia, I am horrified to think we all may not have this wonderful post to read because you took a grave risk a few years ago! As the owner of five dogs, I seem to always have a beach towel, quilt, tarp, moving blanket in my car that I would have wrapped myself in for modesty’s sake. Hoping there is no next time!
That off my chest, I know what you mean about Walloon Lake. We have family who live right on the lake and love to visit any time of the year.
Our solution for our dog’s fear of thunder, fire works, sounds emanating from Ft. Benning, GA is an aluminum Zinger Winger crate with all rounded openings. She willingly runs in there when she is upset.
Rebecca Rice says
Hello!
Loved the pictures. Our where I live there is Catalina Island, that only allows golf carts, but alas, no horses. There’s no fresh water on the island, so it might be prohibitively expensive to have them there. But it is nice to be in a place where there are no cars. Which reminds me, when I am watching old period pieces, that there was a time when they didn’t have lane markers, and you could drive pretty much wherever you wanted in the road, which must have made dealing with traffic a little more crazy than it is now.
To muttzrule: I am using Xanax with my Katie this year. She spent last 4th being very stressed by the fireworks (I live within walking distance of the main town display, yet, oddly enough, can’t actually see it from my yard because of the trees). Lots of panting, occasional startles with a little pacing. So far, the low dose has done well with the more-distant run-up events (I also live further away from an amusement park that has been doing them nightly), so I am going to try the high dose on the 4th. What I would love to find out is if anyone has tried Sileo and can report back on it. My vet wouldn’t prescribe it, I think partly because it’s new and why be an early adopter, and partly because the potential side-effects are nastier than with the Xanax, which also lasts longer (but takes longer to take effect, I believe). So I would love to hear feedback from other people!
Trish – I thought of some more “thoughts for blogs”, which I am going to throw in here.
First, I’d like to discuss Breed bias – both the obvious one of “all pit bulls are evil monsters that must be destroyed”, but also how other breed biases may affect public/owner behavior. For example, the only time that I have been seriously scared that a dog was going to kill mine was when I was out walking little 9-pound Pixie, and a dog broke away from its owner and charged over with every intention of killing my girl (based upon what I read in the dog’s body language). It took the owner doing the full “grab the rear legs and lift them off the ground to immobilize the dog” to get my girl out of range (thankfully entirely unharmed, since she can turn into a little whirling dervish when she needs to and I was doing as much body blocking as possible to keep between the dogs!). And yet when I tell people that the attacking dog was a golden retriever, the general response I get is “oh, it just wanted to play! Goldens are nice dogs.. they don’t attack.” Umm.. maybe not in general, but this one did. But how many people disregard danger signs in their dog because they are a “good breed”? And, as a segue, do you find that people who carefully research dogs, and settle on breed X, have more problems with the lazy Border Collie, the lab that hates swimming, the doberman that thinks every stranger is a friend, etc., than less dog-savvy people who just deal with the dog that they have?
Second: I hear a lot that dogs today seem to be “less than” they were in the past. There is more separation anxiety, more aggression, more nervousness, etc. I’m wondering if you can shed more light on that than what I get out of internet message boards. Is this just a “things were better in the past” kind of thing? Is it that more people with problem dogs are trying to get help for them (in other words, the “is there more of X, or are people just talking more about X” conundrum)? Is it that out attitudes towards dogs has changed, so that dogs that would have simply been killed in the past are now being allowed to live and their problems managed? Or has our expectations of dogs grown to be larger than in the past, so things that weren’t seen as problems then are now? (When I was growing up, if a dog growled at me, the first thing my parents would ask is “what did I do to bother the dog?” Now, the response seems to be that the dog is a danger and should be destroyed.) Or is it that society’s change to being an always connected, tech-oriented world has impacted the kind of life our dogs live? Growing up, I remember turning the pets loose in the morning, with the general assumption that they would be home in the evening, which is something that seems shocking to me today. But it was what everyone I knew did. Did having that free time to “just be a dog” influence dog behavior, which is missing in today’s world of classes and playdates and sporting events?
So, just some more ideas to add to the list!
Sheryl says
Daisy is scared of loud noises/voices due to past abuse. She is terrified of thunderstorms and gun shots. When a thunderstorm is approaching – and she always knows before I do – I put her Thundershirt on, give her a couple of drops of Rescue Remedy and rub a couple of drops of Lavender oil on the top of her head. Then I get her to cuddle up beside me on the love seat and cover her with a blanket. So far this summer that has worked fairly well. She will be 12 years old next month, so I do think she is getting a little bit deaf which also helps.
For her, I don’t think the Thundershirt really works all that well. Certainly, it didn’t work when it was the only thing I used.
The first summer she was with me (5 years ago) every storm was a nightmare, so this is a vast improvement.
Minnesota Mary says
Great article! Regarding Thundershirts – I use them regularly for my foster dogs. I have a couple of different sizes. They work to some degree on almost all dogs, but that degree might be slight. I worry when people extol the virtues of the Thundershirt as a cure-all for every dog. I’ve had amazing results for some of my fosters and, for some, just “meh” results (better than not having it on, but just barely).
The treat-based therapy for thunder/fireworks is great, but requires more planning. I have a dog trainer friend who has a three course meal for her four dogs every time there is a thunderstorm or fireworks. She has to keep an eye on the forecast and plan ahead. Here’s her meal plan / thunder treatment.
First course – she freezes peanut butter coating the sides of the dog’s dishes for a few hours before feeding them. Then she feeds them their usual kibble in the crate in the basement so the metal bowls bang around in the crate, masking the sound of the thunder or fireworks.
Second course is raw marrow bones with soft dog food frozen inside, again inside the crate in the basement.
Last course is a frozen kong with a baby carrot plugging the hole, sodium free beef broth and high value treats frozen inside, plus a “handle” of some kind (bull pizzle usually) – again in the crate in the basement.
The dogs love all three of these and by the time they have made their way through all the delicious treats, they are happy, full and relaxed and usually the storm or fireworks are finished.
Alice R. says
Thank you for the note about thunder phobias often arriving at age 3. I have a sound phobic two plus year old poodle mix thanks to two unavoidable bad experiences during a vulnerable puppy period that had a lasting effect. I have made thunder and fireworks a game from the earliest puppy days by dancing laughing and throwing LOTS of delicious meat around us after every boom. He shows a bit of fear at first sometimes, but gets into the game pretty quickly and we segue into a combination of play and treats. It’s working very well – 4 of July went great with no fear, just a bit of uncertainty at first. Armed with the three year old tidbit I’ve just learned, I will continue to do all this even after it no longer seems necessary.
Trisha says
Rebecca: Thanks for the blog ideas, love them! (Especially the ‘reverse breed bias,’ which I’ve seen over and over again. I think I’ll title it: “But Golden Retrievers Can’t Bite” (said to me by a friend after hearing about a GR bite case).
And I just had to add, given the topic of this week’s post, that yesterday, while I was at home working on a blog about barking, a noisy storm came through and I ended up interspersing writing with conditioning the dogs to “Yay! Thunder Treats!”. Willie and Tootsie were thrilled to get food dispersed after every clap of thunder. Maggie took several tasty morsels but then retreated under the counter after one particularly plate-rattling boom. I ignored her, but after the next clap of thunder I threw treats on the floor between the dogs, and as hoped, Maggie scurried out to snatch some up. Maggie has been oblivious to thunder until this season, and it’s clear to me that she is in Stage One of developing full-fledged thunder phobia. (There are no “official” stages, I just used that term because it seemed fitting.) She’s four years old now, so right on schedule. I’ll be sure to take a good supply of treats upstairs tonight so that I can condition her when it storms at night. I don’t like having to stay awake and cheerful in the middle of the night, but it’s better than years of being awake anyway because my dog is trying to crawl into my mouth.
Wanda says
My little Shih Tzu mix Ben has not reacted to loud noises until this past weekend when we were at a resort. For some unknown reason, the loud fireworks started on Friday night, June 30! Poor little Ben did his very best to curl up on my head as we tried to sleep. I wasn’t all that comfortable, but if he felt better on top of my head, so be it. What a person does not do for the dogs!
Rebecca Rice says
What can you do about fireworks and thunder if your dog is over threshold? My noise-phobic dog did well with the fireworks leading up to the 4th (all illegal, which is an entirely different thing that makes me crazy!), but on the 4th, when we sounded like we were in a war zone, it was an entirely different matter. With her being on Prozac, Xanax, and with her Thundershirt on, I couldn’t get her to even look at the high value treat that she had growled at me and even air-snapped over the previous day. Fireworks started at 6, and she panted and shivered until around 10:30, but then seemed to settle. I don’t know if that was just because she was exhausted, or if the drugs finally kicked in, or what. Other than doing what several people I know do, which is going out of town to certain locations known for not having fireworks, is there anything else to do when the dog can’t be counter-conditioned?
Trisha says
Rebecca, re dogs over threshold and fireworks. I don’t think there is much you can do besides whatever helps in the slightest way. Usually that’s the place with the least sound and light, cuddled up next to you. I’ve advised teaching dogs to go into “safe houses” for thunder, and that’s worked really well for some dogs. But every dog is different, and seems to get comfort in different ways. Tootsie taught me that wrapping herself on top of my head against the pillow made her feel safest, so I slept with a dog on my head for a few years until she improved. I do always drop the treat out the instant a dog shows no interset, lest one counter counter condition. T Touch would be a great idea, or even casual massages could help some dogs. I had one dog I sang to poor thing. But it seemed to help. Question, where did you and your dog go during the fireworks?
Frances says
I hope the worst is over in the US for another year.
Sophy gave me an interesting example of accidental counter conditioning last night. She dislikes bangs, or anything that might be a bang – not phobic, but definitely anxious. But one particular loud, close POP! does not worry her at all – the sound of a bottle of fizzy wine being opened. It is a very reliable predictor of crisps and breadsticks, both of which are always shared with the dogs, so that particular bang is met with bouncy enthusiasm.
muttzrule says
To Rebecca–thank you for the response about Xanax. I’ll see if the vet thinks it would help Duncan. He goes over threshold too. One blessing we had this year was that we heard almost no fireworks where we now live, despite being near an entertainment district which includes baseball and football stadiums, an amusement park and a water park. You’d think it would sound like a war zone on the 4th, but we heard only a few distant pops which rated only medium-sized woofs or whimpers and no potty mishaps (yay!) We all miss our old neighborhood, but not the neighbors who had their own fireworks for days before and after the 4th, often until 2 or 3 a.m.
I think the “less than” idea would be a good topic for discussion. It occurred to me while reading it that virtually all the comments could apply to humans too, right down to the old safe neighborhoods where our moms let us go out to play early in the day with the understanding that we check in once or twice at whichever kid’s house was the meet up place that day, and be home in time for dinner. Other than that we were free to roam at will within fairly large but clearly defined boundaries. Sigh. We too seem to have more emotional and behavioral problems now. Road rage, bullying, anxiety and depression are almost the norm. Could our dogs be mirroring our higher stress levels and acting out behaviors because they are so closely bonded to us? One thing the Duncanator (nickname earned in his earlier years of separation anxiety chewzapaloozas) has taught me is the necessity of cleaning my emotional house before interacting with my dogs. If I came home cranked up from a stressful work day or commute, he would instantly go into hyperspeed, running the fence line when I let him out, barking wildly and cranking up all the neighbor dogs. Or I would find pee and poop and unintended chew toys inside the house. He has calmed down considerably with time and training, but he seems a little depressed since we moved. He has insomnia some nights, which he never had before. He gets up numerous tines during the night, paces through the house, then settles in a new spot. Other than keeping a regular routine as much as possible, is there anything else that might help him feel more secure?