Thunderstorm phobia affects an estimated 30% of dogs, causing severe distress including panic, self-injury and cardiac stress that represents a major welfare problem with effective treatment options.
Dogs with thunderstorm phobia experience genuine terror during events, with physiological responses indicating extreme distress. The condition is not trivial anxiety but can be life-threatening through cardiac stress and self-injury. Owners who attribute the response to attention-seeking and ignore it are allowing preventable suffering. Multiple treatment options exist and should be pursued.