Carlos, a clinical veterinarian, explains brontophobia, the irrational fear of thunder and fireworks in dogs, and shares six practical strategies to help your dog cope during storms and loud events.
Imagine you're in the middle of a storm with no shelter. The least that could happen to you is getting wet. A tree branch could fall on you or you could be struck by lightning. Well, that's exactly what your dog feels. Hello, I'm Carlos, a clinical veterinarian at Small Animals. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families Channel. Do you know what brontophobia is? Don't worry, it's not a fear of brontosaurus. Brontophobia is an irrational fear of the sound of Thunder and about 30% of dogs suffer from it. So if you notice that your dog gets very nervous on a stormy day, shakes, or even hides under your bed, it could be that your dog suffers from brontophobia. Although with this weather, you won't be able to apply what I'm going to tell you in this video. Next winter, your little one may have to face a storm. If you want to help your dog overcome his fear of storms, pay attention to because I'm going to give you six key things you need to know to help your dog overcome his phobia. 1. Find calm in the storm. Don't get too nervous, because if your dog sees you're nervous, he may start to feel nervous too. Many owners feel anxious thinking that their canine companion is going to have a bad time during the storm, and that's why they start to get nervous. At this point, the dog's negative response to the storm begins to be triggered. 2. Reduce the noise in your home. Turning up the volume on the TV or music won't drown out the sound of thunder. Instead the choose a relaxed environment and some calming music to make your dog feel safer. 3. Build him a shelter. Don't take your dog out of the place where he's hiding. Quite the opposite. He's chosen this place because he feels safer there and this is reducing his stress in the face of the storm. He may have chosen to hide under your bed. Don't take him out of there. Or if he has chosen to hide under a chair or table, you can cover the piece of furniture with a blanket to reinforce his confidence. If your dog lives outside or goes out into the garden, you should provide him with a place to hide. Make sure the roof of this area is not made of metal because that way the rain will make less noise. This will reduce his stress. 4 Don't comfort him by petting him. If he doesn't seek you out or you don't usually do it, don't reinforce his fear of storms by doing something out of the ordinary. But be careful. You shouldn't scold or punish him either, because this will only increase his frustration. 5. Get ahead of the storm. In the hours before the storm, you can go with your dog to the room or area where he usually hides and play with him there or give him a treat or but be careful. I say before the storm, not during, because if you do, then all you will be doing is reinforcing your dog's fear of thunder. 6. Use pheromones. Commercial dog pheromones can help reduce stress at certain times, so try using them in these cases and see if they have a relaxing effect on your dog. I have a patient who was very afraid of storms and although the rest of the advice also helped him, it was the pheromones that were the turning point in overcoming his phobia. Fear is a normal reaction that animals have to seek safety when we think our lives are in danger. It is something that has allowed us and dogs to survive throughout their evolution. Imagine that you are in the middle of a storm with no shelter. The least that can happen to you is to get wet. A tree branch could fall on you or you could be struck by lightning. Well, that is exactly what your dog feels, so you must understand that he is looking for shelter. If you know how your little one feels and what he is asking of you at that moment, you are you will know how to help him and you will be able to prevent a storm from becoming a trauma for him. And that's it for today's video. If your dog also suffers from brontophobia, write in the comments how you are helping him overcome it. If you liked it, give it a like and share it with your family and friends because that way you can help them overcome this problem. Thank you very much for following Happy pets and families and see you in the next video to face his that they are going to help. You know that's when you say the thing about the brontosaurus so that they appear that they are going to help him, right? Like the dog had said. Come here. Come. He ignored me. Pay attention because at the end of the video I am going to give you the six keys to help him with his I'm going back time.
Excellent. With his phobia. With his.5. With the other hand. Sure. And with the other hand and with dirty hands. Now that they are going to help him. 5. Sorry to the storm. The storm. The storm. The storm. The storm. The storm. I said storm a thousand times. So pay attention because at the end of the video I'm going to give you six tips that will help you. It smells like dog pee here. It doesn't matter. It smells like dog pee here with its phobia of thunder. Okay. Yes. Yeah.
