Dog with thunder phobia

Thunder phobic, rain phobic, wind phobic ... and latest one added to the list ... bells phobic! Our dog is a quivering wreck whenever she hears any of the above. The funny thing is, her breed is described as being 'Brave and Fearless' in our doggy books!!LOL What to do? During the night if it thunders/rains/or is windy, she will usually calm down if we let her into our bedroom and she curls up on the floor by the side of the bed quivering. The bells on the other hand are a BIG problem. This all started a couple of years ago when they were doing routine checks on the fire alarms in our building ... but now she goes crazy even when she hears a bell on TV, like a school bell or the bell that sounds when the racing is on TV at the start of each race! It's so bad that I'm convinced she's going to have a heart attack sooner or later!

there's a show on discovery a year back called barking mad. Comforting your dog is positive reinforcement. So the show suggests you ignore the the dog behavior and just pretend there's nothing wrong. also, it was suggested that when it is not thundering etc. - try playing videos of thunder and noises with you around as if nothing is happening so that the dog knows you are not worried about it too. gradually he will get used to the sounds of thunder. if he does not react to the sound of thunder, give him a treat. it reinforces the idea that his behavior is rewarded when he does not react to the thunder sound.something like that.


but rocky star's idea is good too... pretend the thunder is a non-event.