3 Tips to help your dogs overcome storms
Dogs are extremely frightened of loud noise. They get berserk, agitated, and violent when there is a lot of commotion around. The storm season seems to bring out the worst in dogs. Almost all dogs have a fear of storms. Since dogs typically reside outside your home, in a kennel, they get to bear the brunt or should we say sonorous grunt of the storms the most.
What is in storms that dogs don’t like? As children we all would have been frightened by storms at some point of time. Somehow, the unpredictable combination of wind, rain, thunder, and lightening makes dogs uneasy. In areas of frequent storms, it is better not to keep dogs because you might put them through a lot of mental harassment. You can also teach them to deal with it. Here are some tips:
1. Don’t console your dog, reward it for being calm
If your dog is calm during a storm, reward it. In a storm, don’t get to your dog and try to stroke it in an effort to console it. This will only aggravate its fear. It might expect you to do this whenever there is a storm.
Dogs might react to storms by whimpering or climbing on their owners. No reward should be given this time. Rather, they should be encouraged to go outside and be in their kennel. Use your normal commands to force the dog to be quiet. If that does not work, then try using a distraction trick, like a dog-toy.
2. Consider building a storm-home for your dog
You can build a noise-reduced kennel that the dog can use to safely rest during a storm. Train it to use this kennel when there is a storm. The kennel should be in a place where the effects of a storm are least-experienced. A small place in your home could be ideal for it. After all, we can only do our best. And if there is no other alternative, we have to work with the limitations.
3. Get your dog used to storm sounds
This is an innovative way to help your dog get used to storm sounds. Record storm sounds. Play them back at high volume. Your dog might go berserk, but will get used to it. Lock your dog in the kennel, get the sound player next to the kennel and play it. Switch on and switch off the kennel light as you play the storm-sounds. This technique will help a great deal to get the dog prepared for the real thing.
