Dog afraid?

Question

My German Shephard is afraid of the wind. She is a resuce pup, the peolpe who had her before left her out tom the elements. I keep her inside unless she wants to go out,when the wind blows she will hide in the closet or go to an inside room, and shakes. I try holing her and turn on soft music for her.I take her for walks when the wind is up and she is fine but when she gats home she is afraid of the wind. any ideas?

Answer 1

You are making it worse. Every time you console her while she is in the house and it is windy outside you are telling her that she has something to fear, basically re-enforcing the fear. When it is windy outside and you are in the house just ignore the behavior go about your normal routine and the dog will figure out that there is nothing to fear.

Answer 2

Time to dispel one myth: giving her comfort when she is frightened does not reinforce the behavior. When she is scared, her mind is not functioning in a manner that is conducive to learning. Therefore, she is not going to associate acting afraid with getting attention. Also, in general, the unpleasant experience of fear far outweighs any pleasant experience that comes from being comforted. It isn't worth being afraid to get attention, especially if she gets plenty of attention otherwise.

If holding her calms her down, do it. There is actually a product that works on this concept of applying pressure to relieve stress; it's called the Anxiety Wrap and many vendors sell it online. It works wonders on dogs with storm fear.

You might also give her Rescue Remedy or another herbal product to calm her. Rescue Remedy is used for a number of anxiety issues. I wouldn't be surprised if you found other, more targeted products, if you did a search online for "storm herbal medicine" (or something along those lines).

Counter-conditioning can be tried, but it is difficult with a weather-related phobia. Get a cd of storm noises or even just try to make a tape on your own of the wind. Play it on a quiet day at very low volume. As soon as you start the cd/tape begin to give her really yummy treats. Play the tape for 5 or 10 seconds, then turn it off and stop the treats. Repeat, very gradually increasing the length of time you play the noise, then very gradually increasing the volume (don't progress until she is comfortable at the current stage).

Are there tree branches or anything that scrape the house when it's windy? Or small cracks in the walls that wind is whistling through? It is odd that she is okay outside but not inside. That's worth checking in to.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I can completely understand wanting to comfort your dog when she is scared. It is natural to want to protect her, since she is part of your family.

I have a rescue Husky that was afraid of thunder. The way we helped her over it was we got her favorite toy (a duck) and hid it. Every time it started to thunder we got her ducky back out and had play time. It took a few bad storms, but now she associates thunder with her ducky, and it is no longer a scary thing. Now thunder equals play time. As soon as the thunder starts she runs to the kitchen drawer that ducky is in and waits for her play time to begin.

Try whatever motivates your dog. It could be treats, or toys or simply playing with you. Just keep it upbeat and fun for her, and eventually she will learn that the wind is nothing to fear. Remember it will take both time and patience to coax her out. Don't force her to do anything or it will make her fear worse.

I hope this helps. Good luck to both you and your Shepherd.

Answer 4

My dog is like this with thunder and lightening. One thing you should never do is take the dog into the bathroom with you when you have to pee. I did this because she was scared, and while I was sitting on the toilet, a very close, and very loud peal of lightening went off, and the dog literally jumped across the room into my lap. Now, its a big bathroom, so she was obviously scared to death, but please, having 90 pounds of dog land on you in the middle of peeing is not exactly a warm and fuzzy feeling.

The person who basically said babying her would make her think its alright to act this way is right. It's reinforcing her fear. On the other hand, I had a rescue dog who'd been abused, and I spoiled him to death so who am I to talk? My husband thought I was crazy babying this 120 dog like that, but I wanted to make up for the years of abuse he'd suffered, which I'm sure isn't a very good dog owner tactic, but I don't regret it a bit. So basically, you do do the correct thing for your dog, ignore the behavior, thereby making it unacceptable and calming your dog down in the long run, or baby her to death, which is of course what a whimp like me would do. When my rescued dog heard thunder, he started pacing, trying to crawl underneath me, crying, and I responded by petting and talking to him, and usually ended up on the floor cradling him like a giant baby, which can get very old if you have a lot of storms, or make you frantic if you're at work and a storm hits, all you can think of is your poor dog and then you end up leaving work to go home and baby your dog. Not really good for job security, but unavoidable if you're a dog bad-behavior enabler, which I obviously am.

Answer 5

you might not want to hold her because what you are then doing is reinforcing her nervous behaviour. i know it feels cruel because you have the urge to hold her but it's not going to help long term. instead try to be extra cheerful and reassuring, try to get her to play with you in the house when she hears the wind blowing and if she comes out of the closet give her treats. only reward behaviour that is not frightened!

i wouldn't drug her though, instead why not trying rescue bach flower remedy, a couple of drops and she will feel much better... i use it for my dog when travelling and for myself before exams ;-) (i think whole food sells it for example)

Answer 6

She'll be fine. It is just her way of dealing with what she's scared of. A previous dog I had was scared of thunder. She would do the same thing. Rescued dogs need lots of love. Give her a loving environment and some time. Go about your normal routine. Let her know there is nothing to be afraid of.

Answer 7

Do not hold her when this happens it is only telling her that her behavior is ok. That she is supposed to feel frightened of the wind. Ignore her and eventually she will see that there is nothing to be afraid of.

Answer 8

You might want to get some mild tranquilizers from the vet. But only use when it gets really bad. Just positive reassurance like you are giving should help. Eventually she should get over it.

Answer 9

It does sound like a dog with weak nerves. That is a genetic issue. She may improve with the right help, but then again, she may not.

Answer 10

Don't holler,in fact ignore her when this happens. Giving your dog comfort during these times is the same as telling her its ok to act this way. Good luck.