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I'm awale babysitting Ace..he's petrified of the stormy weather. He's a mess!
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<blockquote data-quote="Star*" data-source="post: 416973" data-attributes="member: 4964"><p>Casper is my Thunderchicken......</p><p> </p><p>This takes time but it works. You just have to have patience, and a lot of pre-weather channel knowledge. And either steak, liver - or some very special treat. And I do mean special Dog biscuits won't cut it. Livers are good. </p><p> </p><p>When you know it's going to rain/thunder whatever the fear is - get out the EXTRA special treat. Approach the door - and call Ace - Let him see/smell and know you have the liver. BEFORE it starts to rain - put them in a baggie and go outside - taunt him with a bit of the treat. Give it to him. If he heads back to the door - sit outside with him - and hand him a bit of the treat and pet him. Talk to him in a calm, soothing voice, petting, talking, saying, GOOD boy, GOOD Ace - here we go - THUNDER okay, (hand bite to eat). When the bag is empty - the lesson is over and he can go back inside - to a darkened room - and you IGNORE him. You want to get the message across that NOTHING is wrong here it's hard,but paying attention to him when he's shivering and panting,and being scared tells a dog - this is acceptable behavior. It's the part of the training I hate the most. I want to cuddle him - ignoring him made me feel like a bad Mom. It was kinda like tough love for dogs, and I had already had a life-time of toughlove I wanted to cuddle something, but it's not any different with thunder chickens than kids - you do it for the best thing for your furkid. </p><p> </p><p>At this point - you COULD ask your vet for a drug like Hydroxyzine for anxiety to ride out the rest of the storm -but you really want him to start equating the rumbling and the rain with things like TREATS and playtime - EVERY time you are there - livers, bits of chicken/steak - and OUT to the yard you go. If it's pouring down and you want to continue the lesson - every time it thunders - and he shivers? Say GOOD - hand a bit of steak. </p><p> </p><p>It can take months to break them of this and for them to start knowing thunder isn't bad - it's SNACK time - and eventually less and less fear, and less and less snacks. Casper is still working on it, Pootie took about a month and she actually got it from Casper because...when the thunder started? I used to coddle Casper and she wanted her share of cuddle time. When the BIG rumblers start? She still gets panicky, but when that happens a few bites of a special treat? She's over on her blanket and sleeping. You can also stuff natural cotton in their ears to help. Not tons of cotton balls - but the surgical wads of cotton. Turn up the TV or even crate them with a blanket over their crate and leave the door open - then leave them. Just like what Fran said - dark, quiet and distracted with a favorite toy. </p><p> </p><p>Hope this helps.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Star*, post: 416973, member: 4964"] Casper is my Thunderchicken...... This takes time but it works. You just have to have patience, and a lot of pre-weather channel knowledge. And either steak, liver - or some very special treat. And I do mean special Dog biscuits won't cut it. Livers are good. When you know it's going to rain/thunder whatever the fear is - get out the EXTRA special treat. Approach the door - and call Ace - Let him see/smell and know you have the liver. BEFORE it starts to rain - put them in a baggie and go outside - taunt him with a bit of the treat. Give it to him. If he heads back to the door - sit outside with him - and hand him a bit of the treat and pet him. Talk to him in a calm, soothing voice, petting, talking, saying, GOOD boy, GOOD Ace - here we go - THUNDER okay, (hand bite to eat). When the bag is empty - the lesson is over and he can go back inside - to a darkened room - and you IGNORE him. You want to get the message across that NOTHING is wrong here it's hard,but paying attention to him when he's shivering and panting,and being scared tells a dog - this is acceptable behavior. It's the part of the training I hate the most. I want to cuddle him - ignoring him made me feel like a bad Mom. It was kinda like tough love for dogs, and I had already had a life-time of toughlove I wanted to cuddle something, but it's not any different with thunder chickens than kids - you do it for the best thing for your furkid. At this point - you COULD ask your vet for a drug like Hydroxyzine for anxiety to ride out the rest of the storm -but you really want him to start equating the rumbling and the rain with things like TREATS and playtime - EVERY time you are there - livers, bits of chicken/steak - and OUT to the yard you go. If it's pouring down and you want to continue the lesson - every time it thunders - and he shivers? Say GOOD - hand a bit of steak. It can take months to break them of this and for them to start knowing thunder isn't bad - it's SNACK time - and eventually less and less fear, and less and less snacks. Casper is still working on it, Pootie took about a month and she actually got it from Casper because...when the thunder started? I used to coddle Casper and she wanted her share of cuddle time. When the BIG rumblers start? She still gets panicky, but when that happens a few bites of a special treat? She's over on her blanket and sleeping. You can also stuff natural cotton in their ears to help. Not tons of cotton balls - but the surgical wads of cotton. Turn up the TV or even crate them with a blanket over their crate and leave the door open - then leave them. Just like what Fran said - dark, quiet and distracted with a favorite toy. Hope this helps. [/QUOTE]
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I'm awale babysitting Ace..he's petrified of the stormy weather. He's a mess!
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