What should I do when a thunderstorm is coming and I have a dog?

As soon as you know a storm is coming: (1) Give prescription anxiety medication if recommended by your vet — do this 1–3 hours in advance. (2) Set up your dog's safe space — a crate, interior room, or bathroom away from windows. (3) Turn on white noise or calming music. (4) Put on a ThunderShirt or anxiety wrap if your dog uses one. (5) Stay calm and present. The most important step is getting enough advance warning to act before your dog's anxiety peaks.

How much warning do I need before a thunderstorm to help my dog?

Ideally 1–3 hours if your dog takes prescription medication, which needs time to become effective. At minimum, 30–45 minutes gives you time to set up a safe space and apply calming tools before your dog's anxiety spikes. PawWarning gives you up to 6 hours' notice when thunder looks likely.

Storm prep

Dog Storm Prep Guide — A Dog Owner's Checklist

The window between knowing a storm is coming and your dog entering full anxiety mode is short — often 30 minutes or less. Here's exactly what to do, in order, to give your dog the best chance of staying calm.

Step 1 — Get Enough Warning (The Meta-Step)

Everything below works better with time. If your dog takes prescription medication, you need 1–3 hours. If you're relying on behavioural tools alone, 30–45 minutes is the minimum. PawWarning gives you up to 6 hours' early notice when thunder looks likely — plus an urgent alert the moment a storm is closing in — so you're never reacting from behind.

Step 2 — Give Medication If Prescribed

If your vet has prescribed event-based anxiety medication (trazodone, gabapentin, alprazolam, sileo, or similar), give it now. Don't wait for the first rumble — most medications need at least an hour to reach therapeutic effect.

If you don't yet have a medication protocol and your dog has moderate-to-severe storm anxiety, this is worth raising with your vet before storm season.

Step 3 — Set Up the Safe Space

Go to wherever your dog naturally retreats during storms — or pick an interior room with no windows. Bring:

Their bed or a blanket with your scent
Water
A favourite toy or long-lasting chew

Close blinds or curtains. Draw the room as dark as you can.

Step 4 — Turn On Auditory Masking

Start white noise, a fan, or the TV before the storm arrives. You're not trying to achieve silence — you're trying to reduce the startle impact of thunder cracks. Brown noise or "calming dog music" on YouTube works well.

Step 5 — Put on the ThunderShirt (If You Have One)

Do this before anxiety peaks, not after. Constant-pressure wraps are significantly less effective once a dog is already in panic. If your dog doesn't have one and has moderate storm anxiety, it's worth trying — around 80% of dog owners report improvement.

Step 6 — Stay Calm and Present

Your dog reads your body language. If you're anxious about the storm, they will be too. Sit with them in the safe space if possible. Don't make a big deal of the storm. Quiet, calm presence is more helpful than active comforting or ignoring.

What If the Storm Caught You Off Guard?

If you're already in the middle of a storm and didn't prepare: move your dog to the safest, most enclosed space now. Sit with them. Use white noise if you can. Hold off on medication unless your vet has specifically said it's fine to give mid-event. For next time, install PawWarning and give yourself hours of head start next time.

Build a Repeatable Routine

Dogs are pattern-matching machines. When they see the same pre-storm routine enough times — safe space, blanket, chew, white noise, your calm presence — the routine itself becomes a signal that things are okay. Over weeks, this predictability can lower baseline anxiety before the storm even starts.