Thunder and the Standard Poodle

Polar Bear just loves any kind of storm. One night I woke up about 2am and he wanted to go outside. I did not realize that a storm was coming. I heard the thunder and called him in. He just would not come in. It started raining and he still refused to come in. He would sit under the eaves of the house watching the storm. The storm stoped in about half an hour and there he was at the door begging to come in. Soaking wet from head to toe. He does the same thing when we have a snow storm. He will not come. I was thinking that since he is only 2 he will out grow it. He shows no signs of letting up and coming in the house yet. I live in the city so he has a lot to see. Something always going on. I live near the police and fire department. The helicopter does make him kind of nervous. It vibrates the windows. He watches it to make sure it doesn't land on his house. My yard is fully fenced and he likes to protrol the neighbors. As long as he does bark I let him stay out.

Neither of my girls really reacts at all. They might twitch an ear or if it's really loud an it surprises them they may wake up from their nap. Otherwise, nothing.

The wonder puppy on the other hand gets nervous and will want to be in your lap huddled up and if she thinks it might get her a cookie shivering. I kind of pay no attention to her really for the most part. The only time we cater to the "awww poor doggie afraid of storms" behavior is really late at night when it is just easier to let her sleep in our room under the comforter than it is to get her to stop crying at the door b/c she wants in. :rolffleyes: Hubby leaves the house for work at 4:30 and doesn't come home until about 9 most nights so the guy's gotta sleep.

I've noticed that sometimes dog's pick up their nervousness from other dogs. This happens in my mom's household. The older dog Ike used to get so upset he would kind of lash out at Howie. It became such an issue that we had to seperate them all summer b/c in Florida surprise thunderstorms in the afternoon are just a fact of life. Howie would start whinning and growling when a storm was comming. Wonder's mom Raven picked up her thunderstorm distress from Ike as well and NOW it is HER that is the problem dog at momma's house. She cries and cries and cries and barkes and goes nuts in general with thunder or fireworks and the younger dogs have started doing it. Wonder's sister Jinx is now almost as bad as Raven and Mr. Wonderful isn't far behind. I think Wonder picked it up before we moved out as well and it has carried over, though to a much lesser degree. Ike is now mostly deaf lol so thunder or fireworks don't bother him anymore

puppylove said:

Is there something that can be done to get a pup through his first few storms without it becoming an issue? Or are some dogs just prone to it?

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two things can be done

1 nothing, make no big deal out of storms. i do this now that

2 make storms fun - this is what i did with saleen. go play in the rain for a minute (not in a downpour and not with lightening) make rain just another part of life and hopefully head off any "i dont want to go out and potty in the rain issues" both of my spoos will go out in mild to moderate rainfall to potty though saleen hated it at first. i also made a point to play a fun game and give some favorite treats before, during, and after the storm or just settle down with everyone in bed and read or watch a movie on the laptop.

i also made sure to seperate wonder for the first couple f really bad storms that way she didnt make the puppy nervous. doing all those things has helped wonder to an extent too she isnt nearly as bad as she used to bed so thats good. saleen never developed any fear of storms which in my mind is excellent since her temper is a bit on the skittish side at times.