My dog Bear is deathly afraid of thunder, fireworks, gun shots (who wouldn’t be) or anything else loud and unexpected. If we’re out on a walk, he’ll try to run home. If he’s at home and gets startled, he’ll run to his bed upstairs and hide. Henri on the other hand couldn’t care less.
This fear of thunder and other loud noises is quite common in the animal world. It’s a natural response in pets as well as humans which prepares us to defend ourselves if necessary. If the same noise occurs consistently and your pet is always cowering or hiding, this could be more of a phobia.
These fears can develop after one scary event and can get worse as time progresses or if the noise happens often. A dog may start out being only afraid of thunder, and then one day he hears a car backfiring and that scares him too. Often these type of dogs become afraid of lesser and more common loud noises.
Like many other dogs, when Bear hears a loud noise, his first instinct is to run and hide. Other dogs may cower, cuddle up with their human or even bark at the noise. Luckily Bear is very obedient, since he almost always walks off leash, we have to be careful that a loud noise won’t scare him and send him running.
With many dogs who happen to be left alone during a thunder storm, you may come home to a disaster area and not make the connection to the thunder. This unfortunately is just how they are trying to cope with being locked up and very scared.
There are of course dog whisperers, dog behaviorists and vets that believe that these fearful pups can be helped with a program of counter-conditioning and desensitization. This involves replicating the noise by tape recording and then exposing your relaxed dog to the noise at low volume and gradually making it louder until he becomes used to the noise.
Personally, I don’t have much faith in this since it is often impossible to recreate the noise exactly, since the stimuli in each case may be different. You should consult your vet as he/she may recommend an anti-anxiety medication. May people also use non-prescription Melatonin which is a natural supplement used to help induce relaxation and sleep in humans.
In the end there’s not a lot that you can really do for them, except provide them with a warm, cozy, safe spot and give encouraging words. It’s not necessarily a good idea to cuddle them and give them warm fuzzies, as this my make the problem worse. You don’t want them to think that all this extra attention could be theirs at any time if they just act afraid.
It’s best just to act happy and upbeat and try and show your pet that there’s nothing to be afraid of. And of course, try and avoid any loud and unpleasant noises.
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