LJWorld.com

Our unusually cool and wet summer has brought out a crop of newspaper articles about frustrated gardeners: Some of their crops refuse to ripen, others split and mold in the moisture.

Myself, I’m experiencing other moisture problems with these thunderstorms. My Doberman, Jack, is terrified of storms, and one of his less appealing behaviors is lifting his leg in the house when he’s alone and scared.

I’m not sure where all this fear came from — he didn’t even pay attention to thunder, wind or rain when I first got him — but with age, he’s gone from bored to ballistic.

I know I’m not alone in this problem. A lot of us with panicked animals fully believe that 99 percent of the time, thunder starts up between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. and continues until about five minutes before our alarm clocks go off.

Dogs express noise phobias in a variety of different ways, but the most common symptoms range from slight agitation and pacing, through panting, whining and drooling, all the way to urinating, crying, running, clawing and hiding.

Jack usually runs the entire gamut if I’m not home when a storm hits. I’ll return to find him exhausted, with the end of his nose bleeding and wet spots in the hallway. He’s uncovered a seam in my hallway carpeting I didn’t know I had (he peeled the carpet all the way back) and destroyed the inside of my bedroom closet doors. At night he tries to crawl on top of me in bed, or at least as far inside my ear as he thinks he can get, and I have awakened some mornings with the entire back of my T-shirt drenched from his panting and slobbering.

It’s annoying for owners, but more seriously, it’s a health risk for our animals. During such noise events as thunderstorms or fireworks displays, dogs regularly escape their yards in an attempt to hide, and they can be injured or killed on roads as they flee in panic. (Fourth of July is typically the busiest weekend of the year for humane societies that take in lost animals.) Stress takes a toll on human and animal bodies alike, and veterinarians have recorded cases of dogs dying from heart failure if they are sufficiently distressed by noise.

Unfortunately, even the most loving owners don’t have what it takes to calm down a terrified animal, and symptoms usually worsen as pets age. My calm and loving words in Jack’s ears have little effect, and with each passing year, he has become more and more frightened just by the sound of rain on the roof, because he associates it with the thunder.

Owners who experience these problems with their dogs have learned a few tricks. Perhaps most important is that canines often feel safest in small, enclosed spaces. If you don’t have a cage for your dog, you might try emptying a closet and putting in a blanket that he or she can dig around and curl up in. One friend of mine made a small cave for her dog by putting a blanket over a coffee table that Maxie could crawl beneath.

Alternately, your veterinarian can prescribe a sedative such as acepromazine. According to vetinfo.com, “Its mode of action is only partially understood but it involves blockage of dopamine nerve receptors in the brain.” I have had some luck with this drug, but also some frustration. Jack’s ability to handle it seems to vary: Sometimes, two pills will barely affect him, but other times it will leave him doped up well into the next day. Your vet will be able to discuss the pros and cons with you and recommend the right dosage for your dog’s weight.

Another article I read suggested that drugs for frightened dogs were not optional — they were necessary for quality of life. In her 2004 article “Storm Phobias” on veterinarynews.dvm360.com, veterinarian Karen L. Overall said she was partial to doggie doses of alprazolam, best known to us as Xanax, and she suggested dosing the animal as much as two hours before storms or other upsetting events so they could fully work.

More natural ways of fighting fearful noises led me to Amazon.com, where I discovered the compact disc series “Through a Dog’s Ear: Music to Calm Your Canine Companion.” These piano scherzos, sonatas and preludes, along with a host of other CDs, are supposed to have a calming effect on your canine companion. The samples I heard certainly calmed me.

Until I hit the right combination for my boy, though, I suppose I’ll just keep scanning the horizon for gathering clouds and heading for home when the rains start. Until the stormy season ends, flood control is more important inside my house than outside.

— Sue Novak is vice president of the board of the Lawrence Humane Society.