lightning.

[meatboy]

last night 9pm.to 12.30am.we had one hell of a storm.for over 3hrs.apart from torrential rain,the sky was lit up continuously with sheet lightning and fork.

never before has it bothered our sam,but he was so frightened he tried to get under the bed or anywhere he could hide.it rearly frightened him that he was uncontrollable.

although we had the bedroom blacked out you could see the lightning through our thick curtains.

we have a bathroom with a small window so I shall make up a black cover so hopefully that will do the trick.

the thunder doesn't bother him or fireworks only this what we had last night.

me and mrs meat sat with him till 1am.but this strange behavoiur realy upset us.

trying to control him all 30+kilo's took us unaware of his behavoiur 

[Oxx]

Dogs are funny.  One of mine is terrified of thunder.  He'll paw at the bedroom door until he's let in.  Another is terrified of garbage trucks, but totally unfazed by thunder.  And nothing bothers the third one.

[meatboy]

37 minutes ago, Oxx said:

Dogs are funny.  One of mine is terrified of thunder.  He'll paw at the bedroom door until he's let in.  Another is terrified of garbage trucks, but totally unfazed by thunder.  And nothing bothers the third one.

to see our boy like that did upset me,over the yrs.i can imagine how terrified they are,after an event when the fireworks are set off and dogs are left out during this time.next morning everyone is looking for their terrified animals.

I have now made a blacked out room for him WITH me.

[wildewillie89]

Behaviourists think consoling the dog (completely natural reaction) will actually reinforce the negative behaviour, rather than teaching the dog to be able to deal with the stimulus. So be careful of that as once a dog starts with storm phobia it usually gets worse and worse due to this very reason. 

So when where is no storm, they suggest to practice calm behaviour. So just get the dog to lay at your feet, and then when a storm hits, put the practice into action. The idea is for the dog to forget the storm as in the dogs mind it is replaced with something positive, calmness with the owner- which may also be playing with toys, eating treat, something constant/positive etc.

Other options are to slowly desensitise him to fake things over a period of months, will help him deal with the real thing when it happens. Slightly harder with lightening than thunder unless you have some serious outdoor lighting lol. 

It is also important to let the dog choose the room he is most comfortable in. As if forced to go into one specific room it may increase the anxiety and demolish the room to try and escape. 

 

Used to have a Border Collie who was fearful of storms, but they are one breed known to be - not fun to watch. He was happy to go into the laundry and ride out the storm though. 

 

Behaviour modification, desensitisation and even some medication was shown to be effective in 30 out of 32 dogs in a 2003 study on dogs and storm phobia. Maybe something worth thinking about if it starts to happen more frequently.  

[cooked]

To look at our dog pound you would say it was dog proof but when we get a dose of thunder or fireworks at least one manages to get out, meaning I have to sleep on the sofa (it's complicated...)

[dick dasterdly]

Odd that he would suddenly react so badly when not worried by storms/fireworks previously.

 

I think wildewillie is probably right in that much as we want to become over protective when they are fearful of these things, its counter-productive and enforces the fear.

[meatboy]

the following night 7pm.we had another storm,not nearly as bad but the lightning did frighten him again but not as bad.

as he was upstairs with me I let him go down stairs to be with his mum,he just got up on the setee besides her and stayed there till the storm finished.

does that mean he loves his mum more than me.

[dick dasterdly]

Just now, meatboy said:

the following night 7pm.we had another storm,not nearly as bad but the lightning did frighten him again but not as bad.

as he was upstairs with me I let him go down stairs to be with his mum,he just got up on the setee besides her and stayed there till the storm finished.

does that mean he loves his mum more than me.

More likely he 'trusts' her to be strong, rather than yourself?