It has been a weird summer here in Colorado. We had snow through Memorial Day. June broke cool and raining, like London — foggy and dark. And, July? Well, we had incredible rain, hail, wind, and thunder / lightning nearly every day. That’s rough going for a fearful dog like Lilly.
Lilly isn’t exactly thunder-phobic. She isn’t keen on the noise, but we’ve conditioned her over the years to know that thunder simply means:
- Food-stuffed KONG toys come out.
- Canine calming music goes on.
- Crate time is happy, safe time.
Still, after weeks and weeks of daily thunder, including power outages (and the cussing that ensues), Lilly isn’t having the best summer of her life.
We’ve never tried the “real” Thundershirt, but we have, in the past, tried homemade versions that only made Lilly more sheepish and upset. As in, she’d throw herself to the ground or slink along, low, with her tail tucked until we took the tight garment off.
Poisoned Associations in Dog Training
This is as good a time as any to point out that any calming aid needs to be introduced properly … or you risk “poisoning” it for the dog.
For example, remember how we tried one of the calming pheromone collars on Lilly when hiking with the brew babes? Well, I’m pretty sure the collar made things worse, not better … because I believe Lilly associates the smell of the pheromones with something bad, not something good.
I had the chance to talk to our behaviorist about it a few weeks ago, and she said the only way to know for sure would be to put the collar on Lilly again to see if she has the same response.
I hate to “experiment” on Lilly and take the chance of her feeling icky, so I haven’t tried that. BUT, our behaviorist has worked with a dog who came to recognize food-stuffed KONG toys as a trigger for separation anxiety. Toy came out. People left.
It’s good advice in most cases to give dogs something to do while you’re gone, but in this case the dog had imprinted negatively on this one toy.
So, they had to create a whole new routine to help the dog with his home-alone issues.
I’m fairly certain that I ruined the effectiveness of the pheromones by pairing it with scary situations (in the past) … rather than conditioning it — on purpose — to mean good things.
Lesson learned!
Have you ever made a dog training mistake like that? I’d love to know what else to avoid doing.
All of that rainy/stormy weather also makes it tough for you and Lilly to get out on the hikes you both love so much! That’s tough, because no treat can make up for the calming effects of exercise.
I just shared this somewhere else, and since you’re talking about this crazy, record breaking weather and how it’s impacting Lilly, I figured I’d share here, too.
This weather is a sign of serious environmental trouble. As in, the world as we know it will cease to exist I know, that sounds really, really panicky, but have you read Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet? VERY eye opening and easy to read. I just started another book called Climate Wars. Eye opening, but kind of dry. In any case, we need to stop living the way we’re living — NOW.
I have not read those books, Kris, but I have heard of them and know their messages.
Wow, this is exactly what happened to my anxious dog, Gypsy long ago. I used to leave her a Kong whenever we were going to be gone for a long day or overnight, and she quickly got to where she’d freak out whenever she saw me take the Kong out of the cupboard! It went from being her favorite toy to one she hated. I didn’t know this happened to others, too. I’m not sure how I would have prevented this, though, because the association was real — I really did give her the kong to help her cope with long separations. I gave it to her other times as well, but that was its primary purpose.
That’s really interesting – and kind of frightening – that the Kong can actually make a dog more anxious. We have been using it for the last two years to help with our dog’s SA and it never once occurred to me it is possible to bring a negative association to the toy by only giving it to her when we leave. Luckily, I don’t think it stresses her out. She seems fine at home now and I do think the Kong is a big part of that. Perhaps because we do often play with the empty toy, just only stuff it for her when we leave.
But I have been contemplating using something like the thunder shirt to help with her separation problems. Especially if we have to leave her in the car. She freaks out if we even enter a parking lot. I am glad I read your post so that if I decide to try it, I don’t just plunk it on and then leave for twenty minutes.
Well, Kristine, if your dog already loves the KONG, you’re probably fine. It’s just when dogs ONLY associate the KONG (or whatever toy) with the emotions of you leaving that can be a problem.
And, yes, if you get a Thundershirt, have her wear it for a while when she is already relaxed … perhaps right before bedtime. That way she already has a good association when you use it in parking lots (or wherever).
Emma, our Shepherd/Rott that we lost last year was terrified of the ding the dryer made here. She only started acting frightened after we moved. Pretty soon she was scared of everything, including thunder and guns on television. I don’t know what we did, but I’m sure it was something unconsciously that she associated with scary noises.
Yes, @ Living Large, you just never know what the dog links together … noise + smell, noise + fear, it could be any combo of stimuli.
Hi Roxanne. We’ve been plagued by storms and outages in the Midwest as well. Our female, Keily, never had problems with thunderstorms — just took them in stride and would continue to play with her tennis ball. That was up until these severe storms kept coming one after another this summer. While she is no where near as bad as some dogs can be, I felt so bad for her. I did not have an official Thundershirt, but used a t-shirt that I snugged up with a rubber band. It did help, and she finally rested on the sofa next to me. She has been diagnosed with OCD bx and general anxiety disorder so her medication probably helps alleviate some of her anxiety in general. Kongs did not work during storms and tennis balls only to hold in her mouth. I have seen kongs get poisoned for separation anxiety, as they became a predictor that the family is leaving. As you mentioned, getting them accustomed to the kong, ball, shirt, etc., before the event is always a good plan so that their association is there before using it in another context. I’m thankful that the shirt worked. Also, do you notice storm issues are worse at night? That’s been my experience here in Chicago area. Let’s hope the wacky weather starts to slow down and our pups can relax.
Terri … Ginko (our big boy) actually has more issues with thunder than Lilly does … because he was home when our house got struck by lightening in 2004 (after our Dal died, but before we adopted Lilly). So he gets nervous, but not panicked. He also tends to be more alert / aware of any noises after dark … especially if Tom is gone. It’s like he wants to be extra vigilant for me.
Most of our storms in the Rocky Mtns come in the afternoon or early evening, but we have had a few some roaring through her with lightning, thunder, hail, etc. after bedtime … which, frankly, unnerves me too.
Lilly gets her clomipramine twice a day every day. And, now, we only use the xanax as needed. So, on stormy days, I do go ahead and give her a xanax to help her cope.
We also have conditioned them that storms means time in the crate with food-stuffed toys. We keep their crates in the basement, where it is darker, quieter, cooler, etc. and they seem to do just fine.
Again, they can be a little nervous, but not completely freaked out during storms.
My girl is terrified of the smoke alarm – like hides behind the couch scared and won’t come out for hours! Her fear even became generalized to the overn turning on at all.
Before I got serious about working with her, and actually learning what to do, I gave her a stuffed kong RIGHT as the alarm went off. She wouldn’t touch that thing if her life depended on it. Whoops…
We’d had much more success doing targeting exercises when the oven is on. We’ve taken down the smoke alarm in the kitchen now, so she hasn’t heard it go off in months. We’re good with the oven now, but I do need to get working on actually desensitizing her to the noise too. Blah.
Ashley, you might try stuffing it under a pillow first in your desensitization work, so that it isn’t so shrill. It’s really hard with sound-sensitive dogs … trust me. Lilly can hear a skateboard grinding along from blocks away and get very upset. We tried teaching her to ride one herself, which helped some, but mostly … we try to get WAY off the trail so that the sound and motion isn’t right at her level as the skateboards go by.