[NAGDU] [nagdu] thunderstorm anxiety

[Caitlyn Furness]

Danielle,

One of my shepherds, Nicky, had horrible anxiety around thunderstorms and fireworks.

What worked for him were a couple of things: I got him a crate and used it during the storms/fireworks.  this gave him a safe and quieter place to hang out in.  Get the plastic airline crate, though, not the wire type.  I bought and used a thunder shirt.  this really did help a great deal.  It got so that when a storm happened, Nicky would grab the shirt off it’s hook and bring it to me to  put it on him!  I used an herbal calming paste that I got from Pet Smart.  The main ingredient was tryptophan, which is an amino acid that’s calming(think thanksgiving turkey after meal sleepiness!).  Sorry, I don’t have any left, and I can’t remember the name of it, either!

Other things I tried, but that didn’t work either at all or well were: counter conditioning with food, melatonin, trying to play with him with his favourite toy during the storm.

For me, if the thunder shirt and the paste and crate didn’t work, I’d have gone so far as to get drugs from the vet as my next step.

hth,
Cait and Maggie

> On Jul 15, 2016, at 11:02 AM, Danielle Sykora via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> For a while now, I've noticed Thai becoming anxious during fireworks
> and thunderstorms. He was fine for the first year I had him, but he
> started becoming really anxious starting when he experienced Fourth of
> July fireworks last year. Last summer, he would whine, pant, shake,
> yawn, pace, and have an indoor accident if I didn't calm him down
> right away during thunder or fireworks, but would relax after maybe 20
> minutes or so. This summer he reacted the same way, but took much
> longer to calm down. Fortunately, he didn't react at all while
> working.
> This Fourth of July, he was fine with the sporadic fireworks over the
> weekend, but became really anxious with a fireworks display on the
> night of the Fourth. I never actually took him to a display, but you
> can hear them pretty easily from inside the house. Since then, he has
> become even more distressed, and the occasional whine turned into near
> constant barking and almost howling. I worked him during a storm a few
> days ago. He guided just fine, but seemed kind of edgy--walking very
> quickly and looking around more than usual. Fortunately, he has no
> problems at all with much louder noises, it's just thunder/fireworks
> specifically.
> 
> 
> I've tried a few herbal calming supplements. One didn't work at all
> and one seems to help a little. I've also tried some
> desensitization/counter conditioning with the clicker as well as
> giving him something to chew during thunderstorms. He's not so anxious
> that he can't eat most of the time, but it just seems to get him
> through it a bit easier without actually helping him make progress.
> 
> Something I think I need to trhy is being more diligent about giving
> him the anti-anxiety supplement. Sometimes I'll see that there's maybe
> a 40% chance of scattered thunderstorms for a few hours and think I
> probably don't need to give it to him... but I really shouldn't take
> the chance. I'm also considering an anxiety wrap, but I'm not sure how
> effective they really are.
> 
> At this point, it's not jeopardizing his work, but I most definitely
> do not want it to progress any further. I'm hoping someone who has
> dealt with this before might have some suggestions.
> 
> Danielle and Thai
> 
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