Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, a few years ago we had a bad tornado go through our area and unfortunately we were not home at the time. Who knows how scary it must have been for our animals. Well, ever since then one of my boxers is a nervous wreck when it so much as sprinkles outside. When it storms.....oh my! Last night I thought he was going to have a heart attack. My vet will not give me any axiety pills, he doesn't give out pills for this kind of stuff. He says it is probably a learned behavior so we should try to get him over the problem. Not that I think that medicine is always the answer, but I am at a loss. We have tried cuddling, ignoring, kenneling, sidetracking him. He won't play, eat treats, nothing. He just paces, panting, and shaking. Help!!

That is a scary story about the tornado, what a situation for the animals to go through. I think there are some meds that you can buy through various catalogs, JBPET, Drs. Foster and Smith etc, that are use to calm animals when it storms. I also think that there are tapes or CD's of the noise from storms that are used to desensitize animals with this behavior. I wish I could be of more help but I do think this behavior can be overcome but it takes time for the animal to work through it.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Try a natural calming substance like Rescue Remedy (should be able to get this through your local health food store, or try the internet), Doing a google search for Holistic Calming medication for dogs will bring up sites to find other options as well.

I also think the desensitizing is a good option as well...just try not to stress him out too much start out sllllow.

Good luck keep us posted with the results!

My Diamond

Here are some sites you might find interesting...

http://www.ygrr.org/doginfo/behavior-phobia.html

http://www.azmira.com/ProductFlowerEssences.htm

http://www.petabbey.com/store-categories-pet-calming_1884972.html

http://shop.robbinspetcare.com/dogs/calmdog.html

http://www.nativeremedies.com/petalive/?img=422&kbid=1138

Hey, sorry I haven't told you what we've done sooner. I got on all of those sites that you recommended and the first one talked about Drs. that used melatonin and got results. Well, it just so happened that my husband had some because he has taken it for insomnia. So the next time it stormed we gave only 1mg, wanted to be safe, and that seemed to help him calm down!! We have used it one other time after that, so twice in all, and I really wish we had known about this sooner. Nice too, knowing it is something my husband has taken, so we know the effect it has. Thanks so much for doing that research for us!

Jenn

Thanks so much for the replies!! I think I will try the cd's, sounds like a good idea. He seems to sense the storms hours before they get here. It's helpful to us in that we know when one is coming. It's tough right now, the poor guy is under my legs as I write this shaking and panting. I just keep my legs leaning on him so he knows I am here. My other boxer is more independent and she has never acted effected by the storm. We have been having lots of rain here in IL, almost everyday, and it's supposed to keep it up all week. I wish someone could tell me if they have actually used a product and it worked. I'll let ya know how it goes.