I am living in Hong Kong. My yorkshire terrier, male, desex, 4 years old, has suffered from thunderstorm phobia since he was a puppy. He fears of rain, storm, wind, and his behaviour is getting more extreme progressively. I learned from you article, I should play some audio tapes with sounds on wind, storm and rain to make him used to them, but in vain. Recently I find him scratching his body quite often, especially his waist lines, his tummy appears very dry, no red spot. I’ve consulted several vets, they told me that he is neither sensitive to food nor any other skin probelm, a bit dry just like humans due to the change of weather. But this happened for almost 6 months that make me frustrated. I read from a book that animals bond to continuous anxiety can cause skin problem, is it true? Please advise what can I do?
Thanks,
大敦寵物醫療中心院長戴更基醫生 : Yes, your dog is suffering from anxiety problem, and this maybe due to phobia.
Since you are in Hong Kong, you can’t take your dog to me, so , you need to see the behaviorist in Hong Kong.
The best way is to train your dog to get used to those things that he is afraid of.
the counterconditioning method and desensitivity method are needed to treat this problem , and those technics need professional assistance. so , you still need to go to behaviorist.
