Storm Phobia in Dogs

Lisa Radosta, DVM, DACVB, Florida Veterinary Behavior Service, West Palm Beach, Florida

Sherrie Yuschak, RVT, VTS (Behavior), North Carolina State University

ArticleLast Updated July 20168 min readPeer Reviewed

Milo, a 6-year-old, neutered, mixed Chihuahua-dachshund (ie, Chiweenie), presented for trembling, hypersalivation, whining, and hiding during storms while the owners were home. Additional clinical signs included urination and defecation when he was home alone during a storm.

Case Summary

Lisa Radosta, DVM, DACVB, Florida Veterinary Behavior Service, West Palm Beach, Florida

At age 3, Milo started showing mild signs (ie, trembling, hiding), which progressed in severity. When the owners were home, they tried giving him food-stuffed toys, comforting him, and allowing him to hide; when they were gone, they confined him to a crate. Nothing had helped reduce his fear or panic during a storm. Milo could be left alone in the house without any signs of fear when there were no storms. He also did not panic during fireworks displays.

Milo was up-to-date on vaccinations and monthly heartworm and flea and tick preventives.

Follow these steps for patients with suspected storm phobia (ie, irrational fear of storms).

Behaviors should be recorded objectively, like clinical signs for any body system.

1. Behavioral Evaluation

Assessment of a storm phobia patient in the practice should involve evaluation of:

Body language (eg, does the patient indicate fear, anxiety, stress, or relaxation?)
Interest in exploring surroundings
Interaction with the veterinary team
Mentation, including whether the patient is bright, alert, and responsive (BAR)

Behaviors should be recorded objectively, without assessment, like clinical signs for any body system.

2. Physical Examination & Laboratory Tests

The veterinary team should perform a physical examination, complete blood count (CBC), serum chemistry profile, total thyroxine (TT₄), and urinalysis.

Milos Behavioral & Physical Evaluations & Results

Baseline body language in the examination room

Milos body language during the first 30 minutes included:

Ears held in neutral position or forward
Pupils of normal size for ambient light
Relaxed stance and musculature
Soft mouth, with mandible hanging slightly open
Tail at back level, softly wagging
4 legs under the body, with hind legs not stretched back, and tail wagging at spine level when offered freeze-dried chicken treats by a team member; eating from the hands of the veterinary nurse and the veterinarian within 5 minutes

Storm sound-induced body language

Milo was given 3 sound tests, each 20 seconds long, and allowed 1 minute to recover each time. The first was storm sounds from Sounds Scary and iTunes, played at level-2 volume on an iPad. Next, sounds of rain were played without sounds of thunder, and third, a recording was played with the sounds of rain and thunder. The dog recovered to his baseline body language in 45 seconds in all 3 trials. Responses included:

Attempts to hide behind the owners legs
Dilated pupils
Panting
Tail down
Trembling

Firework sound-induced body language

Firework sounds from Sounds Scary were played for 20 seconds at level-2 volume on an iPad. Milo responded with:

Relaxation identical to baseline body language and no discernible reaction

Physical examination & laboratory findings

Physical examination and CBC, serum chemistry profile, TT₄, and urinalysis were unremarkable.

3. Signs & Differential Diagnoses

Patients generally exhibit signs of hypersalivation, whining, trembling, hiding, urination, and defecation during storms. The differential diagnoses include:

Cognitive dysfunction
Frustration-related behaviors
Incomplete housetraining
Noise phobia
Separation-related disorders
Storm phobia

4. Treatment

Core components of a treatment plan for storm phobia patients can include:

Counterconditioning during storms (eg, pairing a positive with a negative event to change the patients emotional state)
Creation of a safe zone
Medication, daily and as-needed (PRN)
Relaxation conditioning (eg, teaching the patient to relax on cue to induce relaxation during stressful events such as storms)

Provide immediate relief with a PRN anxiolytic medication (eg, benzodiazepine [diazepam], serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitor [trazodone]). Medication, depending on which is chosen, should be given 30 to 120 minutes before the storm.

Dogs with storm phobia often need a daily medication, plus a faster-acting anxiolytic medication PRN. Dogs requiring PRN medications whose owners will be away from home for lengthy periods should be given a daily medication and the PRN medication. Daily medication may provide longer-lasting anti-anxiety coverage if the owners cannot administer a faster-acting anti-anxiety medication before the storm. Fluoxetine, sertraline, and clomipramine are commonly used as daily medications.¹

Milos Diagnosis, Treatment Plan, & Outcome

Diagnosis

Because Milo showed no signs of fear, anxiety, or stress when the owners were preparing to leave or when stormy weather was not a factor, separation-related disorders were ruled out. Frustration-related behaviors were also ruled out because clinical signs of frustration with his environment (eg, destruction or damage due to lack of exercise or enrichment) were not apparent whether the owners were present or not. Milo showed no fear of other sounds, ruling out noise phobia. He was well housetrained with no accidents reported except during thunderstorms, ruling out incomplete housetraining.

Clinical Treatment

Milo was prescribed diazepam, 1.0 mg/kg PO, as a fast-acting PRN medication. Effects of diazepam include anxiolysis, increased appetite, muscle relaxation, and slight sedation. To help ensure the medication would be administered at least 1 hour before a storm, the following dosing instructions were given to the owners:

Administer 1 hour before a storm based on the weather forecast and a 20% or greater chance of rain.
Administer just before leaving the house if a storm or a 20% or greater chance of rain is forecast while Milo would be alone.

Other recommendations for Milo

Discontinue confinement unless he is comfortable in the crate.
Use doggy daycare/day boarding during initial behavior modification and medication testing.
Countercondition with food toys to lower arousal and fear and distract Milo during storms.
Provide a safe zone.
Provide relaxation exercises.

Outcome

Milos owner was able to go home at lunchtime so Milo was not left alone for more than 6 hours. Because he did not have any concurrent behavioral diagnoses, PRN medication was sufficient. Milo also was conditioned to stay on a mat that served as a safe zone during storms when the owners, who were instructed how to prepare the safe zone, were not at home. (See Learning to Stay in a Safe Zone, in Team Education).

5. Outcome

With well-timed medication administration, counterconditioning, and relaxation techniques, many dogs are able to overcome their phobia and weather storms without incident.

Team Education

Sherrie Yuschak, RVT, VTS (Behavior), North Carolina State University

Human–Animal Bond

Storm phobia, not uncommon in dogs, poses a risk to the human–animal bond and can cause physical harm to the dog and emotional suffering for both pet and owner if untreated.¹ The entire veterinary team should be able to identify potential signs of storm phobia, understand effective treatment is possible, and be able to provide clients with the necessary support.

When a patient presents with suspected storm phobia, veterinary team members must not only look for behavioral signs but also listen for signs of a weakening human–animal bond. Dogs with storm phobia, like those with other behavior problems, are at higher risk for relinquishment, abandonment, or rehoming. Clients may state openly they are considering these options or more subtly indicate their frustration and decreased tolerance. An emergency consultation may be necessary to provide the patient and client with immediate relief, and boarding or hospitalization may be required while medication therapy is instituted.

Signs Associated with Storm Phobia

Storm phobia (ie, irrational fear of storms) may be displayed regardless of the owners presence. In general, middle-aged dogs are initially presented for storm phobia; however, signs of anxiety or fear in response to storms may be first exhibited at a younger age, but owners may not think the signs severe enough to seek help.

Clinical signs may be exhibited in response to any of the stimuli that precede storms (eg, barometric pressure, wind changes, dark clouds, lightning, thunder, rain).

Clinical signs may include but are not limited to:

Attempting escape
Destruction
Elimination
Hiding
Hypersalivation
Pacing
Panting
Seeking attention
Seeking height
Whining

Concurrent Ailments

Team members should also be aware that storm-phobic dogs may suffer from concurrent behavior ailments (eg, separation anxiety, aggression, compulsive disorders) and may need a referral to a board-certified veterinary behaviorist. Storm phobic dogs also may suffer from additional noise phobias (eg, sirens, construction sounds, fireworks), which can be treated similarly to storm phobia (eg, behavior conditioning, environmental management, anti-anxiety therapeutics).

Learning to Stay in a Safe Zone

Teach the dog to relax on a mat using positive reinforcement techniques such as luring, capturing, and shaping.
- Luring: Hands-free prompting involving a reward to guide the dog into the desired position or behavior
- Capturing: Rewarding an animal for a spontaneous behavior when the trainer sees the behavior
- Shaping: Building a new behavior by selectively reinforcing small approximations of the desired behavior; incremental steps are rewarded, previous approximations are extinguished, and the desired behavior is achieved
Reward the dog with praise and a treat when he lies on the mat and gradually learns relaxing postures (eg, lowering his head, breathing slowly, lying with his hind end to the side, lying on his side).
When a storm is imminent, the dog should be given medication, directed to his mat in the safe zone, and rewarded with a long-lasting food puzzle or chew bone.

Worse, Not Better

Storm phobia and other behavior problems often worsen over time because dogs become sensitized through repeated negative exposure and demonstrate increasing signs of frequency or intensity.² Punishment also can worsen behavior problems. Anxiety behaviors are the result of sympathetic nervous system activation, which is beyond the dogs conscious control, and being punished by an owner adds to the dogs fear and anxiety but does not provide new coping skills.

Screening for behavioral health, which can be included in routine wellness care, helps ensure early intervention before the patients problem worsens.³ Veterinary professionals should access available behavior resources (See Resources), and become an educated, skilled team member who can use his or her knowledge to communicate to clients that help and solutions are available, and maximize the health of these patients in the practice.

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