Is your dog afraid of thunderstorms? or fireworks

[lkm]

of the two gsd"s owned only one was afraid of storms,it is gone now,but there are marks on the door that she made... still miss them both after so many years....

[doggiedad]

why would your first grade teacher bring in the
clothes her husband died in to class? he was struck
by lightning so she brought the clothes in
for show and tell????

Originally Posted By: selzerSo far no problems. I have oak trees over a shed with a tin roof. When the acorns drop it sounds like gunshots.

Sometimes there are gunshots in the woods behind the house.

They are left in kennels rain and shine so, they hear thunderstorms regularly. None have been weirded out by them yet.

I am terrified of lightning, so one day when I had one of the muttkins out with me, I was taking refuge on the porch of the vet's office. The lightning was all around. The vet and staff were leaving. I told them I would wait for the lightning to stop. The dog was fine. I was afraid that I would transmit my own fear down the leash to the dog.

When I was five, my first grade teacher brought the clothes in that her husband was wearing when he died. He had a camera around his neck and was struck by lightning. There was a huge burn mark and hole in his clothes. I have been a bit twitchy about lightning ever since.

My dogs did not get this education though, so they seem to be less worried about it than is healthy. I worry sometimes when I am at work that one of them will sit out there during the storm and get struck, but there is not much I can do about that.

[BowWowMeow]

Every single one of my dogs became afraid of thunder and fireworks when they got older. My first gsd, Massie, had rock solid nerves and was exposed to every type of sound imaginable. She lived in the city and in the country, traveled a lot, was out during storms, etc. However, she became storm phobic at about 9 years old. It got better after she lost her hearing.

Same story with Chama except she has always been timid and sensitive to sounds and smells! Now that Chama is deaf these things don't bother her as much, thank goodness!

Basu also became scared of thunder and fireworks when he got older. He would get in the bathtub and if there was no bathtub he would get in the shower.

For years I used to have to leave the country over the 4th of July! Luckily my family has a place in Ontario!

[Tetley's Mom]

So far Tetley has no fear of thunderstorms, fireworks, or anything loud for that matter. I have dropped plates, tools, etc. with no reaction. Our trainer made a loud noise recently with a whip looking thing and again, no freak out. If only I could get her to be so calm around the mop... That she doesn't like.

[sleachy]

Thankfully, no...my dog is rock solid on the loud noises.
But, I do have a cat who is terrified and hides behind the toilet bowl during t-storms.

[nitetrane98]

I'm inclined to agree with wisc.tiger about the genetics angle. Mack has never shown the slightest worry about thunder. He's been exposed to gunfire since he was pup. Now he relishes trips to the river to plink. He loves trying to catch the .22 empties when they eject. When I reload and he hears the slide close he'll give a little woof like, "OK, I'm ready, let's go." When we bring out the heavy stuff, I've seen him flinch when the first shot is fired and he wasn't expecting it, but ****, everybody does that. If somebody else is shooting heavy stuff I generally fold his ears down. I've never seen any proof that dogs lose hearing from gunfire but it seems reasonable to expect that they could. At any rate it can't hurt. Somebody needs to invent canine earplugs!!

[Laura H.]

Originally Posted By: selzerSo far no problems. I have oak trees over a shed with a tin roof. When the acorns drop it sounds like gunshots.

Sometimes there are gunshots in the woods behind the house.

They are left in kennels rain and shine so, they hear thunderstorms regularly. None have been weirded out by them yet.

I am terrified of lightning, so one day when I had one of the muttkins out with me, I was taking refuge on the porch of the vet's office. The lightning was all around. The vet and staff were leaving. I told them I would wait for the lightning to stop. The dog was fine. I was afraid that I would transmit my own fear down the leash to the dog.

When I was five, my first grade teacher brought the clothes in that her husband was wearing when he died. He had a camera around his neck and was struck by lightning. There was a huge burn mark and hole in his clothes. I have been a bit twitchy about lightning ever since.

My dogs did not get this education though, so they seem to be less worried about it than is healthy. I worry sometimes when I am at work that one of them will sit out there during the storm and get struck, but there is not much I can do about that.

I am terrified of lightning ever since I saw a show on Discovery Channel where a person was struck inside their house during a storm, where you at least think you're safe.

[Laura H.]

Originally Posted By: doggiedadwhy would your first grade teacher bring in the
clothes her husband died in to class? he was struck
by lightning so she brought the clothes in
for show and tell????

that's what I was thinking too, kids are so impressionable. I know I have things I saw or did as a kid that stay with me & weren't introduced to me by anybody on purpose.

[Laura H.]

Rocky was always a high strung dog. The vet used to have to sedate him to even try to examine him sometimes. Then I found taking Dakota with me "calmed" Rocky down somewhat.

We lost Dakota less than a week before we moved from NC to MI. I was devastated and I know animals go through their own mourning period, the first couple of days after Dakota died it tore me up watching Rocky outside obviously "calling" him, then walk around the entire fence, stopping to bark, then moving on.

I had thought with the move it would be easier for both of us (it wasn't for me). I thought Rocky liked having us both to himself, but in retrospect I think Rocky just got clingier. Getting another pup/dog then wasn't an option because his hips were so bad. I babied him through that last year, he got my full attention, until he bloated.

So looking back, even though he had the anxiety issues in NC, they probably were worse here because he didn't have the calming effect of Dakota. That's my worry now raising two dogs. Whether Dh likes it or not, in two to three years we will be getting another dog.

[angelaw]

Actually gunshots make Hardy mad, lol. He thinks they're gunshots and tries to figure out where they're coming from to go get them, lol. 4th of July is a PITB around my house.