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My Golden Retriever girl is almost 3 years old. She was never afraid of thunder until very recently. Now when she hears thunder (even thunder that is rumbling very softly and far away), she shivers and sticks to me like a second skin.
I wonder why she has become like this all of a sudden? What should I do to help her overcome her fear?

>>My Golden Retriever girl is almost 3 years old. She was never afraid of thunder until very recently. Now when she hears thunder (even thunder that is rumbling very softly and far away), she shivers and sticks to me like a second skin.
>>I wonder why she has become like this all of a sudden? What should I do to help her overcome her fear?

Do not coddle the fear. If she comes for comfort, ignore the fact that she is afraid and that she is begging for attention. Giving attention when there is fear will only make matters worse in the long run.

When my dogs show stress over outside noises, I tend to begin working on training to distract them. I also have "special" toys that will take their minds completely off what they hear.

Try to continue things normally and try not to cuddle and soothe her when she gets upset. Turn on the TV or radio to a louder volume than you normally listen to it to mask the sounds.
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Cindy & the bully boys
CGC Brutus the bullheaded bulldoggie
CGC Caesar the fabulous pittie

My Golden Retriever girl is almost 3 years old. She was never afraid of thunder until very recently. Now when she hears thunder (even thunder that is rumbling very softly and far away), she shivers and sticks to me like a second skin.
>>I wonder why she has become like this all of a sudden? What should I do to help her overcome her fear?

Boy, can I relate to that. My Shih Tzu, Katie is terrible with thunder. She even knows it's coming a good hour before it arrives and she's always right. If it happens when we're both up, I try and distract her with a toy and play with her. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. It depends on how loud the thunder is. If it happens when we're both in bed, I try very hard to ignore her. When she was younger, she use to jump off the bed and get under it. Now, she just marches around the bed. I try to ignore her and pretend I'm asleep. That seems to work pretty well now that she's older. Here's a picture anim. of her "thunder look."

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Mary Lou & Katie

I seen something like this on tv and the first thing they said was not baby the dog cuz you are showing the dog that its ok to be scared. What they said to do is keep the dog busy by playing with them to keep their mind off of it. They also said to train the dog its ok by getting tape or cd with thunder on it and play it. While its playing do what i said above and treat the dog when they dont show any fear at all.

Good Luck
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PanzersMom

"A dog is more then just a dog. They are loyal, they are our guardians,
they are our best friend for life and they should be loved as much as they love us"