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"     My pug gets extremely upset during thunderstorms, and we have a lot of them. I&amp;#039;ve heard having a second dog might help calm him. Is this true? C.S., West Palm Beach, Florida It depends on what you call calm. A study by veterinarian and biobehavioral specialist Dr. Nancy Dreschel demonstrated that dogs who lived with other pups showed significantly less increase in the stress-related hormone cortisol during storms than phobic animals without a canine companion at home. But there was no difference in the dogs&amp;#039; behavior. In other words, getting another pooch might improve your pug&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;inner calm,&amp;quot; but it won&amp;#039;t stop him from freaking out. (I&amp;#039;ve seen howling, trembling, hiding, even chewing through walls.) And, of course, you could always end up with two dogs who hate storms instead of one. But there are other methods for helping your pug. Start with what psychologists call desensitization: Play a CD of storm sounds (try f7sound.com) very softly, then gradually turn up the volume over time. Another way to comfort your dog may seem somewhat counterintuitive: During a storm, distract him, play his favorite game, and reward cheerfulness with treats. In time, he&amp;#039;ll begin to associate thunder and lightning with good things, not bad. What you should never do is react to your pug&amp;#039;s terror by stroking and soothing him. You&amp;#039;re inadvertently saying, &amp;quot;Act frightened and I will pet you.&amp;quot; If you ignore the disturbance and go about normal activities, with luck he&amp;#039;ll eventually understand that all is well. If none of these tactics work, your vet can offer short-acting medication (given when a storm is coming) to calm your pup.  Dr. Rob Sharp would love to answer your pet questions. Drop him a line at countryliving@hearst.com. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.countryliving.com/life/kids-pets/a2822/dog-anxiety-thunderstorms-0609/>