my poor scared girl
 

my neighborhood was one of the ones with mass devistation on the news tonight. If you see them mentioning Moscow Ohio, I am across the river and the tornadoes hit us too. Being mainly farmland, the destruction is not as "people" threatening.

My home survived, but my poor dog is a wreck. When the tornado was rooling over the house (it touched down less than a mile past us) she was literally screaming in terror.

We are staying with family tonight, and the poor thing is a wreck. Gone is my goofy fun playful dog. She just keeps pacing, and everytime there is thunder, she panics.

Goig potty outside is horrific due to the strange place and all the wind.

Any ideas? i just pet her, and try to act like everything is a fun game visiting friends.

I'm sorry you had to go thru this and how it has effected your dog. Maybe consider getting a thundershirt?

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I would put her in a room or better yet a kennel, with a bed or comforter and shut the lights off or cover it and just let her be alone and calm down.

We had the same thing happen with our dog, unless you can get some sedatives from a vet thats the best thing to do. Just lock her up and leave her be.

I'm hoping tht by tomorrow,when we are allowed back home, she will be better. right now she is spooked really bad.

What is a thundershirt??

has anyone else had to deal with something like this, and what can I do to best get her past it as if nothing happened? Unfortunately, the first place we went to was my mother, and her to little ankle biters attacked booboo. (yes, we have been there before but my moms dogs are just spoiled little shits)

Then we went to a friends house, an her drunk husband started his crap. So we drove around a while, she loves that! We even went to Sonic adn she got a grilled cheese (her favorite)

I do not want her to be storm scared. but damn, she is so flighty adn spooky now.

ownedbyBOO, tell her, in a normal tone of voice that there are storms, now and in the future when you know one is coming. Tell her the flash of light is lightening and that thunder will follow. This is called name and explain and is part of SATS Bridge and Target training. I would keep her attached to me with a leash when not confined to her crate, so you can stop her from engaging in flight behavior; loop it around your waist or tie it to your belt so you can be hands free.

Julie K

I have kept her on her leash because I was afraid she would dart if there was thunder.

but it has just been a horrid day for her. First the tornado, then cops banging at the door checking on everyone, then getting attacked by two little rat dogs, then enduring a disgusting screaming drunk man..... and we would up at my brothers, and for some strange reason his puggle is being a real little brat and got locked up.

She seems better now that we are in bed for a cuddle. My brother is totally sympathetic to Boo and is letting us stay the night even though his puggle is being a little tyrant.

I have not had Boo that long, and unfortunately she went into heat the day she was dumped on me. We are just now getting out and getting familiar with others. This is NOT an ideal situation, at 10pm to be driving around with a scared dog, not able to find a place to stay because the 3 hotels you tried wouldn't take me with a dog. ugh. I could not even fanthom leaving her locked all alone at home in her crate while I went elsewhere. And i was trying to avoid other dogs becaues I know she is stressed. But the problem is.... all my crazy friends have dogs. Today was not the day to do introductions. UGH!!!

Normally my moms yaphounds do not phase Boo, but today she actually cowered, and the monsters attacked!

My dogs were home alone when the tornado hit Atlanta a few years ago. They were pretty nervous for a couple of days and then they were back to normal. Sorry you and your pup had to go through this, she'll be back to normal before you know it http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/smile.png

Things to do that I never thought of before today.......
Locate a local dog friendly hotel.
remember to grab HER favorite toy.
Keep a container of HER food handy if you have to leave fast.
Put a leash in the emergency kit in the basement. I never even thought to grab the leash on the way down and she was running like a maniac in the celler, smashing into things and screaming while the tornado went over.

---------- Post added at 02:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:07 AM ----------

Unfortunately we do not have this option. I am at my brothers house, but i am NOT coddling her at all. I know enough not to encourage the fear. It is good to know that someone else went through a tornado hitting their home and after a few nervous days the dog was fine.

Amy had a big scare a couple weeks ago when she got hit by a bike and was freaking out at every bike she saw after that.

I let her rest and calm down for a couple days, on her favorite fleece blankets. She just needed some snuggly comfort. Thundershirts are amazing - it's just a tight velcro shirt for the dog the swaddles its torso and calms them down. Amy loves wearing hers. You can get them at Petsmart.

Just act like nothing at all is out of the ordinary and give her a couple days to settle her nerves.

And give her something great to chew on - a rawhide or a marrow bone or bully stick. The chewing helps a lot with their stress.

You might want to get a recording of thunderstorms in a few days and play it quietly in the background while she sleeps or relaxes too. You can turn up the volume a bit as time goes on.

Are you still a bit on edge seeing as this JUST happened? I'm betting it's a mix between HER nerves AND yours. When you're 100% calm and composed, she'll pick up on that and will get back to normal.

In the meantime, I would work on a bit of training with her. Get her some mental stimulation to get her mind off things. She doesn't know what happened. All she knows is that for however long it went on, there was probably some kind of mass panic in her house and now she's freaked out. Get her on a routine. Work on training, give her something to do.

Good news... BooBoo has absolutely recovered. She is backto her normal goofy self!

Right now all the vets in the area are swamped, my vet also deals with livestock. There are tons of hurt animals, the shelters are doing the best they can. I told my vet if he needs to, I am absolutely fine with him rescheduling my spay/shots appointment.

I have my emergency kit updated with a bright pink leash, and believe it or not, WalMart had a 2" wide pink collar that I was easily able to write all our emergency contact info on. In the event of the next tornado warning, while in the basement, I will put them on her.

Boo had a normal day today. She got her car ride and my son let her play on the trampoline with her toys. She was home alone for a few hours while I was down helping a neighbor whose house was flattened.

TomorrowI am taking a leash and yummy treats to my friends house because we were noticing a few scared dogs in the destruction. If I canmanage to catch one or two, maybe they can be reunited with thier family. I did dump a pile of food near, but what else can you do?

the main thing is that you, your family and pets are OK. I live in Texas, tornadoes can be very scarey especially for our pets. Glad she is doing better now.
best of luck !!