My 2 golden retrievers go CRAZY with t-storms. Do yours?

[Cindy in C-ville]

Both of them absolutely hate thunderstorms. They whine, follow us around, pant, claw at doors, etc. A friend mentioned that goldens are known for this. Does anyone else experience it with yours? Any way to train them out of it?

[Chris in VA]

Ours is fine, but I do have a dog on my route that takes meds if there's a storm.

I don't know how they train dogs not to respond, but I have heard one thing is not to soothe them by petting and speaking softly--apparently it is reinforcing to their fear behavior. Don't know about that, just what I've heard.

[Jean in Newcastle]

My big brave male English Springer Spaniel shakes with fright during thunderstorms. His timid sister is just fine. Go figure! He does best in the warm safe confines of his crate. Cover the crate with a towel if necessary.

[Jennefer@SSA]

My golden doesn't get scared in thunderstorms but he will jump up and run away if our grey kitten walks up to him! :tongue_smilie: Our golden is not an alpha in any way. This kitty has figured it out and takes advantage of this fact at every possible opportunity! ;)

[MorganClassicalPrep]

My lab wants to be near me if it is storming. She sounds (and looks) big and scary, but boy is she a chicken!! :D

[Lara in Colo]

Mine does the same, she even starts to whine and scratch at the door if the sky darkens (this is really annoying whne the sun goes behind a cloud several times a day!!

 

I give her some herbal stuff from the pet store and it seems to calm her.

 

Lara

[AnthemLights]

I don't own a golden, but one of my good friends does and we have talked about this before. Hers is an "outside" dog but whenever it storms, she is allowed into the house entry because she would go crazy otherwise.

[MotherMayI]

We had a Golden that went crazy during thunderstorms. He would escape from our yard (scaling a 6' fence) when one was on it's way. Our vet said it was pressure on his inner ear and gave us medicine to help relax him.

[Heather in OK]

Ours is a retriever/chow mix. She loathes thunder. I always know if it's starting to storm outside because she starts whining and barking to come in. LOL!!

[LaxMom]

Nope. Our lab mix was rescued from the side of the road during hurricane Floyd and could not care less about storms.

 

Unless it's raining on her. Then, she is highly offended.

[Melinda in VT]

Our golden goes crazy during thunderstorms. In fact, he starts going crazy about 10 minutes before the storm arrives. I've heard you can give them melatonin, so I'm going to talk to my vet about that, since it's been an especially rough year.

[K-FL]

Our lab/mutt leaves the dry porch to get under the boat trailer. If he's inside with us, he doesn't care about the storm.

[dsmith]

Our previous dog, a golden, went nuts during thunderstorms. To calm her, we used to play Yanni a bit loud. That was the only way she would calm down - no other music worked.:glare: Our chocolate lab is the same way, but we haven't found anything to calm her. Now that she is blind, she walks into everything during a t-storm. It's a bit sad and pathetic, poor girl. I've been thinking about asking for medication, just so she doesn't hurt herself. Our puggle could care less about the thunder, but if one thing is out of place, it sends him into a panic. He just spend 10 minutes barking at and running away from a box in the dining room.:001_huh:

[plansrme]

We had a Golden that went crazy during thunderstorms. He would escape from our yard (scaling a 6' fence) when one was on it's way. Our vet said it was pressure on his inner ear and gave us medicine to help relax him.

 

Yes, this was exactly our experience with one of our goldens. He is dead now, but thunderstorms and fireworks drove him bonkers. If we were not home when a storm came up, it was nearly impossible to keep him in his fence. He escaped once during a storm one July by chewing through the chain link fence. He was found by a neighbor who lectured me about not letting my dog run loose. The dog was bleeding from chewing up a metal fence. What, I wanted to ask her, was I supposed to do??? When there were storms, this dog developed super-dog strength and was impossible to contain in any outdoor enclosure we ever came up with.

 

Well into his old age, when he couldn't climb our stairs, thunder would promt him to try his darndest to get upstairs where we were sleeping. Someone would usually have to come downstairs to sleep on the couch to calm him down.

 

Doesn't bother my current dog (not a golden :sad:) in the least.

 

Terri

[Vida Winter]

Our goldens don't care for thunderstorms but they don't go crazy -- they go to their dog beds or some other "safe" spot until the storm is over. Usually they want to be in the same room with the family.

[TheReader]

We're on our 2nd golden retriever, and neither of ours have or had problems with thunderstorms.

 

Not sure how to train them out of it......do they have a good crate or other "safe place" that you can train them to go to when it's stormy? So they feel secure?

[black_midori]

My lab/golden cross isn't too scared of T-storms (not many around here), but he is TERRIFIED of fireworks!! 95 pounds of whimpering, follow-you-around goofball :)

 

Last year we actually gave him some medication to try and soothe him some for the 4th of July - and he turned out to be allergic to it!! The vet said she'd never seen a dog allergic to it, but there was no denying that he was sick sick sick the next day & had to stay that night in the clinic for watching... :(

[Teachin'Mine]

Haven't tried this, but I hear they work very well.

 

Thundershirts - and there's another brand but I can't remember the name.

 

Here they are on Amazon, but for more info, you can get on their site:

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=thundershirt&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=4230168999&ref=pd_sl_73yvqnn5xb_e

[StephanieZ]

Second recommendation for the thundershirt.

 

Dh is a vet and bought one at a conference last year for our own neurotic dog. It is so effective that we decided to sell them. They have a 45 day money back guarantee (if you buy them from a retailer that honors it), so no risk. Super easy to use, super safe.

[KidsHappen]

Mine doesn't even seem to notice, thank goodness. Dealing with the little yappy one is bad enough. :glare:

[WishboneDawn]

My rottie/lab/beagle/everyother-breed-in-the-world dog gets excited (not scared) and barks. My pit bull/lab/probably-other-stuff-as-well dog doesn't give a fig.

[TravelingChris]

My mini-poodle hates them but he just is very scared and shivers a lot. No other behavior. SInce it isn't really annoying, I do try and pet him and calm him.

[Wabi Sabi]

I have a lab mix: the mother was a golden retriever and father was probably black lab. Anyhow, he's always been that way. When it starts to storm he starts to shake, tremble, whine and hide. He typically finds some small, tight place to hide (squeezes under the bed, behind the couch, etc) and stays there until the storm is over.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

if the thunder is extremely loud/close and there is lightening that is close she will bark at each thunderclap/lightening strike....sometimes she will even get out of bed and go check the rooms of the house--TinkerBelle is a min-pin....but thinks she's a full size doberman! lol:glare:

[MorganClassicalPrep]

Nope. Our lab mix was rescued from the side of the road during hurricane Floyd and could not care less about storms.

 

Unless it's raining on her. Then, she is highly offended.

 

My lab doesn't like rain either. Her mother hated rain also. Both dogs will/would refuse to even go outside if it was raining.

 

Of course, these two dogs also played in the snow for hours, and would go out to go "potty" and come back soaking wet because they'd been for a swim in the pool... at midnight. :glare:

[black_midori]

Second recommendation for the thundershirt.

 

Dh is a vet and bought one at a conference last year for our own neurotic dog. It is so effective that we decided to sell them. They have a 45 day money back guarantee (if you buy them from a retailer that honors it), so no risk. Super easy to use, super safe.

 

 

Thank you!!! I just bought a Thundershirt to try for the 4th of July - I have been sad for him, knowing it was coming, but DID NOT want to go the medication route again due to last year's several hundred dollar vet bill :)

[Pink Fairy]

The 4th of July is the worst day of the year for my sweet black lab. She's also terrified of thunderstorms--panting, trembling, literally crawling on top of her people--it's super sad and pathetic. :crying:

[JessicaLady]

Rain? Thunderstorms? What are those? We haven't had a good one for a very looooong time. Which is good for dogs, bad for humans and vegetation.

[gaillardia]

I think this is asked every summer! We had a mixed lab who was also quite terrified of all the booming, thunderstorms or fireworks.

One year instead of going to fireworks with family, I stayed home with our dog. We sat in the front yard watching everyone go by on their way to the fireworks. There were some minor fireworks, but I just kept petting her and reassuring her. She wasn't quite as jumpy as previous times. Finally the fireworks started and she did fine. She could see them.

It may have been her age, she had mellowed a bit.

Thunderstorms didn't affect her as much as fireworks. I think we had given her rescue remedy during storms, but she finally wasn't bothered by it anymore.:001_smile:

Really, I highly recommend rescue remedy and have no connection in any way to that company!

[Donna]

Not a lab but our toy fox terrier is horrible in thunderstorms. She starts following me around about 45 min before the storm hits then pants, whines, etc...during the storm. We got her a Thundershirt that helps a tiny but...she doesn't look like a gremlin panting but she still whines and stays close by me. The vet recommended Benedryl but even that doesn't really work.

[Pink and Green Mom]

We have a dog that is (we think) a golden/cocker spaniel mix. He is PETRIFIED of storms. Starts pacing, panting, and peeing the second the thunder rumbles. We used to have a cocker that would hide under the bed or couch and could only be coaxed out afterwards with ham. Fireworks - even just the ones on TV - would set him off, too.

 

What we've noticed (and we've only had this dog for 3 months) is that he is even worse the next day. He is just out of sorts, and gets possessive of his food, hardly ever coming out of the mudroom where his food and water bowls are. He just sits or sleeps in front of the bowl the entire next day. I cannot figure that part out.

[Lady Florida.]

Rain? Thunderstorms? What are those? We haven't had a good one for a very looooong time. Which is good for dogs, bad for humans and vegetation.

 

We're desperate for rain here too. We did get a brief teaser downpour last night, but it wasn't enough to do much. I suppose we'll take what we can get.

 

Our Sheltie barks at thunder. Shelties tend to be barkers anyway, and it's a high pitched bark. Ouch! Here in Florida, rain rarely comes without thunder, and in a good thunderstorm we hear it a lot. And he barks at every single clap of thunder! Sometimes he barks and starts chasing one or both of the cats. We wondered if he's trying to herd them to safety.

 

I had a roommate back in my single days whose Doberman named Storm was terrified of storms.:D He'd come and put his big giant goofy head in your lap and wanted to be cuddled throughout the whole storm.

[Cindy in C-ville]

Haven't tried this' date=' but I hear they work very well.

 

Thundershirts - and there's another brand but I can't remember the name.

 

Here they are on Amazon, but for more info, you can get on their site:

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=thundershirt&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=4230168999&ref=pd_sl_73yvqnn5xb_e[/quote']

 

Really? I think my goldens would be humiliated. But, it might be worth it!

 

Good to know we're not alone with our wonderful thunder-hating canines!