Behaviour & Training

7 tips to help your dog with noise phobias and anxiety

November 17, 2015
dog hiding in the sofa

We have all seen it before. Fireworks outside and Fido runs straight under the bed! Or maybe its the lawn mower next door or perhaps Fido is scared of an incoming storm. What can we as pet parents do to ensure that our pets feel safe and supported.

7 tips below to help your pooch with noise phobias and anxiety

  1. Provide a safe spot
    Watch your dog during a storm, is there a particular place or room they like to hide in? This is where they feel safest and would be the best area to confine them in. Confining them somewhere where they don’t feel safe can lead to increased anxiety, fear, and injury.
  2. Desensitise
    Desensitising your pup aims to reduce your pups sensitivity to the sound. Try a noise recording on Youtube or Spotify or even some type of white noise when they are calm, starting low and slowly increase the volume with time. Reward your pooch with treats or petting when they are showing signs of confidence and noise tolerance.
  3. Counter conditioning
    Sounds complicated but it’s really not, basically you are trying to do something that your pooch loves (car ride anyone?) at the time of the storm or noisy event so that they start to associate the storm with positive feelings.
  4. Pheromones
    Pheromones mimic the happy dog pheromone known as the dog appeasing pheromone. These are available in collars or diffusers and have helped to calm many dogs.
  5. Peppermint extract
    It’s claimed that the intense smell is so distracting to the dog that they can’t focus on anything else! I’m not sold on this one as peppermint oil can be very irritating to dogs, so only use the extract and no more than 1 drop on each paw pad (not the skin).
  6. Garments
    Products like a Thunder Shirt. They apply gentle, constant pressure that is shown to be calming similar to swaddling an infant.
  7. Seek veterinary advice
    Having a dog that suffers from a noise phobia or anxiety can be very overwhelming and some cases will require prescription medication. Seek veterinary advice to get an action plan in place for your pooch, neither of you should suffer through the storm.