I have a Jack Russell Terrrier who is scarred of thunder! Any Advice!?

My female JRT is almost 9 years old. Shes been with me since she was 8 weeks. Here recently she has began to get very nervouse whenever a storm comes through. I know it doesnt have anything to do with being outside during one, she is a house dog and gets brought in if the weather turns threatening. But what she does is finds the smallest place she can squeeze into ti hide. There she will pant and shake until the storm has passed. With her old age I am scarred she is going to hyperventalate or give herself a heartattack. I dont understand where the fear has come from. It doesnt even have to be raining, all she has to do is hear it thunder. Could this be due to age even though it came on suddenly and is there anyone who uses anxiety medications for their dogs that would or wouldnt recomend that form of treatment. What should I do???

You are right to be concerned. Dogs that are thunder phobic can indeed go into respiratory or cardiac arrest and die. If she will tolerate anti-anxiety medication, get your vet to prescribe something before the next storm and try it out on her before you need to. My dog has bad reactions to these medications so I have to try other things (like desensitizing with a thunder CD, having treat ‘parties’ when it thunders, etc.). You can try these as well as the medication.

Unfortunately no one really knows why some dogs suddenly develop these noise phobias, but it does happen with some frequency in older dogs (usually starting at age 6 or 7). Worse, it tends to worsen each storm season once they develop the fear. See your vet ASAP and best wishes.

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