Keeping Dogs Calm In Stormy Weather

This weekend is calling for lots of rainfall and some pretty hefty storms. If your pup gets nervous at times like this, here's a few ways to help!

Earlier this week, August 26th, was National Dog Day.

We all got to thoroughly enjoy our social media feeds being packed full of adorable pictures of dogs and, naturally, they have been on the forefronts of some of our minds as the week continued!

I don't know about all of you but when it storms, one of the first things I think of is all of those dogs who get anxious and scared during storms.

My own dog has to wear one of those "thunder shirt" vests when there's lots of thunder, once my roommate's dog hid in a closet for hours during a storm and another time I was dog-sitting for a friend who had to give me this special aromatherapy spray that would help Scout calm down in the event of a storm.

There are plenty of tips and tricks people have figured out on their own home-spun tricks on how to help their dogs but here are some methods Figo Pet Insurance suggests:

• Be Present & Be Calm
  • If your dog is already scared of storms, being alone won't help! You also need to keep yourself calm, even if you are one of those people who are also afraid of storms. Try cuddling up with them and take some extra time to give them some extra pets.
• Distract Them
  • Figo calls it "positive stimulus" and all it really entails is breaking out your dog's toy collection! Soon enough they'll forget about the storm and the anxiety that comes with it. If you turn up some tunes or maybe the TV to "compete with the noise".
•  Desensitize
  • It's almost like falling into a new routine, you start small and work your way up until you have it all down. Figo suggests using thunderstorm sounds. You start playing them at a low volume, slowly increasing it over a few weeks and rewarding your pup based on their reaction with things like treats.
• Remedies
  • Like my dog and her "thundershirt" or my friend with his dog's calming spray, finding either physical things or dog pheromones in the event of a storm can make it easier for you and your pup to manage.
• Visit Your Vet
  • If all else fails, your veterinarian may be able to give you some medications to try or even get to the bottom of some other, underlying issues.

Now, we don't know much about your dogs but when we asked you to share yours with us earlier this week, we know enough to be able to say they all deserve extra treats, snuggles and pets through any kind of weather!

Don't believe us? See for yourself: