Ask A Dog Trainer: What do I do if my dog is afraid of thunderstorms?

Q: What do I do if my dog is afraid of thunderstorms?

A: Dogs are understandably afraid of thunderstorms. Their survival instinct kicks in and they often go looking for the safest place they can find to wait the storm out. However, many times our interaction with the dog during their psychological process of waiting the storm out can have a traumatic impact on their future behavior.

Here's the biggest takeaway from this video: every time you give your dog affection, you are reinforcing their current state of mind. So if your dog is displaying anxiety or fear and at the same time you're consoling them, basically what you're saying is, "yes, this is the right time to freak out. Keep it up!"

What I recommend doing instead is first: remain calm. They will look to you and feed off of your energy for how they should be feeling in the moment. You may need to leash your dog up, have them lay down at your heel, and simply sit there and remain calm the entire time.

This informs them that nothing bad is going to happen, you're near them and they are therefore safe, and that this is not something that they need to freak out about.