Dog fears

Question
Hi Madeline, my dog Mitzi is afraid of the wind, especially at night when we are in bed. She paces and pants all night coming in our rooms to wake us up. She seems to want someone to stay downstairs with her. Do you have any idea what we can do to help her?

Answer
Hi Colleen,

It would be helpful to me to know Mitzi's age and a bit about her medical background.  It appears from what you write that your Mitzi has a bit of sound sensitivity to the wind which may be causing her distress.  Depending on the frequency of what she is hearing (some of which may be out of human range), she might be helped by your doing some weatherproofing of drafty doors and windows and other areas where the noise of the wind might be whistling at a high frequency and causing Mitzi distress.

The other thing that I'm thinking is that perhaps the sound of the wind has some type of negative association for Mitzi.  For instance, if Mitzi is thunderstorm phobic, and the development of that phobia was preceded by high winds, Mitzi might be wind phobic as well.  Can you appreciate the association I'm making and that Mitzi might be making as well?

If the association with the wind is indeed a negative one, Mitzi might be helped by your playing her favorite games and/or your feeding her a favorite food of hers as soon as the wind starts up, or even better as soon as you perceive that Mitzi is hearing the wind (which may be before you even hear the wind!).

The other thing I'm hearing in your writing is that Mitzi sleeps alone downstairs.  It might not be the wind per se at all that Mitzi is afraid of - it might be that you leave her alone at night.  Understand that dogs are pack animals and extremely social.  Canines are simply not genetically wired to ever be alone.  The problem may spontaneously resolve if you simply take Mitzi upstairs to sleep with you!  Is there any reason that you don't want Mitzi sleeping with you upstairs?  I know that I put this aspect last, but in my mind as a person who studies canine behaviour, this may be the most important aspect of Mitzi's fear, the fact that she feels abandoned at night!

I hope I have made some suggestions that may be helpful to you.

Best regards,
Madeline