A dog and thunderstorm question....

[lost-in-nj]

Why do dogs insist on going behind the
toilet during a thunderstorm..???

I have to close my bathroom door because my to scardey cat Beagles fight to go behind toilet!!!!
My other dog did this to????

What is so special about porcelain????

:rofl: :shrug:

Thanks for any insight....

lost

[NightWatcher]

1. nothing's more comforting that the jon

I used to have a nervous stomach and I would live in the bathroom for hours on end. I was about 10 at the time.

[undeterred]

11. You can get something for the dog from your vet

Its the same as human Xanax in a doggie dose so they will just relax and maybe go to sleep. My border collie used to go apeshit around the fourth of july when everyone was setting off firecrackers in the neighborhood. I have an older dog now who has occasional 'panic attacks' where he paces and pants, so I have to give him the same thing for that.

[Atman]

2. My beagle never hid behind the toilet

She'd burrow under a pile of laundry, or behind a cabinet. But never the toilet. She had class!

.

[KitchenWitch]

3. I think it is small, tightly enclosed places. They find comfort there.

Likely the residue of the herding instinct.

[Joe Fields]

4. Hey, be thankful. I had a German Shepherd that was so afraid

of thunderstorms, that one night she jumped right through my closed bedroom window to get inside and be with me.

I swear to god, my wife and I were in the bedroom watching television, when my poor dog crashed through the window. Scared the living hell out of us. Miraculously, my dog wasn't injured. But a new window cost us 175 dollars.

[madrchsod]

5. i could tell if a storm at night was going to be really bad

because my dog would sleep by my head...he could feel the changes in the air pressure at least half hour before the storm rolled in..

[Daisymae97]

6. Our dog would start to shake before a storm hit

then she would disappear and we could never figure out where she was. Until we smelled oil on her fur. Here she was going down the basement and hiding behind the oil furnace.

[NMDemDist2]

7. welcome to DU Daisymae!

my 85 pound border collie tries to climb in my lap when the thunder starts

the big scaredy cat

:rofl:

:hi:

[Critters2]

17. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[xchrom]

8. lol -- they'd face down a grizzley -- but are terrified of thunderstorms.

that's dogs for ya.

[Critters2]

18. Beagles would face down bunny rabbits.

Prolly not bears.

Critters
owned by beagles for 15 years

[KG]

9. my guy wants to jump in my lap and shiver. at about 8 lbs, being in my lap is ok but

the shaking gets to be annoying as hell real fast. after about 5 mins i just put him in his kennel and he hides under a blankie. :hi:

[gr8dane_daddy]

10. My 100lbs Dane becomes..

extra snugglely....scoots right up to me in bed.



My baby Haley

[Tyler Durden]

12. Used to, not anymore.

The three Corgis bark back at the thunder and lightning, then they get bored when it doesn't answer the challenge.

Sneeze, the old mix, used to shiver and cry but since he went deaf nothing bothers him anymore.

[Coventina]

13. I read a book once that speculated that it had something to do with electricity

My memory is a bit hazy, but IIRC animals with fur coats are more sensitive to the electrical charges in the air, which change dramatically during electrical storms. The book speculated that the porcelain fixtures in bathrooms are very 'inert' when it comes to electrical charges, and therefore seem more stable and safe to the animals.

My shepherd mix usually retreats to the bathroom or kitchen during thunderstorms, the two uncarpeted rooms in the house, so maybe the carpet bothers her during storms. She cowers on the linoleum, panting and drooling and shaking. Drugs don't seem to help her. It's really sad to watch.

[hedgehog]

14. Does it seem to be worse for older dogs?

As my dogs get older, they seem more upset by thunderstorms. I've only ever had three dogs though, so this is hardly a valid sample!

[Orsino]

15. It may be the place that feels the safest.

Perhaps the thunder is a a bit less loud there? Or the toilet seems like protection from whatever the dog imagines is about to happen?

[Critters2]

16. My beagle isn't afraid of storms.

First of my three dogs not to be, though. She'll sometimes sit, with my cat who is her best friend, and watch storms out the window. If the thunder gets too loud, she'll go into her crate, but not in a panicked way.

My first dog, a cocker, was TERRIFIED of storms, and would get as close to me as possible, to the point of nearly knocking me over at times.

But, if I were you, I wouldn't keep 'em out of the bathroom. I'm not sure where you are, but in tornado country, a bathroom is usually a safe place to be. I used to have a cat who needed to be a small dark place during storms. I lived in a townhouse with no basement at the time, and the hafl bath on the first floor was our tornado shelter. So, I always left the cabinet door under the sink open a bit so he could hide there during storms. That way, I didn't need to hunt for him if the sirens went off.

So, I'd let 'em hide behind the toilet, if I were you.