Does your dog get scared by loud noises like firecrackers and thunder? Is it to the point of being called a noise phobia? How can we differentiate between just discomfort and a phobia? Well, dogs with noise phobia show very intense symptoms like, panting, pacing, whining, chewing, and destroying things around the house, drooling, hiding, and even escaping by chewing through doors and windows.

I had a bull terrier female and she was immensely scared of loud noises. It started with firecrackers and then proceeded on to thunderstorms. It got so worse that at one point in time she was afraid just of rain and any vehicle making loud noises as well.

Her reactions were so hysterical that she would pant and drool excessively for hours on end and would become a danger to the house and herself while trying to escape her crate by chewing through it and in the process sustaining so many injuries to her mouth and teeth if she was left alone even for a moment. She clearly showed signs of generalizing her fears. She clearly had noise phobia with an anxiety disorder as well.

It was obviously getting dangerous and she couldn’t be left alone during the storms at all so we sought veterinary help. As Vets say that in such severe cases, Medication can reduce the level of fear and anxiety for other storm or noise phobia treatment methods to work, such as the use of thunder shirts or safe zones.

Using pressure to relieve anxiety is a common practice and a thunder shirt applies gentle and constant pressure on the pet’s torso. The pressure works similar to swaddling an infant.

A safe zone is a sound proof area which is easily accessible to the pet during storms or anxiety. This safe zone can be made comfortable for them by adding a comfy bed, there essential things like blankets and water around and always making sure they can access this place when they are alone at home.

The dog will often choose their own safe zone but it might be:

  • a bathroom
  • interior closets
  • under or behind furniture

The message that needs to be put out there is that medication can help with worse cases where o dog becomes a danger to its own life, as no one wants their pet to get lost or injured because they were not able to manage their pet’s anxiety.