Thunderstorm phobia in dogs causes intense suffering during events and can generalize to other sounds, but evidence-based treatment significantly improves outcomes.
Thunderstorm phobia causes genuine and severe suffering in affected dogs during events that occur repeatedly throughout their lives. The anticipatory anxiety that builds before storms and the acute panic response during them represent significant welfare burdens. Treatment is effective but complex because thunderstorms involve multiple simultaneous stimuli that cannot all be replicated for desensitization. A multimodal approach combining medication for event management, desensitization where possible, and environmental modification - safe hideouts, white noise, anti-static measures - provides the best welfare outcomes for phobic dogs.