loving that thunder

[agilitypassion92]

ive got a friend's lab who just loves the thunder lightning and rain we have already confirmed that hes not afraid he just loves it shes had a dog trainer in the past who told her the dog was afraid...when in actuality the dog goes outside the doggy door into the yard and watches the thunder if its not even thundering loudly he'll go outside lay down and watch the rain and lightning and listen to a few rumbles... however when the weather is out of control hes torn up carpet and ripped up the backyard hes a very well trained dog in every other aspect and little to never gets himself in trouble hes already about 6 i believe and just a great dog however my friend has no idea what else to do shes not asked me to help out because shes so upset that she just can barely deal with it anymore she has no intention of giving the dog up nor putting him to sleep however was at that breaking point a few years ago

i wish i could help her somehow and since she has asked me to try and work with her dog i would love any advice anyone has for me about this behavior

shes tried crating him ignoring him making it no big deal she simply does not know what else to do id love to be able to help her out and live a less stressful life by calming the dog down... anyone even ever had a dog that is the opposite of most-loves the bad weather and goes nuts for it...?

anyway any advice is appreciated it and will surely help out my goal is to help this dog by the time my summer vacation is over..ive got 3 months to spend a lot of time with him =)

[Me and my dogs]

Has her dog always been like this?

Has it come on with age? As dogs get older some may become more sensitive to noises. I would also be very concerned about leaving him outside when the weather gets this way. Storms and the 4th of July bring LOADS of dogs into the shelter!

I'm not sure if it's been proven but I'm sure changges in barometric pressure affect dogs. High winds aren't great either - both people AND dogs get cranky or rattled w/ high winds.

One thing she could try is playing a game with him when the storms come. If the storm gets really crazy then get really crazy with the game.

A friend of mine from flyball had a dog that freaked w/ thunder and lightening.

When a storm came she just took out a ball and it was crazy fetch time. No sooner than one ball is being brought back by the dog another ball is being thrown another direction in the house. She just brought out a bucket of balls and tossed away. I guess it works on giving the dog a distraction w/ something it likes AND helps to get the dog tired. It's harder to be worked up and nervous when you're exhausted.

Funny part is, this plan really worked well for her in a flyball tournament one year.

She and her team were in Houston one spring or summer and they were inside the Astrodome. At one point of the tournament - w/ teams ready to go all over the Astrodome - a huge storm hit. Dogs started freaking out all over, teams were pulling out left and right cause they didn't have enough dogs that could keep their focus. This woman and her team had dogs that ran like champs - totally undistracted - and won.

[agilitypassion92]

thanks well she got the dog at 3 from a family who didnt want him anymore but as far as i know its been like this since shes had him shes tried distractions as well but its just that hes like a dog with OCD when this happens he totally looses all focus hes a ball fanatic and still will not pay attention to the balls during the time of thunder and rain


it does make a lot of sense about how people and dogs can get rauled up though and thank you for your reply maybe i can get him interested in playtime... i guess we'll try and figure things out and just go with the flow it'll take some time but its definitely worth a shot

thanks again so much for the input =)