Even Pointers Can be Anxious in Thunderstorms

You might not think a Pointer would be frightened by something as harmless as a thunderstorm. After all, Pointers are big, muscular, sturdy dogs. They’re not some tiny little breed that tends to start shaking with fear when they’re looked at the wrong way.

To understand how your normally fearless dog could be afraid of thunder and lightning, you have to put yourself in your dog’s “shoes.” Unlike people, dogs don’t know what’s going on during thunder crashes and flashing lightning. All they know is that all of a sudden they’re hearing some really loud noises and lights are flashing all around them. If you don’t handle this situation correctly, you could end up with a dog that trembles, whimpers and/or hides at the first sign of a thunderstorm.

You might be tempted to coddle or reassure your dog during the storm, but that’s actually one of the worst things you could do. In fact, comforting him could actually cause a storm anxiety. If you reassure him too much during a storm, your dog will begin thinking that there must be “some” reason you feel the need to comfort him. In other words, he might not know what’s going on during a storm, but your well-intentioned actions can backfire by convincing him that he needs to be “protected” from the storm that he now thinks could be dangerous. After all, he might think, you wouldn’t be comforting him if the storm isn’t dangerous.

Instead of comforting your Pointer, ignore the thunderstorm and pretend the weather is perfectly normal. Go about your business as if the storm didn’t exist. If you’re matter-of-fact about storms, there’s an excellent chance that your Pointer will be too. I’ve tried this approach with every dog I’ve ever owned, and it’s worked with all of them. It’s a whole lot easier to prevent a storm-related anxiety issue than it is to cure one.