Help us with our fear of thunder

[gealach]

I've posted here a few times in the past week about our new rescue Harper, a 2 or 3 yr old golden retriever. We've had him about a week, his foster had him about a month before that. Harper obeys well, hasn't chewed a single thing that wasn't his in either our home or his foster home, is quickly learning the rules of the house (no begging for people food, humans always go through doors first, etc). He sits on command, is quickly learning a stay. He's an all around good sweet boy who is happy as long as he can be with his people.

Now.. his issue - thunderstorms. His foster family had warned us but we had not experienced it until tonight. He is terrified. He starts pacing, looking for places to hide (but doesn't consider his crate good enough), can't settle down, panting, whining, will try to dig if given an opportunity. At his foster home, he went though a storm without the family there and he dug up the carpet trying to get under a door.

The problem is, Harper is heartworm positive and going though the treatment right now so we are supposed to keep him as calm as possible. So, we need to balance the need to keep him calm with the need to try to address this thunder issue (for both his and our sakes).

OH, and the weird thing is, this is not a dog that startles easily. He does not jump at other loud and unexpected noises. Generally VERY calm.
Any suggestions?

[cadydid]

Dogs can usually sense the storm long before people can, so it's not just a noise phobia for them.

As far as dealing with it: xanax (or valium, but I have better luck with xanax). There are some things you can do as far as counterconditioning, desensitization, etc., but it's not going to get happen immediately, and in the meantime you're dealing with a panic-stricken dog.

Years ago, acepromazine was the recommended drug, but it doesn't deal with the underlying panic, it just tries to sedate the dog through the storm. In a dog with heartworm, I'd be cautious about using something like ace due to the cardiovascular effects regardless.

[Miasmamma]

I would make sure that what ever you give him will be okay with his heartworm treatment. You may want to look into Rescue Remedy as well as the Xanax. I have an older dog who has panic attacks over my neighbor's lawnmower and the Rescue Remedy does wonders for her. Most thunderstorm fears can only be managed not cured unfortunately.

[gealach]

Yeah, I think they like to avoid the anti-anxiety meds (the prescriptions) during the heartworm treatment. (If possible of course... if he starts getting too crazy the benefits of the sedation might outweigh the risks). I do have rescue remedy on hand. How much do you give a canine? He weighs 70 lbs.

[gingerstar]

Along with RR you may want to check into the calming pheromone stuff - I think Patricia McConnell believes in it - I have seen it at the bigbox pet stores, or Fosters and Smith carries it as well. Oh, they actually have it on sale!
Good luck - he sounds like a great dog, I hope you can help him with this fear.

[Miasmamma]

Originally Posted by gealach

Yeah, I think they like to avoid the anti-anxiety meds (the prescriptions) during the heartworm treatment. (If possible of course... if he starts getting too crazy the benefits of the sedation might outweigh the risks). I do have rescue remedy on hand. How much do you give a canine? He weighs 70 lbs.

Julie goes about 55 and I do the reg dosage of 4 drops. If I know that it will be a bad lawnmower day, I'll up it to 7 or 8 on a dog treat. Thunderstorms are hard to predict, but I would say on a day when they are forecast, I would pre-treat in the morning and then more if needed later on. Julie seems to be calmer if I can get it in her system before the mowing starts rather than later. And she will take it just by dropping it on her tongue, but she really likes it if I put it on a treat and let it soak in for a minute.

[*Eva*]

What about benadryl? We have to give it to our Rottie on the 4th of July b/c she's a complete disaster if we don't. I don't think it should react w/ the heartworm drugs but I would definitely ask the vet first.

[greenmagick]

counter conditioning should help but you have to have the timing right. A trainer I used to work with used to play like crazy all his dogs fav games during storms, but he did that at the first sign of fear, and obviously you cant do that with a heartworm+ dog.

oh, I do think they can be reversed, not just managed....but it takes a lot of work.