Things You'll Need:
- a dog bed
- a dark place in the house on the first floor
- vacuum
- dog treats
- time
- affection
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Step 1
Most dogs will try to find a dark, covered place to hide from thunderstorms. You will want to find a similar place that is easily accessible. If your dog is old, avoid stairs. A panicked dog can slip and fall easily. Generally a closet works well. Either a coat closet or the back portion of a pantry or the cleaning closet. You’ll just have to make sure that the door is partially open or that you open it when a storm is coming.
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Step 2
Get a pillow large enough for the dog to rest on comfortably or a dog bed and place it in that space.
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Step 3
Show the dog this place before there are storms. Give her a treat and love her up. Whenever a storm starts to come, guide your dog to this place. It may be difficult if your dog is large, but after a couple times (sometimes even one time) your dog will start going to this place automatically. It is unlikely that she has one particular place that she absolutely must go to. What is more likely is that she is desperate to find any place. A familiar place will soon seem safe.
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Step 4
When your dog is in this safe area, love her up. Sit down next to her and stroke her. Tell her that it will be all right. The exception to this is if your dog is snippy or inclined to bite. But let her know that you are there and that she is safe.
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Step 5
If your dog is young, it is a good idea to train her now. That way there’s less of a risk for her getting hurt. But even old dogs can be trained. Our 125 lb lab (mostly muscle, not fat) hated storms since she was three years old, but it wasn’t until she was twelve and fell down the stairs that we realized we needed to make another safer place. We turned my closet into her safe place, and she took to it after we showed her the first time.
Comments
tonytoo said
on 8/29/2008 This is a really great article! You show a lot of understanding of the ways dogs think! I had two Golden Retrievers, sisters, who were so terrified of thunderstorms they could escape from wire crates, or just about anything. (Normally they LOVED crates so much that if they visited a home with a smaller dog who had a crate, they would both try to go into the crate that was only big enough for a cat!) I had to provide an opening to a closet, as you've suggested, to prevent their hurting themselves trying to crawl into tinier and tinier spaces. So I can vouch for how well this will help. One thing I think you are saying, but I would like to see it said stronger: Do the petting, treating and coddling of the dog, in this "safe space" when there is NO THUNDERSTORM. Never coddle or baby the dog when it is scared, as that will make the fear behavior worse.
tonytoo said
on 8/29/2008 This is a really great article! You show a lot of understanding of the ways dogs think! I had two Golden Retrievers, sisters, who were so terrified of thunderstorms they could escape from wire crates, or just about anything. (Normally they LOVED crates so much that if they visited a home with a smaller dog who had a crate, they would both try to go into the crate that was only big enough for a cat!) I had to provide an opening to a closet, as you've suggested, to prevent their hurting themselves trying to crawl into tinier and tinier spaces. So I can vouch for how well this will help. One thing I think you are saying, but I would like to see it said stronger: Do the petting, treating and coddling of the dog, in this "safe space" when there is NO THUNDERSTORM. Never coddle or baby the dog when it is scared, as that will make the fear behavior worse.
AutumnLeavz said
on 7/16/2008 Excellent article! I had a dog before who would actually squeeze herself under the back of the toilet tank and she was 60lbs so this was no small feat! I would love to have used this to help her but will use it for my dog now. Thanks!