Hi all, not sure if im doing something wrong for my dog or am I missing something, any feedback is appreciated.
my poodlemix puppymill rescue dog (1-2 years old) has been with us for 8months, he’s always been terrified of thunderstorms, he runs and tries to escape whenever there is slight rain or thunder. My main concern is he is going to hurt himself, my house is fully fenced so successfully escaping into the street is unlikely.
I tried almost everything I can think of:
- Tried crate training him, cover the crate with fabric to blackout the environment + gave dog chews. He paces non stop barking, but eventually settles down after 10mins and keeps quiet for the duration of the storm. This method works about 80% of the time, unless the storm is especially heavy with multiple thunder crashes.
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- I tried creating a dark cozy spot under my bed, surrounded by a beanbag chair to muffle the sounds + white noise from a fan pointed at his hiding spot + music to drown the noise. He has only enough space to lie down in this spot, it is not spacious enough to even stand, and he seems to still be afraid/anxious but keeps very quiet and is able to sleep through the storm.
I have asked my vet to prescribe me sedative pills for him. I have yet to collect the pills to try out. I sincerely hope they work. I was resistant to start out with pills because I was not sure that it would be wise to keep him on pills for the rest of his life, considering we live in a country with high rainfall, storms can last for nearly 12 hours a day which would mean he would have to take pills nearly every day for certain rainy months. I would prefer to train/desensitise him so he becomes less anxious as a whole.
I have rescued/fostered other dogs from worse situations than a puppymill, but none of them had such severe issues with thunderstorms. Thanks for reading, do give me any suggestions/feedback.