New research from Penn State suggests that consoling your dog does little to relieve their anxiety during a thunderstorm. Science Daily reports: Thunderstorm-anxious dogs not only suffer classic signs of fear — including pacing, whining and hiding during a storm — but also show a 207 percent spike in the production of cortisol, a hormone also produced by humans during stress. The researchers took saliva samples from the dogs used in the study before and after exposure to a recorded thunderstorm, and measured the cortisol levels in each sample. Dogs that lived in multi-dog households had significantly less overall change in cortisol levels compared to dogs that lived in single-dog households. This corresponds to a less extreme reaction to thunderstorms in dogs from the multi-dog households. So how can you help your boxer? Here are 3 practical tips to help your boxer with anxiety during a thunderstorm.
