Dogs, Thunderstorm Fears, and NO DRUGS

DOGS, THUNDERSTORM FEARS, and NO DRUGS
A success story without turning to drugs for a quick fix.

When using natural ways to deal with ills of any sort, we are all aware that the body can and does heal itself, though the body usually takes a little longer to heal itself than we `instant-minded’ humans are prepared to cope with. But, the beauty of letting nature or natural methods deal with `issues’ is that we can obtain true-blue cures and not just palliate or suppress `conditions’. Here is a condensed (albeit very long) version of our success story.

With our female Australian Shepherd she had several fears, but the most intense was her fear of thunder. She can sense a thunderstorm sometimes up to two hours before it hits. During this time, she got agitated, increasingly nervous, panting, and eventually crawled under the steps to hide. When she would hear the first thunder, even the gentle low rumbling forms, a switch was turned on: her eyes widened, she began to pant, pace, and whimper. If we were on a walk, she’d begin to panic and was afraid either to go on (even if it meant heading for the ‘safety’ of home) and sometimes would just run wildly not knowing where she was going.

We’ve learned to not be away from home when a thunderstorm is approaching (or even forecast), whenever possible. If the thunder were loud she’d fall apart. She began to run, sometimes in circles, frenzied, and sometimes darting off into the bush. Now that we make a point of trying to be at home during these times, if she’s outside at the time thunder begins, she will cower and hide under the back steps but if we open the back door she will pop out and slink up the stairs into the house. With each clap of thunder she jumped and her body trembled. Her eyes were bursting with fear.

We tried homeopathy and, although it definitely helped Pearl by tempering some of her other fears, it did not make a difference with the thunder.

After a suggestion on my discussion list early last season, I did try some peppermint essential oil (in a small amount of carrier oil) on her pads during a storm and it seemed to help to a small degree in calming her — we tried that twice. Rescue Remedy didn’t help at all. I wasn’t prepared to even try those thunderstorm tapes: they’re far too ‘artificial’ and the dog knows the difference between a simulated sound to the real thing complete with a change in barometric pressure and ionic fields. I knew I had to do something more.

I decided to go back to using behaviour modification with Pearl during thunderstorms.

Please Note: This is a journaling of our successes with our dog. Every dog is different, some dogs are motivated by things other than what we used, and dog guardians are all different. If you choose to try this method, it’s not what you use as a reinforcer that counts, but consistency, body language, and some of the other factors mentioned below. Also as mentioned, this is not a quick-fix — it’s a process and improvement will manifest in increments.

I journaled the process last year, so will cut/paste it to keep from re-typing — please note that when it refers to ‘this year/season’ that it occurred last year.

This is what I chose to do:

• To make sure and be with her during every thunderstorm, with as few or no exceptions as possible.
• To be prepared to do a training/diversion session during every thunderstorm.
• To totally and absolutely pretend that I do not hear a thing (the thunder).
• Now, when I know a thunderstorm is forecast or I notice she is anticipating one, I try to have the dogs well exercised beforehand (it’s a natural de-stressor).
• I also make sure I have a little container with training treats thawed out and ready to be used.
• When the thunder begins, I no longer look at her (in the eyes) but will casually use only my peripheral vision just to determine what her reaction may be.
• I made a point (thinking this out in advance) of also taking a deep breath (to make sure I’m relaxed and don’t appear stressed to Pearl) before I use my peripheral vision to ‘look’ at her. By ignoring the sound and not looking directly at her anymore to see her reaction made a difference all by itself. This made it obvious that I had been giving her ‘cues’ that had reinforced her behaviour.
• I don’t say anything — absolutely nothing (when the thunder rumbles or claps). I just remain quiet and finish up whatever I happen to be doing at the time. It’s vitally important not to immediately change or react.
• Then I casually, again without making any fuss, begin to get the training treats out just as I would if I were going to do any other training session.
• Pearl gets the first `session’ (I have three dogs). Pearl REALLY loves her training sessions so this is a positive thing for her to look forward to.
• Also, as I always do when training (clicker training) the sessions are short, upbeat and always end on a positive note.

We begin by doing a few of her known behaviours especially ones she enjoys. Then we will do maybe two new ones or ones she is still working on (so she has to concentrate and `think’). Then we end the session doing something she especially enjoys (she loves to target or turn on a light so this is often how we finish).

Then while I work with Austin (my other Aussie) she is anticipating whether she’ll get another turn, so is still mildly distracted. But she is in my sight and not put away anywhere. In the meantime the thunder rolls and I continue to pretend I don’t hear a thing.

When the training sessions are done, and Pearl does sometimes get to have a second turn, I remain within sight but make a point of doing something (housework usually) in the same room as the dogs. All of this is providing comfort, confidence, and is also a diversion.

If the thunder carries on for a long time and she begins to show signs of increased fear and nervousness, I do another _short_ training session with her.

Things NOT to do as a storm approaches or during a storm:

• Never crate or confine a dog during a storm (unless the crate happens to be a place where the dog runs to for comfort on its own).
• Don’t look directly at the dog trying to see their reaction: this can be a cue to the dog or it may also show your own fear (even if it’s only fear of her reaction).
• Don’t molly coddle. eg: petting the dog or saying, “It’s okay” “There there now”. That only reinforces to the dog that there IS reason to be concerned and the dog’s reaction (fear) is what you want.
• Don’t scold.
• Don’t use forceful/coercive training methods — only use positive reinforcement (such as operant conditioning / clicker training).
• Don’t leave a dog outside, especially by itself.

We’ve had numerous days with thunder and some with doozies this season so far. This year since I’ve begun using the behaviour modification methods above, I have seen continued progress with Pearl during the thunderstorms (it’s not over, just improving). With the last three storms Pearl has not whined, panted, whimpered, or jumped once — not once. No crazy running in circles or trying to `escape’ or hide. In fact, during the last three thunderstorms (including today’s humdinger) she actually fell asleep on her chair!

With this improvement I’ve tried something a bit different from the training session during a thunderstorm, but still keeping with the theme of a ‘happy diversion’. I get the grooming tools out and begin grooming Pearl (but let her lie down instead of using the grooming table). She enjoys being groomed so this works … each time the thunder boomed, she would open her eyes and look around but I remained totally quiet (and calm), didn’t make eye contact with her, as if I hadn’t heard, and kept on grooming; she eventually would relax again and enjoy the grooming.

At all times, I create an atmosphere so she has a comfort zone. I’m constantly aware of setting her up for success, rather than focusing on reacting to the fear. She’s gaining confidence and is learning self-control.

So, if people were to tell me “I’ve tried everything,” I would have a very different response than I would have before now. My response now will be: No. No you haven’t. Try again. Make the time, increase your patience, use only positive reinforcement, and be consistent. Each dog is different, but if a dog with the intense fear that Pearl has can make such a drastic turnaround, I know that many other dogs can as well.

A great deal depends on what WE do when these loud noises happen (thunder, fireworks, and so on), whether the reason for their fear is a socialization issue, vaccinosis, or learned behaviour from reactions.

Because fear can be so debilitating, I think we need to know how to act (not react) with them and help them at the time the noise is happening. A simple thing like looking directly at them, or gasping, or changing our body posture — those can all be cues for the dog to react with fear.

{NOTE: I used the clicker and treats to reward the calm behaviour. At first,
she didn’t take the treats because she was so terrified. I didn’t worry about it
at all. I simply gave her calm and quiet praise and carried on. Eventually, she
got to a point where she would accept the treats.}

= = =

UPDATE AND SUMMARY

After a long winter, many months have passed without the dreaded thunderstorms. I knew we might need to do some ‘refreshing’, like any new behaviour that hasn’t been ‘practiced’ for months.

The first thunderstorm came and went with minor reaction from my Pearl. She remembered a lot from last year and adjusted quite well. Yes, she still worries and gets nervous, but she isn’t the panic-stricken, trembling and terrified girl she once was. We and — more importantly — she can live with the nervousness, as opposed to the debilitating fear.

She’s an incredibly sensitive dog anyway. But, I had decided that I could do more. Prior to re-assessing how to deal with this and commiting to the change, I had been frustrated because I spend so much time training and doing things with the dogs that I had felt there wasn’t much more I could do, but I was wrong.

The more thought I gave it, the more I tried to change how I perceived the situation: I realized I could treat the thunderstorms like any other new behaviour that I wanted to teach. It means having to be prepared in advance and having a [training] plan. And, even after the very first time, I saw improvements — it wasn’t ‘fixed’, far from it — but I saw certain changes right away. I just kept working on it, and didn’t expect ‘immediate’ results … I was prepared to take it one step-at-a-time.

The surprising thing is that she went from crazy to calm within one thunderstorm season. But if I had not made some distinct changes (and instructed my husband on this as well) in how I behaved during the storms, we would still be back in that same mind-blowing terror of hers during the thunderstorms — so in order to change her fears, I had to change how I behaved and change what I did.

The fact that she actually calmed down to a point where she could have a nap in her chair was HUGE. But, I’ve said that haven’t I …

For those who would like a real-life analogy, try thinking of it this way:

When we train our dogs to learn agility, or herding, or search-and-rescue, etc, there are certain things we must do to teach them to get to be proficient at the resulting goal (agility, herding, SAR, etc). What we do to ensure success is usually:

• We make a training plan: an overall plan and a daily session plan.
• We train one step-at-a-time; one behaviour at a time.
• We don’t progress to the next step until the dog is proficient (or comfortable) with the current step.
• We practice (with thunderstorms, we just have fewer practice sessions, so should not expect as much as with a daily training program).
• We remain calm and positive.
• We reward the positive / the desired behaviour (calm, in the case of thunderstorms).
• We allow them to ‘try things out’ w/out punishing them (but if they are in danger we may ‘block’ them from that danger).
• We don’t force them.
• We set them up for success.
• We are consistent.

So, if we apply our positive training principles to thunderstorms the way we do with other training programs, we WILL make progress. And the more consistent and patient we are, the more progress we will achieve.

Before you start looking for the quick-fix drugs (which never cure the problem; they only suppress the symptoms), why not first commit to behaviour modification? In the long run, it will be easier on you and your family and far better for your dog’s emotional and physical health.

Let me ask you this:

What non-drug methods have worked for you in dealing with your dog’s fears?

Copyright © 2006 Diane M. Schuller http:/www.dianeschuller.com All rights reserved.

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Dogs

thunderstorm phobia

dog health

dog behavior