Can Dogs Sense Thunder and Storms?

Many dog parents may notice their pets acting strangely before storms, which begs the question, can dogs sense thunder and stormy weather? The answer is yes! Dogs have heightened senses, such as hearing and smell that allow them to detect changes that humans might miss. 

It’s well known that dogs can be scared of thunder, so it’s important to understand and support them during this time if they find it stressful. In today’s blog, we’ll explore how dog’s senses allow them to detect stormy weather, as well as how you can help calm your dog if they show signs of stress during thunderstorms. 

How Do Dogs Sense Storms?

Compared to humans, dogs are extremely in tune with their senses which allows them to register changes that we may not notice, such as being able to sense storms and thunder. Ways they can detect changes in weather include:

• Superior hearing – Dogs have a more sensitive sense of hearing than humans do, so they can detect quieter sounds and higher frequencies than us. In fact, their hearing is about 4 times more sensitive than ours! This allows them to detect distant thunder long before we hear it. 
• Keen sense of smell – Dogs can smell changes in the atmosphere, such as ozone produced by lightning. A dog’s senses may detect rain or storm-related scents hours before a storm arrives.
• Sensitivity to air pressure – Dogs are sensitive to barometric pressure changes, which often precede storms. This can cause unease or restlessness even before any visible signs appear and can explain why you may see signs of anxiety in your dog before a storm happens. 
• Static electricity – Some dogs may feel static buildup in their fur, especially in breeds with longer coats. This can be uncomfortable or even painful, contributing to storm stress. 

Our pups are like superheroes with heightened senses – how cool are they?!

Signs Your Dog is Scared of Thunder

The loud and unpredictable nature of storms and thunder can make many dogs fearful of it. If you find that your dog is scared of thunder, it’s important to know the signs of anxiety in your dog to help ease their stress in the event of a storm. 

Being able to read your dog’s body language and physical signs of stress allows you to be proactive in making sure they don’t feel too stressed or anxious. 

Some of the signs you can look out for to tell if your dog is fearful of thunder and storms are: 

• Physical signs – Look to see if your dog is trembling, panting, pacing, yawning or hiding. Another sign of stress is if their ears are pinned back, tail is tucked, or eyes are dilated.
• Behavioural changes – Clinginess or seeking constant reassurance are other anxious signs. Behavioural changes can also arise in the form of destructive behaviour or attempts to escape to somewhere safer, such as scratching doors or digging. 
• Vocalisation – More obvious signs of stress before and during storms can be whining, barking, or howling. When your dog seems like they are barking at ‘nothing’ this may mean a storm is coming on. 
• Loss of appetite or accidents – Some dogs may show their anxiety by refusing to eat their food or having toilet accidents indoors. 

How to Calm Your Dog During Storms

If your dog is scared of thunder, there are many ways that you can help calm them. By trying out these tips and using a combination of what you know your dog prefers, you can help reduce their stress to make storms a less frightening experience.

Provide Distractions

• Offer their favourite things – Whether it’s a toy, chew, treat-dispensing puzzle, or a game, this can help distract your dog and redirect their focus from what’s going on outside. 

• Promote self-soothing actions – Licking and chewing can be good self-soothing actions for dogs, so using a lick mat or chew toy to encourage this can be a good choice. 

• Mask the sound – Covering up the sound of the storm and thunder with calming music or white noise can help your dog feel calmer. Give our Calming Music for Dogs Playlist a try!

Create a Safe Space

• Set up a cozy, quiet area – Add blankets, toys, and familiar scents to create a space that gives your pup reassurance and helps them feel more secure. 

• Find the perfect place – Consider where your dog’s ideal safe space should be. It may be good to choose a quieter or secluded area or consider where they’ve chosen to go during a storm in the past.
  Don’t expect your dog to immediately choose to go to this space during a storm if you have not given them time to understand that this is a safe place for them. To help them feel relaxed in their new space spray ADAPTIL Transport on their bedding to reduce stress and try leaving some treats in the area for them to find. 

• Try using a crate – Some dogs may find having their safe space in an enclosed area, such as a crate more comforting, covering the crate to muffle sights and sounds of a storm can create more of a den feeling for them. 

• Block out sights and sounds – Close the curtains to reduce the light effect of flashing during a storm. 

Stay Calm and Present

• Give your dog reassurance - Dogs pick up on your emotions, which makes it important to stay relaxed and offer them gentle reassurance and confidence if they seek this. For example, some dogs may wish to be physically touching you and may lean in to you, while others may just want to know you are nearby. 

• Follow their lead – While staying calm and present for your pup it’s also crucial to keep an eye on their body language to ensure you’re not adding to their discomfort. Our Dog Body Language Course can help you decode your dog’s body language so you can help them in stressful situations.

Use Calming Products

• ADAPTIL Calm diffuser – ADAPTIL Calm products have been developed to help dogs feel more comfortable in stressful situations. In scenarios like thunderstorms, plugging in an ADAPTIL Calm diffuser in their favourite room or using an ADAPTIL Calm Collar can help. These products use natural pheromones to send calming messages to your dog to help reduce their feelings of anxiousness. Start using these ADAPTIL Calm products when the storm season starts, and they’ll last up to four weeks. Be sure to replace them if the season continues beyond this.

• A calming vest – As well as a pheromone collar or diffuser, a calming vest can also help to ease stress if your dog is scared of thunder. ThunderShirt by ADAPTIL reassures dogs by applying gentle pressure on their body to help them feel safe and secure.

Desensitisation and Training

• Increase exposure gradually – Using sound therapy through gradual exposure to storm sounds can help your dog become more desensitised to it. Use recordings of storm sounds and play them to your dog quietly at first to see their reaction. As your dog becomes more comfortable with the sounds, you can slightly increase the volume bit by bit to help them become more accustomed to the sounds.

• Practice positive association – Pair sounds with positive experiences such as giving your dog their favourite treats or playing their most loved games as a reward for preferred behaviours. This can help your dog associate these experiences with positive feelings instead of negative ones, allowing them to build a tolerance against being fearful of thunder. 

Consult a Vet or Behaviourist

• For persistent struggles - If your dog persistently struggles with storms, or there has been a change in the way your dog copes with storms, seeking guidance from a vet can help detect any medical issues that may be affecting them. Going to a qualified behaviourist can help build a management plan tailored to you and your dog. 

• To help them adjust to loud noises – Dogs that find storms challenging often find other loud noises difficult too, so professional help is important to help your dog cope better with loud noises in general. However, sounds are only one element of storms, so if you find the elements you have put in place aren’t helping, it may be that your dog needs more support from a specialist. 

• The earlier, the better – Generally speaking, the signs of anxiety in a dog are likely to worsen as time passes and they experience more storms, so it is good to try and support them as early as you can. 

If possible, always remember to stay inside with your dog during the time of storms. Avoid walks if any are predicted, or head home as soon as you can if you are detecting there is one on the way.

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