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Storms


Madeleine
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Our 8 month old pug is just experiencing her first storm since she's been with us.....

She is currently running around the house barking her head off....

My plan: ignore her, and when she's finally still, reward her - is that the right thing to do?? She's generally a bit of a sook.

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We've got some lightening / thunder here in Perth too tonight... it's the first time my boy has experience thunder since being with us too. Thankfully he couldn't give a rats about it - he's outside playing in the rain at the moment : :thumbsup:

My girl was a bit of a wuss when it came to thunder when she was younger.. what I did (and I'm not sure if it is the 'done' thing) was took her outside under out covered patio area and played some games/did some training with her. I basically ignored her sooking, and carried on as if nothing was going on. She got over her fear after a few storms... nowadays, she doesn't like them, but I don't worry about her panicking or anything if I'm not home.

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At the first signs of the onset of Mandela's first storm we began playing in the yard. When the rain threatened to become heavy we moved up onto the (largish) roof covered decking and played some more. The harder it rained (which meant the noisier it became on the decking roof) the more intense we played (ie I heightened the motivation). We did this right throughout the lightening as well as the hail storm that followed.

It was fortunate that this first storm was short lived and that the lightening strikes (and hence the ensuing thunder) was not close. A good "starter" storm for Mandela's socialisation experiences.

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Madeleine - How's it going now with your pug? Have you had another storm to practise on again?

Good to know I was on the right track with Chelsea.... hang on, I must have been.... she is no longer terrified of thunder!

Edited by ChelseasMum
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At the first signs of the onset of Mandela's first storm we began playing in the yard. When the rain threatened to become heavy we moved up onto the (largish) roof covered decking and played some more. The harder it rained (which meant the noisier it became on the decking roof) the more intense we played (ie I heightened the motivation). We did this right throughout the lightening as well as the hail storm that followed.

It was fortunate that this first storm was short lived and that the lightening strikes (and hence the ensuing thunder) was not close. A good "starter" storm for Mandela's socialisation experiences.

Great advice. We get some crazy storms unlike anything I've ever seen here in the Kimberley. We did the exact same thing with Turtle last year and it worked a treat. He doesn't even flinch now, which is good as we're in the build up to the wet now :o

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The current Dog's Life mag has a free Pet Talk Radio CD on the cover. Steve Austin talks about dogs & storms. He says to ignore it in puppies bc it's a very hard, long process to fix the problem in an adult dog. My son's dog Sooty is terrified of storms. Tilba so far, we've only had a couple, seems OK.

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We did the exact same thing with Turtle last year and it worked a treat. He doesn't even flinch now, which is good as we're in the build up to the wet now :laugh:

LOL ..... that wouldn't be a picture of Turtle during a storm in your signature picture, would it? :)

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I was getting a bit worried about this yesterday as we were expecting thunderstorms for the first time since we got our pup, got some last night, she was far more interested in playing with earwigs than any lightening or thunder. Unlike my 4yr old BCxKelpie who ran into her kennel as fast as she could.

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