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Environmental allergies are more common in dogs than in cats and typically occur between ages 1 and 3. The reactions occur when a dog’s immune system is especially sensitive to a substance, even a common one. Dogs with environmental allergies are usually genetically predisposed to these chronic conditions. Additionally, certain breeds are more prone to environmental dog allergies than others: Retrievers, Terriers, Boxers, Dalmatians, Bulldogs, Shepherds, Beagles and Irish Setters.

Since dogs are often outside, it’s hard to avoid common allergens. Photography by Eudyptula/Thinkstock.

The Most Common Environmental Dog Allergies

The most common environmental allergens that affect dogs are:

• Pollen (which can travel up to 100 miles)
• Mold spores
• Dust mites
• Animal dander

Some of these irritants are seasonal and are more aggressive during certain times of the year. Many of us humans are familiar with the aggravating effects of seasonal allergies. They’re no fun for us or our dogs. Because dogs spend a fair amount of time outdoors, it’s nearly impossible to avoid contact with some of the offenders.

Dog Allergy Symptoms — Atopic Dermatitis or Atopy in Dogs

As a dog’s body tries to reject the offending allergens, bothersome symptoms occur. The most common symptoms are skin-related ones and are a result of Atopic Dermatitis (Atopy), which is skin inflammation and extreme itchiness due to allergens. As a dog becomes uncomfortable from the symptoms, he may try to relieve them by excessive chewing, biting and licking. These self-soothing methods could create hair loss or open wounds that may become infected if left untreated.

The areas on a dog’s body that are typically affected by Atopy are:

• Flanks
• Wrists
• Ears
• Groins
• Underarms
• Between the toes
• Area around the eyes (itchy or runny)

Treatments for Environmental Dog Allergies

If your dog is exhibiting Atopic Dermatitis symptoms, it’s important to consult your veterinarian. During an exam, the health professionals will review your dog’s complete medical history and discuss symptoms with you. If environmental allergies are suspected, the vet may recommend a course of action:

• Intradermal allergy testing on a dog is similar to the test performed on humans. Small amounts of common allergens are injected under the skin, and the veterinarian looks for an allergic response to one or more of them. Once the allergen is determined, hyposensitization therapy might be the next step. This involves regularly giving the dog small injections of the allergen to desensitize the immune system. The therapy could take six months to a year to work, and research has shown that it is only 60 to 70 percent effective in dogs.
• Your vet may recommend antihistamines or corticosteroids to help reduce itching and discomfort. Over-the-counter sprays or creams are also available to lessen the itchy symptoms.

Management of Environmental Dog Allergies

Because Atopy is a chronic condition, you’ll need to manage it for the rest of your dog’s life. There are, however, some ways you can help him stay comfortable:

• Schedule regular vet appointments as recommended by your health professional.
• If pollen or grass is an allergen, use your air conditioner in the summer months.
• Wash your dog every three to seven days with hypoallergenic shampoo or medicated shampoo.
• Remove your dog from the room when you vacuum.
• Change the furnace filter regularly.
• When your dog comes inside from the outdoors, wipe his body to remove dust, pollen, weeds or grass.
• Some vets recommend regular doses of Omega 3, which is a great supplement for skin and coat health. Ask your vet if it’s a good choice for your dog.

Environmental allergies in dogs are irritating and could result in pain and even infection. If you suspect your dog might be affected by environmental allergies, call your vet’s office for guidance.

Thumbnail: Photography by adogslifephoto/Thinkstock.

Read more about dog allergies on Dogster.com:

• How to Diagnose and Handle Food Allergies in Dogs
• How to Combat Seasonal Allergies in Dogs
• Help Ease Your Dog’s Allergies With These 5 Natural Remedies

The post What Are Environmental Dog Allergies and How Do You Treat Them? appeared first on Dogster.

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Did you know there are rating systems for the quality and consistency of dog stool? Becoming familiar with the normal consistency, texture and color of dog poop is one way of gauging a dog’s digestive health and recognizing when there might be a problem. There are a couple of different approaches and charts for measuring canine excrement. Popular charts issued by the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition and Purina describe similar ranges by shape and texture. The Waltham guide has nine categories and the Purina chart has the familiar seven-point scale.

Whether or not you use a scorecard to rate your dog’s dung, being aware of what’s normal for your dog can give you useful information to share with your vet in the event of troubling alterations, such as:

• Diarrhea in dogs
• Green dog poop, yellow dog poop or other unnatural dog poop colors
• Blood in dog stool
• Small, hard feces or constipation in dogs 

Let’s look at some of the most common causes of abnormal dog stool!

Diarrhea in dogs

Diarrhea takes a number of forms, from loose stool that emerges long and snake-like to a messy puddle, and falls under two general categories, acute and chronic. Acute diarrhea in dogs is a sudden-onset condition, meaning that there is a rapid transition from solid, well-formed feces. To some extent, regularity is a function of maintaining habits, whether that’s being acclimated to a certain diet or a certain location.

Healthy stool varies in appearance from dog to dog. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.

Any abrupt change in a dog’s food can lead to an episode of acute diarrhea. It is recommended that any such change be managed over the course of several days, during which the new food is combined with the old, giving the dog’s digestive system time to adjust. Anxiety can also cause fecal disruptions; a dog who is not prepared or unused to car or air travel may experience short-term diarrhea as a response to stress. In situations where food or motion is the cause, regular consistency should return within a day or two.

When a dog experiences diarrhea on a regular basis over the course of two or more weeks, it is referred to as chronic diarrhea. Chronic diarrhea in dogs may indicate a number of potentially serious health issues, including organ dysfunction, parasites, and infection. Inflammation or irritation of key organs in the digestive tract, such as the liver, pancreas, or the intestines themselves, can cause extended periods of digestive upset. Chronic diarrhea also tends to present with additional symptoms or complications, such as vomiting, fever, weight loss, or abdominal pain.

Accidentally ingesting parasites or infectious agents can lead a dog to develop chronic diarrhea, and both are key reasons to keep your dog’s food and water dishes clean at home, and to pick up after your dog when you’re out in public. One of the most common parasites involved is the single-celled Giardia, which is found where infected feces contaminate and are ingested from a range of items, from grass to drinking water. Among infectious agents, parvovirus in dogs is particularly dangerous to puppies, and largely preventable with standard combo vaccines.

Green dog poop, yellow dog poop and other weird dog stool colors

Since there are so many potential causes of both acute and chronic diarrhea in dogs, it’s worth taking special note of the relative shape or shapelessness of the feces, as well as its content and color. When dogs poop, they’re not only excreting waste products and indigestible parts of food, but also eliminating internal waste. This internal waste includes dead red blood cells, which come out in feces in the form of bilirubin. In the process of digestion and excretion, bilirubin combines with bile, giving dung its typical brown color.

Sudden changes in dog poop color can be alarming. Photography by Joshua Ganderson on Flickr.

Discoloration in dog poop, particularly if the feces is yellow or green, can be caused by a variety of factors. Yellow stools that have a normal consistency and shape may indicate a simple short-term dietary shift. In cases like these, when things move too quickly through the digestive system to allow bilirubin to pass with feces, poop can take the yellowish tint of bile. Yellow poop can also be the result of liver, bile duct, or gallbladder problems. Green stool or dark green diarrhea may be a result of your dog eating too much grass or plant matter, or a result of ingesting a household toxin or rodenticide.

Dog pooping blood

As disconcerting as it can be to see your dog’s poop change colors, it is startling to witness an episode of hematochezia, or bloody dog stool. Here again, there is no easy answer, as the causes can range from eating a foreign object discovered in the litter bin to colon inflammation. The color of the blood can be an important indicator of the approximate area of the affliction; the more vivid the red, the more likely the source of the problem is in or near the colon. Darker, blacker blood indicates that the problem is higher in the digestive tract and has had time to be digested.

The amount of blood in the dog’s stool, as well as the relative consistency of the poop, are key signs in determining a course of action. For instance, a small streak of blood, seen once on an otherwise normally shaped piece of poop, but not afterward, could signify nothing at all. On the other hand, repeated incidents of bloody diarrhea in the course of a single day should certainly warrant a veterinary consultation. The more senior a dog, the more likely the cause is to be tumor-related; the younger the dog, the more likely the source of bleeding is parasitic.

Constipation in dogs

Any general overview of abnormal dog stool should take into account, not only degrees and colors of wet diarrhea, but also the appearance of small, hard poop. Since nearly 75 percent of normal dog poop is water, struggling to defecate, or producing dry stools with great effort, could be a result of dehydration. Dogs can become constipated by swallowing foreign objects, especially bones or hair. These items can also absorb available water and prevent normal poop formation.

If abnormal dog stool lasts more than a day or two, consult a vet. Photography by Shutterstock.

Regular exercise has an impact on normal stool formation and movement through the digestive system, as does a dog’s diet. Dogs who are overfed, or exclusively fed low-quality dry kibble, may be consuming more fiber and filler than their digestive systems can process. The longer a dog excretes dry feces, or none at all, the greater the chance that constipation can turn into obstipation. Obstipation occurs when difficulty defecating causes a logjam in the colon, and unmoved feces itself causes an intestinal blockage.

Is your dog’s poop normal or not?

It might sound unappealing, even repulsive, but regularly observing and cleaning up after your dog’s poop can be both intimate and comforting. The more familiar you are with the typical appearance and texture of your dog’s feces, the more aware you’ll be when it deviates from the norm. I admit to feeling a sense of satisfaction with my dog’s diet and exercise habits, and with myself as a dog owner, when she is in a good rhythm with her pooping.

Should you notice any of these changes in your dog’s feces for more than a day or two, resist the urge to treat your dog with human medications. Before you dose your dog with something as seemingly innocuous as Pepto-Bismol, consult your veterinarian. The more detail you can provide, including when the changes started and how long they’ve persisted, the better equipped your vet will be to diagnose and treat the underlying issue.

Read more about dog poop on Dogster.com:

• 13 Ways to Pick Up Dog Poop
• All About Dog Gastrointestinal Issues — Diarrhea, Vomiting, Constipation and More
• How I Taught My Dogs to Help Me Find Their Poop

About the author: Melvin Peña trained as a scholar and teacher of 18th-century British literature before turning his research and writing skills to puppies and kittens. He enjoys making art, hiking, and concert-going, as well as dazzling crowds with operatic karaoke performances. He has a two-year-old female Bluetick Coonhound mix named Baby, and his online life is conveniently encapsulated here.

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We’ve all been there! Your guests’ arrival is imminent, and there’s no time to put your dog away. The bell rings, your dog goes wild, and as soon as your guests come through the door, they’re flattened against the wall by an exuberant greeting from a highly excitable and energetic bundle of fur. How do you train your dog to stop jumping on your guests?  Having been on the receiving end of much dog jumping, I know what it’s like. I’ve been pushed over, bruised and slobbered on. One time, I nearly had my arm broken by an 80-pound Bulldog who jumped up on me as I came through the door, grabbed my wrist, and led me hastily to his dog bed. “Don’t worry,” said his person, “he does that to everyone he likes!” I’m pretty sure she meant it as a compliment, but I was in too much pain to feel very flattered.

Teach your dog to keep four paws on the floor with every person he greets, including you. Photography by Shutterstock)

I love dogs who say hello with energy, and it’s always a relief as a trainer to be greeted by a dog who is pleased to see me. Still, not all dogs who jump are eager for attention or social contact. Sometimes dog jumping behavior can be a dog’s way of coping with a change in the environment that makes him nervous. It’s pretty easy to recognize an uncomfortable jumper, especially if you know how your dog reacts to new people.

A nervous jumper exhibits much stiffer body language than a dog who is excited to see you and may eye guests warily as they enter his space.
Regardless of why your dog is jumping, the aim is pretty much the same: Teach your dog that four on the floor is better than two on you.

Here’s how:

1. Be consistent when training your dog not to jump

Four on the floor, or in this case eight on the floor. Photography by Shutterstock.

Teach your dog to keep four on the floor at all times with every person he greets, including you. Sometimes pet parents reinforce jumping behavior by allowing their dogs to jump on them, but telling them “off” when they jump on other people. There needs to be one rule for all.

2. Find alternatives to your dog’s jumping

Harness the power of giving your dog something else to do, especially during times when he is most likely to jump, such as when people come to the door. The energy and adrenaline that drives jumping behavior has to find another outlet.

Teach your dog a different activity for when people first arrive. For example, he could go to fetch a toy or run to a mat or bed and stay there until cued to come off. This requires a certain amount of impulse control and can be difficult for excitable dogs. But if you make learning fun and reinforce success with motivating rewards, you will get the behavior you desire.

Prevent dog jumping by training your dog to go to a certain spot when guests arrive. Photography by Shutterstock.

3. Redirect your dog to avoid jumping

Teaching your dog cues to find alternate behaviors is key. A sitting dog cannot jump, so utilize family members, friends, and neighbors to help you practice his sitting on greeting.

Here are a few tips:
 Line up your volunteers, and approach each one with your dog on leash. If your dog jumps, simply turn in the other direction, walk away a few steps, turn around, and approach again. If he walks up to a person and sits, give attention and a secondary reward such as food or a toy for complying.

Start by teaching these basics in a quiet environment and with calm volunteers. Later, you can take it to where the jumping behavior usually happens, which in most cases is by the front door.

Once your dog is sitting consistently as a person walks through the door, introduce auditory triggers that get your dog excited, such as a knock or bell ring. Wait for your dog to calm down before opening the door and letting someone in to greet. If he jumps up, your “guest” will turn around and leave, and the secondary reward goes away. If he sits, he gets attention and a reward.

Make sure your dog is calm before opening the door. Photography by Shutterstock.

Only practice off-leash when your dog is consistently performing what you need him to do, and always expect failures — they’re a normal part of the learning process.

4. Give your dog some space

If your dog is wary of strangers, keep everyone safe and comfortable by keeping him behind a baby gate, or in another room or “safe zone,” until your guests are settled. If he is wary but social, allow him to greet calmly; if he prefers his own space, give him an activity toy and leave him in his safe zone.

5. Ignore the bad behaviors, reward the good

Sometimes dogs forget what they have been taught and jump on their owners or guests. If this happens, ignore your dog and turn your back, or keep turning around until he gets off. Wait for four seconds of paws on the floor before giving attention. If your dog jumps again when he has attention, repeat your behavior until he realizes that jumping gets nothing, but four on the floor gets him all the attention he desires.

Teach your dog a different activity when people first arrive at your house, such as running to a mat or bed. .Photography by Shutterstock.

6. Don’t be cruel

Don’t knee your dog in the chest, yank his collar, shout, shock or physically reprimand him for jumping. Even though these actions might “fix” things for that moment, they don’t actually teach a dog anything. Also, you will usually find your dog continues to jump when a similar situation arises. Teaching him what to do instead will encourage him to make better choices the next time he feels the need to jump up.

Thumbnail: Photography by mikeledray/Shutterstock.

Read more Dogster articles that feature the methods of Victoria Stilwell: 

• 4 Things I Love About the Positive Training Method for Dogs
• Victoria Stilwell, Dog Trainer and TV Host, Speaks with Dogster
• Modern vs. Traditional Dog Training: What’s the Difference?

About the author: Victoria Stilwell is a world-renowned dog trainer, TV personality, author, and public speaker best known as the star of the international hit TV series
It’s Me or the Dog, through which she reaches audiences in over 100 countries. Appearing frequently in the worldwide media, Stilwell is widely recognized as a leader in the field of animal behavior, is the editor-in-chief
of Positively.com, and the CEO of Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training — the world’s premier global network of positive reinforcement dog trainers. Connect with her on Facebook and on Twitter.

Editor’s note: Have you seen the new Dogster print magazine in stores? Or in the waiting room of your vet’s office? This article appeared in our magazine, and we’re thrilled to have Victoria Stilwell as a contributor. Subscribe to Dogster and get the bimonthly magazine delivered to your home. Read an interview with Stilwell on Dogster.

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I work with clients all over the world who share an important connection: They understand the power of nutrition and aspire to feed their dogs the best diet possible. But opinions about what is the best diet differ. Some people believe that raw food rules as the optimum diet for dogs, while others are adamantly against it. Others would like to try feeding raw but don’t know how to go about it. Wherever you stand, my Raw Dog Food Rules can help you fine-tune your raw-feeding practice or determine if a raw diet rules for your canine companion.

Would you feed your dog a raw dog food diet? Photography by humonia/istock.

Raw Dog Food Rule #1: Go lean with your meats

Raw meat-based diets tend to be high in fat, which can cause problems for many dogs, especially those prone to pancreatitis, obesity and gastrointestinal issues. Fat also contains more than twice as many calories per gram as protein and carbohydrates. Because dogs typically eat to satisfy their need for calories, dogs who consume less of a higher-fat food may not obtain enough vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients, while those who consume more may become obese. Fortunately, preparing your own raw diet enables you to control the fat content.

My rule: Select lean meats that contain no more than 10 percent fat.

Raw Dog Food Rule #2: Balance the bone

Edible bone refers to the bone without the skin, fat, connective tissue and muscle meat. Edible bone fed in the appropriate amount provides the calcium and phosphorus dogs need without the use of separate supplementation. If your raw diet does NOT include bone, and you’re feeding an adult dog, you must supplement with calcium. Growing puppies, regardless of breed, require more of both calcium and phosphorus than adults, so puppy diets without bone must include both a calcium and phosphorus supplement. Avoid feeding excess bone, which can pose health hazards such as hard stools that are painful to pass and hypercalcemia, excessive blood calcium levels that can lead to organ damage.

My rule: About 10 percent of a raw diet (by weight) should consist of edible bone.

Raw Dog Food Rule #3: Feed your dogs some veggies (and fruits)

Some raw feeders believe that vegetables and fruits have no place in the canine diet, but I hope you’ll keep an open mind on this one. Phytonutrients (beneficial plant chemicals) such as carotenoids and flavonoids exert numerous benefits on the health of people and animals, including: serving as antioxidants; enhancing immune response; inducing cancer cell death (apoptosis); enhancing cell-to-cell communication; repairing DNA damage caused by exposure to environmental toxins; and detoxifying carcinogens in the body. On a cellular level, phytonutrients can trigger genes to express in a manner that defends against disease.

My rule: Include colorful, non-starchy, dog-friendly vegetables and fruits as about 15 percent of a healthy raw diet. Read up on some dangerous fruits and dangerous veggies for dogs here.

Raw Dog Food Rule #4: Don’t skip the dog supplements

In today’s modern world of depleted soil, factory-farmed animals and environmental toxins, even raw diets benefit from supplementation. As previously mentioned, bone-free diets for adults require a separate calcium supplement, while bone-free puppy diets need a calcium/phosphorus supplement. Diets with bone still often come up short in several nutrients, including vitamins D and E, linoleic acid (especially if using red meat rather than poultry), EPA and DHA (omega-3 fatty acids) and trace minerals such as iodine, manganese, selenium and zinc. The more varied the diet, the fewer the supplements that will be needed and the more likely the diet will be balanced over time.

My rule: Identify nutrients that might come up short in your home-prepared diet, and compensate with high-quality supplements. Do not use a copper supplement in diets containing beef liver, which is high in copper. Consult with a veterinarian who is knowledgeable about nutrition regarding the supplements you use. Inappropriate supplementation could cause issues with your pet’s health.

Raw Dog Food Rule #5: Beware of leaky gut

Healthy intestines contain a barrier of cells that allow the absorption of desirable nutrients from the digestive tract, while blocking harmful molecules from crossing into the blood stream. “Leaky gut” is a condition in which the bond that connects these cells becomes compromised, creating a permeable, or “leaky” intestinal environment. Dogs with leaky gut are at increased risk of pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli from raw foods crossing from the digestive tract into the blood stream.

My rule: If your dog suffers from symptoms of any condition commonly associated with leaky gut, including food intolerances, inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome, lightly cook the meat (but never cook bone) until the symptoms resolve.

Raw Dog Food Rule #6: Stomach acid required

This rule closely relates to Rule #3. Veterinarians often treat gastrointestinal symptoms in dogs with medications, such as Pepcid, designed to decrease the amount of acid produced by the stomach. Unfortunately, this attempt to resolve one issue can lead to other problems. Strong stomach acid and low pH helps protect a dog’s stomach from pathogens in raw meat. Take it away, and you have a recipe for disaster, especially if the dog also suffers from leaky gut.

My rule: Avoid feeding raw meat to a dog on a medication designed to decrease stomach acid. Whether you already think raw food rules or you are just testing the waters, I hope these tips will help you and your dog get the most out of the raw food experience.

Read more about dog food and dog diets on Dogster.com:

• The Top Dog Food for Keeping Your Dog Cool in the Summer
• Why You Should Use Lean Meats in Fresh Food Dog Diets
• How to Diagnose and Handle Food Allergies in Dogs

Diana Laverdure-Dunetz, MS, is a canine nutritionist and co-author, with W. Jean Dodds, DVM, of two books, including Canine Nutrigenomics: The New Science of Feeding Your Dog for Optimum Health. Their online course, Complete Canine Nutrition, can be found at myhealthydog.dog.

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Is your dog scared of thunder? Why do certain dogs become fearful of loud noises such as thunder and fireworks, but others remain unruffled? Nobody’s completely sure. In some cases, puppyhood trauma (such as being tied up outside for long intervals) may have something to do with it. Some owners claim that specific breed temperaments may play a role, and in other cases, sensitive hearing or separation anxiety may contribute. What’s certain is that for some canines, a minor case of nerves can escalate into a full-blown phobia — an excessively panicked, irrational, chronic fear response.

Since the day we adopted our rescue pup, Grant, we’ve been dealing with this kind of phobia on a regular basis. Like many dogs who struggle with unexplained fear of thunder, Grant seems unusually sensitive to any storm-related occurrence, such as changes in barometric pressure. Once the rumbles begin, his anxiety rapidly escalates into overwhelming terror. So, for us, it’s especially unfortunate that summer’s humid conditions can produce some of the biggest storms of the year.

Our dog Grant will hide just about anywhere if he senses a thunderstorm. (Photo by Marybeth Bittel)

A dog scared of thunder can result in hiding, urinating, excessive panting, drooling, trembling, whining, eye-rolling, and/or frantic efforts to escape. If you’re Grant, they include all of the above … and some of his escape efforts have led to painful injury. The cruel irony is that if we, as owners, fawn over Grant or try to over-comfort him, we’re essentially reinforcing his panic behavior. A dog often interprets this pronounced reassurance as confirmation that the event taking place truly is worthy of panic.

There’s no guarantee that you can ever fully resolve your dog’s fear of thunder. But if your dog is scared of thunder, there are ways that you can manage it effectively. Here are six strategies from a Thundershirt for dogs to increasing exercise that have worked especially well for us:

1. Watch your behavior during a thunderstorm

If you remember nothing else, remember this: Constant petting or consoling is often interpreted by pets as a reward for the fearful response — or reinforcement that the fearful response is warranted. Conversely, punishment will only increase a panicked pet’s anxiety level. Our solution? Projecting a calm, cool vibe and giving Grant attention in the form of playing, grooming, or other activities he normally enjoys.

When the whole family remains calm during a storm, Grant stays a little calmer too. (Photo by Marybeth Bittel)

2. Use the Thundershirt to lessen your dog’s fear of thunder

Not to state this too strongly, but the Thundershirt is a miracle. This snug garment (available online or at most pet-supply stores) attaches around Grant’s body with Velcro and produces a “swaddling” effect that calms down his panicked panting. It often begins working within minutes, and on a few occasions Grant has actually drifted off to sleep (yes!). Complementary therapies we sometimes use include Rescue Remedy, which is based on calming Bach flower essences, and Ark Naturals Happy Traveler, a botanically based chew that can produce a calming effect. You can also try calming essential oils or pheromones, such as the canine-calming pheromone DAP. This can be found in Comfort Zone products.

Manufacturers of the Thundershirt claim an 80% success rate when it comes to calming fearful canines. (Photo by Marybeth Bittel)

3. Switch environments when it starts to thunder

Changing your pet’s location can be surprisingly effective, because it may help reduce the storm’s volume level or make your pet less aware of it. Grant, for instance, likes to hang out on the bathroom rug with the overhead fan droning away whenever it storms outside. This creates a “white noise” that blocks out the sounds that disturb him.

Allowing your pet access to the basement, or a room without windows, may have a similar effect. Some pups find that a closet or the area under the bed feels especially safe and secure. If your pet heads for his crate, try covering it with a blanket to increase feelings of security. However, keep the crate door open so your pet won’t feel confined (which can dramatically increase anxiety).

4. Increase exercise before a thunderstorm starts

When thunderstorms are predicted, we try to take Grant for a few extra walks before the clouds roll in. This helps to tire him both mentally and physically. Many vets claim that it can also boost natural serotonin levels, which then act as a natural calming aid.

5. Use counterconditioning during a thunderstorm

This fancy behavioral term simply means we help Grant to associate something negative (the thunderstorm) with something positive. For example, we keep Grant’s all-time favorite toy hidden away and bring it out to play when he begins to feel nervous about an approaching storm. We’ll sometimes feed him an extra-special treat during these times, as well, such as a small piece of bacon or cheese. This diverts his focus, and enjoying the treat/toy during the storm has gradually helped to recondition his response.

Counter-conditioning can help dogs like Grant associate something positive with a scary event. (Photography by Marybeth Bittel)

6. Try desensitization

We practice this during the off-season for thunderstorms, usually over the winter. To begin, simply play a CD or iPod mix of storm sounds at an extremely soft level. While your dog remains relaxed at this level, say a simple cue word like “chill” and provide a yummy treat every 15 seconds or so. Then, gradually extend the time your pet needs to remain relaxed before earning the treat.

Once your pup can remain relaxed on command, increase the volume a single notch and repeat the process. If at any time your pet shows pronounced fear or panic, go back to the previous volume level, say the cue word, and reward for staying calm. When an actual storm takes place, continue using this same cue/reward system.

Grant exhibits a fairly intense fear response when it comes to thunderstorms. The good news is we’ve managed to help him cope without resorting to the use of pharmaceuticals. If none of these approaches work for you, a candid conversation with your vet might be warranted. In extreme cases, there are medications that can help keep your pup comfortable. But take a cue from Grant — a little dedication and ingenuity from you may be all that’s necessary to help your canine cope successfully!

Is your dog scared of thunder? How do you cope? What are your tips?

Read more stories about dogs with anxieties and phobias on Dogster.com: 

• Dealing with a Dog That’s Afraid of Water? Try These 4 Proven Techniques
• 5 Road-Tested Tips for Traveling With Fearful Dogs
• How Your Dog Can Be Anxiety Free

About the author: Marybeth Bittel is a freelance writer who lives in the Midwest with her wonderful husband, her crazy rescue dog Grant, and her level-headed rescue dog Maizy – all of them Heinz 57 mixed breed types. Marybeth identifies as mostly Italian, so she enjoys feeding family, friends and furkids almost as much as Grant and Maizy enjoy eating. She’s also a marketing communications consultant and former marketing/PR exec. Connect with her on LinkedIn or — to see her latest pet pics (and be careful what you wish for here) — check out her family Instagram feed.

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