Very Sad Story...

[Crazy Daisy]

I had to eventually make the same decision with our Boston Terrier X. She had always been scared of storms and we would race home to be with her or take the day off work to be with her. I even started working from home and it didn't make a difference. The older she got the worse she got. Her hearing was going as was her eye sight and she was breaking OUT of the house, through glass windows, trying to escape the thunder. She was heavily sedated and it didn't make a difference. She ended up at the vets many times with stitches from the insane things she would do to herself, including chewing her back leg till she was nearly at bone on the one occasion I wasn't at home.

Storm scared dogs take up a huge amount of time and effort. Some just get worse and worse. By the age of 12 we had to say enough is enough. Not just for us but for her. PLease don't judge others decision unless you've walked in their shoes and had to live with it.

[stormie]

It's an awful situation but one that IMO, is kindest to the dog. Dogs with extreme phobias can be very difficult to fix and often the phobias only get worse with time. My boss often tells me the heartbreaking story about the Dane he had to pts because it was so phobic of storms. It otherwise was a very lovely, calm dog, but his storm phobia was so horrific, he'd go into such a panic and cause himself much harm. I think the final straw was when they tried to crate him in the garage, but he busted out of his crate and put himself through a window in a mad panic to get out and escape. He hurt himself so bad they just couldn't let him suffer anymore with is phobia.

I have total sympathy for people who have dogs with phobias. It's very difficult to get them out of that state of mind, and when they're as terrified as they are, all logic goes out the window and they are in a terrible panicked state of mind.

[Clyde]

I groom a large breed dog with terrible anxiety and phobias. The poor thing is in his 8th home and I don't know how they do it :D Their house has been destroyed. Last time he was here I said I couldn't groom him anymore, he was just too distressed which stressed the other dogs here and he often caused damage. They've tried so many groomers and can't manage him themselves, I lasted the longest as I could see he was a sweet dog under all the layers of problems. Lovely owners, I think it's amazing they've managed this far. It's easy to judge on the outside and think you can fix these problems, but when push comes to shove it completely paralyzes these peoples' lives and we shouldn't pass judgement on them wanting their lives back.

[Robbi]

I have a very thunder phobic Whippet, I have in the past come home from work and thought the house had been broken into by vandels as I couldn't believe Yogi could do so much damage-curtains pulled down, fly screens shredded and the wood around the front door eaten like a beaver had chewed it.

He has also leapt from being on the bed next to me and run for 8kilometres and been missing 12 hours after a loud clap of thunder even crossing the Freeway.

I manage this to an extent by always checking weather forecasts and if there is going to be a storm Yogi is given a Bach remedy that has been blended for him, I place him in my bedroom and draw the curtains, I turn on the cd player with his enya cd and put his bed under my bed and throw a large bed spread over the whole thing so he is in a darkened cave. It seems to work okay, I do have some acp if neccessary but I do try to manage it without sedatives.

I can understand not everybody can find a way to manage phobias and anxiety disorders and some are unmanageable, it is traumatising to walk into a house that has been trashed by a dog.Maybe for this man he has reached his limit.

[Whipitgood]

We can really only speculate without knowing the owners or the dogs full story and circumstances. I wonder if the Whippet came from a registered breeder, my owners always know that i am their first port of call at any point in the dogs life, regardless of circumstances - if they have any problems. But he may have already tried that.

If the owner signed a consent form for euthanasia and rehoming wasnt discussed, i dare say the deed has already been done.

ETA: we dont get storms often enough to warrant getting anxious about it as an owner, but i do have one storm phobic dog, she is sedated and crated. Simple as that. I would rather she is sedated and slept it off in the peace and safety of her crate, than do herself damage or damage to any furniture.

Edited May 28, 2010 by Whipitgood

[kelpiekaye]

What about Thundercoats that I read about on a thread a while ago? If they do what they claim it may help..

[corvus]

The only thing thundercoats and wraps do is make a dog feel slightly more secure. They (and DAP diffusers) sometimes work for dogs with more mild symptoms, like panting and drooling, but if it's worse than that I would be surprised if it helped. When a dog is panicking the only thing they can learn is to panic more if they can't "escape". It's awful. I doubt anything short of sedatives and anti-panic drugs would work for a dog destroying the house.

[Hello Gorgeous]

I feel so sorry for the poor man and his dog. We don't know the full story here, but it can be extremely taxing, heartbreaking and expensive. OP, did you ever find out what happened to the dog eventually?

Reading all these storm-phobic dog stories makes me wonder about my old dog who used to love storms and would go outside and sit in the middle of one if we let him Dogs really are nutters aren't they?

[Oscar (AmBull)]

Thanks for all the responses guys.

I wish I knew more about the medical side of things so I could have made suggestions, but as I am still learning I had no idea what advice to give him. The guy was definitely caring and visibly upset, he was just worn out by this dog who even at the vets, without storms but raining, was scared and nervous.

I have had a very nice offer from someone experienced to help with the dog so I have contacted the vet. I am waiting for him to get back to me today, then go from there. Fingers crossed they persuaded the man to at least thing about it over the weekend, he didn't seem in a very good state of mind to be making such a decision. Hopefully I am not too late.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Someone surrendered their unwanted dog to me, for reasons of privacy I won't give any more details but the owner turned out to be a nutter.

Anyhow, the dog had led a pretty awful life and was a basket case. None of what I'd been told about the dog was true and I hadn't been told about it's extreme anxiety. In the 3 weeks or so I tried to help this old dog, I was back and forth to the vets, the dog went on Clomicalm but it got worse in its distress and after 3 weeks, my vet said the kindest thing was to let the dog go.

I came home that particular day to find the dog had reduced it's basket to matchsticks, it was bleeding from the mouth. There was no storm or anything like that, the dog just couldn't stand being left, not even for 2 minutes.

It is very hard to live with. I didn't take the "easy option" - I spent a lot of money in the hope that I'd be able to rehome this dog. It was so stressed out, even on Clomicalm that I had no option.

I cried and cursed the awful owner that put me in that position.