I recently rescued a dog. She is terrified of thunder storms and I really wish the rescue would’ve told me 
I love her but it’s painful to watch her go through what she does. She paces around jumping on and off of my bed and barks super loud every time it thunders. She will also start digging on the bed or nudging into me very hard trying to crawl under me. If I don’t keep her on a leash and keep a hold of her during the duration of the storm she will pee inside. I’ve tried giving her melatonin but that didn’t help at all. What can I do to help her?
Thunder coat? (Tee-shirt with tight bandaging works.) Does she have a toy drive? IF so, play with her - I do sustained heel work with my older BC who is scared of thunderstorms as well. IT re-focuses her on her ball. The younger one calms down as the older one calms. Anti-anxiety medication (my younger one is on Clomicalm for general extremee anxiety but it helps in these occasions as well). Play ball .
My thunder scaredy does best in her crate. She is crate trained, but doesn’t usually want to go in during a storm. Once inside, however, she really does settle down.
Benadryl. Knock her out.
My parents dog has gotten worse over the years.
#1. Don’t reinforce it. My Dad sits there petting him- the ENTIRE TIME. You are telling them “good job”, “yes, we should all panic”.
#2. Thunder shirt
#3. Meds from the vet- yep, helps knock his bootie down. GREAT STUFF!
#4. If it’s not raining, and it’s safe- take her for a walk. Riley does NOTHING, if you just keep him walking. Not fast paced. Just, yep, you can explore and meandure.
He has gotten to the point, he destroyed two chairs, and a couch, working on a third, while on a long leash in the living room (long story), while my parents and I were in hospice with my grandma, and a freak storm came up. He hypervenilates to the point, I really think he’ll pass out.
Good luck!
My dog went through a phase of being thunderphobic, and the Thundershirt helped somewhat. It seemed, together with a homeopathic drop Rescue Remedy, decreased her terror from trembling so hard I was afraid she’d have a heart attack to being really scared. The phobia did seem to decrease after a few storm using the two together, and then pretty much ended as she aged and her hearing diminished a bit.
When I was researching the problem for my dog, I read something from Patricia McConnell’s blog about thunder phobias and whether or not to comfort a terrified dog. She initially dismissed the idea it would reinforce the fear, which I found believable. She clarified in a later blog post:
The bottom line is you could indeed cause problems by inadvertently reinforcing behavior in certain contexts. There are two things that are important to remember here: one is that fear is an emotion, and “reinforcement” refers to something that increases a behavior. You can’t, technically, reinforce an emotion, but you can increase the frequency of a particular behavior. In the case of thunder phobic dogs I don’t think there is ever a problem, because you are trying to decrease the emotion, which would indirectly decrease the problem behavior. Besides, if you sit beside your dog and stroke him while it thunders, and he stops pacing in circles but sits beside you, then if you are reinforcing anything it is him sitting beside you and not pacing.
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/reinforcing-fear-ii-thunder-phobia-iii
Thunder shirts are super effective for most dogs. I’ve also had success with using a heavier sedation, and over time reducing it, in order to get to a point where sedation is no longer necessary, and my dog realized she was going to be fine. Do your best not to encourage it. If your dog is still responsive to commands during the thunderstorms, a “down, stay” command could work towards a reactionary respond during the storms. Or something else that you think would put her focus elsewhere.
Melatonin. 1 MG per 20 lbs of bodyweight. For giant breeds up to 6 MG total.
You can get it at grocery stores and drug stores. Ususlly found in vitasmin/supplement aisle, and doesnt require a prescription. It comes in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 MG tsblets. Get the tablets instead of capsules so you can cut them in half if needed. Give at the first sign of a storm. Melatonin is very safe with ltitle side effects. There is a lot of info on the Internet about it.
I second jetsmom, melatonin can work wonders for this. Also I have heard of many good stories of the thunder shirt. Or wrap a polo wrap around your dog and keep it on during the storm. Kind of the same idea.
My rescued guy has a similar problem. He panics, barks at thunder, runs around 100mph, just miserable. Thankfully our thunderstorms are in evenings typically and I can crate him (only time he goes in the crate). He is MUCH better in the crate. Still a little nervous but ok. We tried thundershirt, helped a little.
My pitty showed no effect to melatonin or benedryl. A thundershirt was possibly maybe occasionally marginally effective, but only if I had a drink or two as well. 
But Sileo…omg Sileo is the BOMB. It’s basically dorm gel for dogs. Runs me $21/tube for 3.5 doses for a 45 pound dog. Worth every penny.
We’ve tried Thundershirt, Benadryl, Alprazolam for my Corgi. She is one that the drugs actually had the opposite effect, which can happen. Melatonin also did not work. We’ve been having thunderstorms/hard rain several nights in a row and the other night, her best effort was to lie in bed with me. She was the calmest she’s ever been during a storm. Last night was just thunder late in the night and she curled up between the pillow and shook a bit. That is her happy place for storms.
We did try Sileo over July 4 and it calmed her to just shaking. Expensive when once you open it, only good for 3 days…
Help the girl out
You can’t reinforce fear. Ditch that antiquated concern.
Break out the big guns and medicate. That may prevent her fear from increasing. Will she eat? Big bang = big yummy!
My thunderphobic guy won’t eat or play. I use L-Theanine, Melatonin, Xanax, Thundershirt, and for extreme situations like fireworks a second medication. I get him inside and turn on white noise. He chooses a dark quiet room farthest away from windows. I let him choose where to be: crate, under bed, behind HVAC system.
Maybe dogs choose a bathroom: I’ve recently read the porcelain reduces (or absorbs) some static energy so that may be why so many dogs find comfort in bathtubs.
Drugs. I had a rat terrier who would LOSE IT during thunderstorms. She’d alternate between trying to hide UNDER you, digging in the bed, and frantically running from window to window to bark at the lightning and thunder.
Thunder shirts and melatonin were useless. Had to get the big guns from the vet, and was able to taper down on the dosage after a while. Better living through chemistry!
[QUOTE=pinkpony321;8801913]
Drugs. I had a rat terrier who would LOSE IT during thunderstorms. She’d alternate between trying to hide UNDER you, digging in the bed, and frantically running from window to window to bark at the lightning and thunder.
Thunder shirts and melatonin were useless. Had to get the big guns from the vet, and was able to taper down on the dosage after a while. Better living through chemistry![/QUOTE]
We had a GS who would totally destroy things during a storm including her big heavy crate. Got a tranq from the vet and we’d use that. She would jus doze through the storm, Eventually we didn’t even need it. She’d go somewhere and go to sleep when a thunder storm came. I guess we conditioned her to do that.
I vote for the big guns from a vet
I’ve put her in the crate the last two nights when it has thundered. She’s in there right now but I feel bad I’ve been away at work all day and now I come home and she goes back in the crate. I don’t hear her barking though so I think it is helping (If I go downstairs she will bark if she sees me). I tried calming her down and letting her lie in my bed but she just digs and tries to hide under me and nudges me really hard with her nose. Melatonin does not help her at all.
I have had two thunder phobic dogs- both are rescues
Cassie was a big girl, and she would crawl into my bed and I would spoon here during the storm- this made her perfectly content. I miss her
Sugar has been with me a year- she shakes hard enough to wake me when it storms. snuggling her helps some but not as much. Access to a closet to hide in the dark and close helps her, as does her crate.
Providing comfort will not create more fear in my experience
My oldest Schnauzer has developed a severe fear of thunder and fireworks in his later years. Thundershirts and Rescue Remedy did nothing. We used Alprazalam, which did nothing and recently the vet added Trazadone. It has helped tremendously as it sedated him. He calms down and is not vibrating, shaking, cowering and panting. Good luck, I understand the struggle.
[QUOTE=jen-s;8800973]
My pitty showed no effect to melatonin or benedryl. A thundershirt was possibly maybe occasionally marginally effective, but only if I had a drink or two as well. But Sileo…omg Sileo is the BOMB. It’s basically dorm gel for dogs. Runs me $21/tube for 3.5 doses for a 45 pound dog. Worth every penny.[/QUOTE]
I just asked my vet about that today and she said she could get it for me but I would have to buy a box of 6 tubes for $178. Too bad because I wanted to try it.
Trazadone.
