Thunderstorms aren’t fun for anyone, and especially not for your four legged friend. They can become highly anxious, whining, panting, pacing, and maybe even destructive. So how do you cure or at least lessen your dog’s thunderstorm phobia? We have 7 tips that you can use to calm your furry friend during this stressful time.
Provide Your Dog Company
If the weather forecast predicts rain with a chance of thunderstorms, It’s in your dog’s best interest for you to stay home and give them company. If you know you are going to be tied up at work or busy, try to ensure a family member or friend can be with them during the storm so that them being alone doesn’t worsen their anxiety.
Reward Your Dog
You might be hesitant to reward your dog with comfort if they begin to pace around or begin to be destructive since you don’t want to reward this type of behavior. However, when your dog is in this anxious, emotional state, they aren’t able to learn, so this will simply help them cope during this stressful time.
Provide Distractions
Now that you know rewarding your dog is not going to negatively affect their normal everyday behavior, consider petting to distract them. You can even try to engage your dog in a game of tug-of-war, fetch, or give them a bone or special toy.
Create a Safe Place
While a crate might be your dog’s least favorite place, this might be their favorite place during a storm since it is a psychological, natural defense. You can even close any blinds on the crate to ensure they are not receiving any stressful visual stimulation.
Create Calming Noise
Look up calming noise videos for dogs on Youtube. This might sound funny, but it can distract your dog’s sensors. And of course, if you have a soundproof room, that’s an even better option.
Natural Remedies
A thunder jacket is a great option to try and get your dog to feel swaddled, pushing them into a calmer state. CBD oils for dogs can also provide a welcome anxiety relief for you dogs. You can get CBD oil for your dog at many boutique stores and even online.
Desensitize
This is going to be a multiweek process, but well worth it in the end. Start by playing Thunderstorm sounds, which you can search on Youtube, on a low volume. As the weeks pass, you can slowly turn the volume up while offering your dog treats such as CBD dog treats. And in time, your dog’s anxiety should lessen or eliminate during thunderstorms.
There are so many options for you to try and ease your dogs’ anxiety from creating a safe place to trying out CBD oil for dogs. It’s all about testing what works best for you and your furry best friend.