July 4th is coming. Does your dog have a fear of Thunder or Fireworks? Those are the most commonly diagnosed phobias in our canine patients. The other common fears are Separation, Stairs, Car rides, Men, Children, Objects (i.e. vacuum), Strangers..................and.....................Veterinarians. The fear of Thunder & Lightning has several names......astraphobia, brontophobia, keraunophobia, or tonitrophobia.
We'll focus on the first 2 phobias right now. These signs usually show up between 6 and 18 months, and there are different reasons why a dog might "all of a sudden" become afraid. My Border Collie, Gumby, wasn't afraid of Thunderstorms until we were living in Las Vegas when he was about 3 years old. We had one of those "Doggie Doors" that inserted into the sliding glass door frame. in 1988, in Henderson, NV on the southeast side of Vegas, a rocket fuel plant exploded and blew his door into the living room......and windows out around the city. I was working at the time. (come to think of it, in Vegas I was always working) He was afraid of storms since then..........imagine that. It seems like that our dog Cricket ran off during the 4th of July for a few years.
Some of our patients simply pace and pant and whine, but some patients can get very violent and try to escape. They can do damage to floors, doors, sheetrock, themselves, etc. Sometimes a dog is more calm in its crate, but they can sometimes do a lot of self injury if the fear is great enough and they feel trapped. Some of our patients that had to experience Tornadoes in recent years haven't recovered.
Once they have the fear, it can be difficult to make it completely go away. We attempt to do counterconditioning with phobias by starting with very low levels of what the dog is afraid of while giving them something "fun to do" like eat, get petted, play with a toy, etc. We also praise them when they do not act scared. If you are afraid, your pet is more likely to be afraid as well. Try to remain calm and do your normal stuff, while thunder or fireworks are going on. Some experts feel that with thunder, it is more than just the noise that we have to duplicate, if we are going to try to condition them. The dogs probably notice the wind, lightning, rain, drop in barometric pressure, etc. in addition to the thunder.
What else can we do? DRUGS! I hate to have to admit it, but since it is hard to control and injuries can be bad, we resort to these more quickly. Because these cases can have bad consequences, we do what we can to keep our patients from this extreme anxiety. The two drugs that we used most frequently in the past were Valium and Ace Promazine, but we feel that Xanax and Prozac are working better. Now that these are generic, the prices are not bad at all, and these are non-sedating and longer lasting. It is helpful if we can give the medication before the pet gets anxious. This isn't always possible, since dogs usually know the storm is coming before we do. Fireworks might be a little easier to plan for, and if there is a way to insulate or drown out the noises, it might lessen the problem. If they have a "safe haven" like a closet or crate or bed, let them go there.
There are herbal products that I have seen on the market, but I haven't heard wonderful stories about being consistently helpful. One product that does intrigue me is the Thunder Shirt. Since I heard about it and looked into them, we started carrying them at PETcetera. This is a product that helps by putting pressure along the torso, similar to a hug I guess. Babies seem to calm down a bit when Swaddled and Autistic people, who are very anxious by nature, are now being treated with Deep Touch Pressure, often with something called a Hug Machine. I have several clients that tell me how well their dogs do while wearing one. They make them for cats as well, but I don't know if I have a patient that has one. There are indications that the Pheromones that are used to help pets remain calmer have a place in Phobia control. The more that your pet is socialized and exposed to the "outside world" when it is growing up, the less likely that these phobias will develop.........sorry, I should have started this BLOG years ago.
It is difficult for us to understand phobias that we don't have, whether in people or pets. We know that some people may fabricate or exaggerate their fears, but our pet's phobias are unfortunately real. Never, never, never, never, never, never (says Winston Churchill) punish your pet for their fears. They can't control their fears and that can make the problem worse. Try to be prepared for those periods when they might occur. Summer is a busy time for Thunderstorms and there is a pretty good chance we will be hearing Fireworks the week of the 4th.
Hug your pets for me!!
We'll focus on the first 2 phobias right now. These signs usually show up between 6 and 18 months, and there are different reasons why a dog might "all of a sudden" become afraid. My Border Collie, Gumby, wasn't afraid of Thunderstorms until we were living in Las Vegas when he was about 3 years old. We had one of those "Doggie Doors" that inserted into the sliding glass door frame. in 1988, in Henderson, NV on the southeast side of Vegas, a rocket fuel plant exploded and blew his door into the living room......and windows out around the city. I was working at the time. (come to think of it, in Vegas I was always working) He was afraid of storms since then..........imagine that. It seems like that our dog Cricket ran off during the 4th of July for a few years.
Some of our patients simply pace and pant and whine, but some patients can get very violent and try to escape. They can do damage to floors, doors, sheetrock, themselves, etc. Sometimes a dog is more calm in its crate, but they can sometimes do a lot of self injury if the fear is great enough and they feel trapped. Some of our patients that had to experience Tornadoes in recent years haven't recovered.
Once they have the fear, it can be difficult to make it completely go away. We attempt to do counterconditioning with phobias by starting with very low levels of what the dog is afraid of while giving them something "fun to do" like eat, get petted, play with a toy, etc. We also praise them when they do not act scared. If you are afraid, your pet is more likely to be afraid as well. Try to remain calm and do your normal stuff, while thunder or fireworks are going on. Some experts feel that with thunder, it is more than just the noise that we have to duplicate, if we are going to try to condition them. The dogs probably notice the wind, lightning, rain, drop in barometric pressure, etc. in addition to the thunder.
What else can we do? DRUGS! I hate to have to admit it, but since it is hard to control and injuries can be bad, we resort to these more quickly. Because these cases can have bad consequences, we do what we can to keep our patients from this extreme anxiety. The two drugs that we used most frequently in the past were Valium and Ace Promazine, but we feel that Xanax and Prozac are working better. Now that these are generic, the prices are not bad at all, and these are non-sedating and longer lasting. It is helpful if we can give the medication before the pet gets anxious. This isn't always possible, since dogs usually know the storm is coming before we do. Fireworks might be a little easier to plan for, and if there is a way to insulate or drown out the noises, it might lessen the problem. If they have a "safe haven" like a closet or crate or bed, let them go there.
There are herbal products that I have seen on the market, but I haven't heard wonderful stories about being consistently helpful. One product that does intrigue me is the Thunder Shirt. Since I heard about it and looked into them, we started carrying them at PETcetera. This is a product that helps by putting pressure along the torso, similar to a hug I guess. Babies seem to calm down a bit when Swaddled and Autistic people, who are very anxious by nature, are now being treated with Deep Touch Pressure, often with something called a Hug Machine. I have several clients that tell me how well their dogs do while wearing one. They make them for cats as well, but I don't know if I have a patient that has one. There are indications that the Pheromones that are used to help pets remain calmer have a place in Phobia control. The more that your pet is socialized and exposed to the "outside world" when it is growing up, the less likely that these phobias will develop.........sorry, I should have started this BLOG years ago.
It is difficult for us to understand phobias that we don't have, whether in people or pets. We know that some people may fabricate or exaggerate their fears, but our pet's phobias are unfortunately real. Never, never, never, never, never, never (says Winston Churchill) punish your pet for their fears. They can't control their fears and that can make the problem worse. Try to be prepared for those periods when they might occur. Summer is a busy time for Thunderstorms and there is a pretty good chance we will be hearing Fireworks the week of the 4th.
Hug your pets for me!!
HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!
They really are afraid........Really!
Rocket Fuel plant in Henderson, NV. This explosion is what gave Gumby his Thunderstorm Phobia.
One version of a "Hug Machine" for Autistic children.
ThunderShirt
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