Noise phobia affecting thunderstorms and fireworks is among the most common and undertreated welfare problems in companion dogs, causing acute fear and long-term sensitisation without evidence-based intervention.
Noise phobia in dogs represents a significant and entirely preventable source of acute suffering. During phobic episodes, dogs experience the full physiological fear response — elevated cortisol and adrenaline, accelerated heart rate, muscle trembling, and acute psychological distress — for durations of minutes to hours. Unlike brief acute pain, this experience is prolonged and may recur dozens of times annually. The welfare cost accumulates over years in untreated dogs. Without intervention, phobia worsens through sensitisation — the nervous system becomes increasingly reactive, lowering the threshold for fear responses. Evidence-based treatment combines pharmacological management of acute episodes with a systematic desensitisation programme using recorded sounds, started at very low volumes and gradually increased over weeks to months. Owners who self-medicate dogs with herbal remedies or acepromazine (which sedates without reducing anxiety) may suppress visible signs while leaving the underlying fear state unchanged or worsened.