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Resolving Daisy Mae’s Thunder Phobia

7/22/2015

6 Comments

 
by Marilyn Swan

When I retired after 34 years at a major corporation, I had one last thing on my Bucket List.  Get a dog.  

I knew I wanted an older dog so I went to a rescue site and there was a beautiful 5-year-old Treeing Walker Coonhound, who needed a “furever” home.  She had lost her home through no fault of her own and she turned out to be the perfect dog for me.

Picture
Daisy Mae
Daisy Mae has just one problem.  She is terrified of thunder!  Living in Florida, especially during the summer, there seems to be a daily downpour.  Often, long before the storm, she would start pacing and trembling uncontrollably.

My vet suggested that I meet with a Veterinary Behavioral Specialist to address her fear.  He explained that dogs get worse with age when they are so fearful.  An older dog can perish from a fear-induced heart attack.

The Behavior Specialist came to my house and presented a plan to manage this fear during the summer, then work toward trying to desensitize her to thunder in the fall.  I’d like to share these suggestions so that others can find some relief for their dogs.

First, we created a den for Daisy Mae.  It is the floor of a closet, where she had gone to hide.  I put a bed, blankets and pillows on the floor.  I set up an IPod with CDs from a collection called Through a Dog’s Ear.  They can be found on ITunes.  This closet is part of a room that only has one window.  I close the window blinds and the hanging clothes dampen the noise.  Also, I have a Thunder Shirt wrapped tightly around her.  In the room, I have a diffuser with Adaptil Spray that is on constantly. This product emits a smell that is similar to an appeasing pheromone of a nursing Mother Dog. Daisy Mae also wears a lightweight collar that emits this smell.

The den has become her safe place and she readily goes there when she senses hard rain or a storm. The Vet also prescribed a low dosage of Xanax, which I give to her about 2 hours before I think there will be a storm.  This drug has stopped the shaking, which was so painful to watch.  I was also cautioned that just trying to hold her during a storm was giving her mixed messages.  She could have sensed that I was also afraid.

I am keeping a daily journal of Daisy’s behavior so that the Behavioral Specialist can evaluate her progress.  It seems like the Xanax is working because Daisy will sometimes come out of the den to eat even during a storm. Previously, she never would have left her den during a storm.

I am also giving her 2 capsules  (100mg) daily of a natural supplement called l-Theanine made by Swanson.  It is a calming supplement. Not all of the L-Theanine products are safe for dogs. Avoid any products that have xylitol in them. Xylitol is a sugar substitute that can be toxic to dogs.

Another wonderful tool has been the new TAGG GPS Plus pet tracker. It attaches to her collar and through an app on my phone, I will always know where she is.  Certainly we know that coonhounds can run if they catch a scent off leash.  Should that happen, not only do I get a text message, I can easily find her whereabouts on the phone app.  There are several other great features on this product to track her daily activity and her temperature.  It is modestly priced and the monthly subscription price is well worth the peace of mind it gives me.  The system can be purchased online.

I hope these suggestions will be useful to other coonhound owners. I hope they can find a 
Veterinary Behavioral Specialist in their area to ease their dogs’ thunder fears.

Resources:

American College of Veterinary Behaviorists
http://www.dacvb.org/about/map/

Through A Dog’s Ear:  
http://throughadogsear.com/

Thundershirt:  

http://www.thundershirt.com/?gclid=COeIkcDZycYCFcdcfgodg9oCEA

Adaptil:
http://www.adaptil.com/uk/#redirected

l-theanine
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/l-theanine

TAGG GPS plus
http://www.pettracker.com/#


The opinions expressed in this guest blog are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by Coonhound and Foxhound Companions.
6 Comments
cybele
7/29/2015 12:34:20 pm

Good post, with lots of good suggestions, though another school of thought among many behaviorists and trainers is that comforting a dog when it's stressed and suffering from anxiety is a good thing. May I recommend the "Fearful Dog Blog" as a source of insight and support re: living with a (you guessed it) fearful dog. There's hope for these poor animals. After 4 1/2 years (and daily doses of Prozac) our Walker has made steady progress and continues to feel more and more secure and confident. Just this summer I've seen break-throughs in her progress. It's been a long journey but so worth it. Daisey Mae is so lucky you brought her home!

Reply
judy jackson link
8/2/2015 02:12:44 pm

Reply
cynthia collier
8/2/2015 02:36:26 pm

judy, your comment wasn't posted.

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Arzie
10/25/2015 04:14:14 pm

To add 2 things to what Marilyn said:

Another method is to play thunder sounds at a barely hearable level, gradually increasing it to its usual level.

This should be played just outside what I call the critical distance: the distance at which the dog alerts to the noise, but before she/he begins the fear reaction.

It should also be played while you are training the dog, or when you are playing together.

2: The problem with comforting them when they're scared is that it is rewarding a behavior that you don't want. I'm not talking about the den you made; that's a wonderful idea.

What I have done with fearful dogs is to have someone with the scary thing approach, and stop at the critical distance. I then cue the dog to heel, and then praise and hug as a reward. The dog is rewarded for sitting at heel, not for reacting to the scary thing. And, eventually, sitting at heel becomes a safe place. (And, if they come up to you and sit at heel, you know something is scaring them! In Daisy Mae's case, Marilyn would know a storm was approaching!)

I used to rescue coonhounds. One was a Plott-Pit mix who had been abused to the point where he thought that approaching a human meant getting hurt. Long story short, I began by ignoring him (so he could watch me without being scared by direct eye contact or dominant body language), and going out to the yard several times a day, giving cookies and loves to the other hounds. He'd walk around watching. It was obvious that he thought the other hounds were crazy to walk up to one of those dangerous humans.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye; his critical distance got shorter and shorter. Eventually (this took 4 months!) he snuck up behind me, and I moved my cookie-filled hand back there and felt him carefully take the cookie.

It was 6 months before he came in the house. Like Marilyn, I made him a den- just putting a crate under my dining table, so he had something over his head. He could look around at everything, without leaving his den. Surprisingly, he took to it immediately, and it was his safe place.

Learning that a touch could be comfortable, learning that nobody would shout at him, learning that I could also be a safe place, took a couple of years. It was 4 years before he became a normal dog, barking at cars in the driveway, and coming up to say hello to strangers.

The neatest thing is that he became an ambassador to newer rescued dogs. He would go up to the new dog, give them a play-bow, whine, and then run up to me or my husband and jump up on us (his special privilege, because we never punished him at all), then run back to the new dog. He was saying, "Look! These people won't hurt you! You've come to Hoonie Heaven!"

He made me cry so many times during his learning, like the first time he came to me and asked to be petted.

He lived with us for the rest of his life, and died of old age at home, with his head in my lap. He was about 18. I miss him so...

Reply
Lisa
1/2/2016 04:32:41 pm

Your story made me cry! Thank you for sharing. We are adopting our first Treeing Walker Coonhound on Friday. We are so excited to give her a forever home.

Reply
Bird Removal Carrollton link
9/28/2022 05:10:14 pm

Thanks great blog.

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