JOY, LOVE, and TEARS

We had huge, loud storms over the holidays. Normally that wouldn't mean
much other than to spoil an outing or two but for me it was an awesome
experience that left me speechless with tears of joy and success in my eyes.

Knowing ahead of time that these storms would be heading our way, I
braced myself for how Dakota would react to them. Last summer and this
summer have not been big storm summers so I have not had much feedback
to all of the work I did with him on storm fear.

As you've read in previous early posts, I adopted Dakota as a rescue
dog. It was ten years old at the time. He arrived with a case of
separation anxiety and a pretty good case of storm fear. In my 40 plus
years of working with dogs and writing about them, I've pretty much had
the same answers for owners on how to deal with storm fear. I never had
a dog with storm fear until Dakota came into my life. I had no idea of
how long he had been this way, but I felt that I should be able to help
him soften the fear and anxiety and hopefully enjoy his senior years
more peacefully.

I hit the Internet in search of newly developed programs. I went back
through my huge notebooks of university colleges of veterinary medicine
hoping I'd missed an article about the subject. Bingo. I met with
success on both efforts. I found a CD from Masters Voice on canine
training systems. It also had another CD titled "Kennel Calm" that could
be used in a number of ways. This led me to Cornell University College
of Veterinary Medicine and their support of this training system titled
"Noiseshy Cure Thunder." One thing led to another and I was put in touch
with a wonderful gentleman that wrote a column for a sports magazine
relating to hunting dog problems.

How lucky I was that he took an interest in Dakota. For over a year, he
was kind enough to work with me in helping Dakota ease his storm fear.
This didn't happen overnight. It was a matter of little steps – one at a
time. Fortunately I never had to take a step backwards. The best part of
this system is the Kennel Calm CD. It is specifically designed for dogs
under stress.

I started in late fall after all of the storms in our area had pretty
much stopped and we were wondering when the first snow flakes would
appear. I followed the program exactly as instructed and when I became
frustrated or had questions, Larry was always there with sage advice
based on my observations of Dakota's behavior and reactions.

Eventually Dakota was responding in a positive way to rain. He had no
problem going out to potty if it was just raining and no thunder or
lightening was part of the storm. He finally got to the point that he
wasn't even aware of the rain and sniffed around the yard and took his
own sweet time coming back in. This progressed to his acceptance to
thunder. You have no idea how wonderful it was to watch him sleeping
away in the family room while rain and thunder passed overhead. I was
delighted with his progress and felt like I'd made significant changes
to his stressful life.

The biggest challenge I faced turned out to be the lightening. It took
me a while to break down the elements of our storms and determine where
his Achilles heel was. Any lightening scared him to death. It was the
catalyst that sent him into panic and looking for a place to hide.
Nothing I did helped him. He just became hysterical. I was playing his
Kennel Calm CD much of the time – before, after, and during storms, when
I left the house in response to his separation anxiety too. I became so
discouraged because he'd done so well with rain and thunder and the
separation anxiety had disappeared weeks ago. I tried building him a
little hut from a card table to do into, but he preferred to try and
break tables in order to get under them or through them on his way to
under or behind furniture. Like other dogs he tried to get into the
bathroom.

Then, last July my newsletter from Cornell University College of
Veterinary Medicine arrived. The behavior column written by Dr. Hetts
focused on canine fear and it's contents. The main point was to
distinguish between attention-seeking behaviors and fearful or anxious
behaviors. Her approach was a departure from past philosophy. It made
sense to apply reward to positive response. If your dog was evaluated as
having fearful and anxious behavior and NOT attention-seeking behavior,
then you applied a soothing or supporting principle – such as hugging
and petting your dog. If this calms him down, then you are actually
rewarding his improved state of mind.

I read and reread her column and gave it much thought. I decided it was
worth a try. I grabbed a lead when I heard a storm was approaching. In
order to apply Dr. Hetts principle I had to have some control over
Dakota so he couldn't run off. I attached the lead when the rain
started. He was fine with the rain and semi-slept through the thunder.
All of a sudden their was a flash of lightening. Dakota bolted up and
panicked. I grabbed his lead and held him by my side at the same time
encouraging him to jump up on the couch next to me. It took patience and
determination while trying to be calm and quiet. Finally he jumped up
next to me. I put my arm around him, talked to him calmly, and stroked
his back and scratched his ear. He continued to stay in denial and sat
next to me because he really didn't have another choice. Finally he
stopped resisting efforts to get away while I continued to talk to him
and petting him. I also had his Kennel Calm CD running.

It seemed to work – except at night. His fear in the dark of night was
really bad. Finally we moved his little hut up to our bedroom, covered
it, and put it way back in the corner next to our bed. I put a round
cuddle bed inside. Success! When he heard the storm approaching, he
jumped off of our bed and crawled into his hut until morning when I got up.

Fast forward to the 4^th of July this year. Storms abound. On went the
music. These were really violent storms that we hadn't seen the likes of
for several years. They were packed with lightening. I started our
routine. I attached the lead and continued to watch TV while also
playing his music in the background. All of a sudden there was a huge
bolt of lightening nearby. Dakota seemed to flashback to an earlier time
and started to panic. I calmly coaxed him up onto the couch. He finally
decided to come but he wasn't happy. I put my arm around him and talked
to him and told him what a wonderful dog he was. I petted him and tried
to reassure him it was all just fine.

All of a sudden Dakota just relaxed......totally. All of the rigidity
left his body and he slowly slid down and curled up next to me and put
his head on my lap. The storm continued but Dakota fell asleep while the
rain, thunder, and lightening continued outside the windows. I continued
to pet him a little but then quietly stopped and just left a reassuring
hand on his hip. He slept well after the storm ended and was in no hurry
to get up. I sat there with tears running down my face.

SUCCESS! How sweet it was. It was a long, slow road but worth every inch
of the way. I did it – I finally did it. I still can't leave Dakota if
storms are predicted. Good thing I'm retired. But I have improved his
life a little and taught him that he need not fear storms. Since that
day we've had more storms – fairly quiet ones with little lightening but
still the thunder and rain. The last one, he wanted to go out in the
rain. I had to make sure there was no thunder or lightening anywhere
near us...that is most important for any dog. I checked the TV weather
and when I knew it was safe, I let him out. He even took his Boo Boo
bear this time. Since that time I've learned a little about his past and
can understand why and how he developed his storm fear.

I'm glad I was able to give back to Dakota and make his life easier in
his senior years. After all, he's given me so much since he came here
two years ago. He's been through a lot in his life. I'm so happy he's
learning to live without so much fear and further learning to trust me.
We have developed quite a bond. I am so lucky he was sent to me. He's
having a wonderful summer. He loves watching his chips from the back
deck and he especially loves the front screened porch now and begs to go
out there every day with us.

Success – sweet success. From a dog that came into my home and refused to go out, eat, or listen to me when he first smelled rain or saw one drop on the deck...to grabbing his favorite soft toy and heading out in the quiet rain to potty and sniff where his chips, squirrels, and rabbits have been.