One of my dogs has suddenly decided (she's 9 years-old) that she doesn't like the sound of wind and rain.  She is fine if we are outside, but starts trying to hide when she hears the sound of either when we are in the house.  The worst time is at night, when she can hear heavy rain on the roof of the conservatory, adjacent to the kitchen (where the dogs sleep) - she will literally cry all night and work herself into a frenzy.  We have tried putting her in her crate, to no avail.  The only thing that works is bringing her up to bed with us (which I have done a couple of times out of sheer exhaustion) but this is obviously not a long term solution, not least because there will be times during the day when she has to be left for a couple of hours in the kitchen when it is raining.  Obviously, we are having a lot of this weather at the moment, and it just seems to be reinforcing the problem.  We are also not getting a lot of sleep as a result! 

I am considering trying a DAP diffuser in the kitchen.  Does anyone have any experiences of this, or any other suggestions for calming her down?

I have certainly heard of dogs as they age becoming noise phobic and it is normally linked to their hearing deteriorating.

I'd crate her in the bedroom when you need to go out, if you don't want her loose in there.

We have an old collie , 12 and half , who suddenly jumps at cutlery and plate noises , even gets up (not the easiest of tasks now ) I have put it down to a change in hearing (sensitive at the best of times) .So last night after clinking a cup against a plate making him react and stand up , I repeated the chinking of the cup against the plate . he just stood ..no reaction.
You could borrow a rain/thunder tape. You need counter conditioning , praising her when she doesn't react . Its a calming technique and needs time .
Our friend has had a rehomed younger Rough collie in a pheromone collar ,£35 for a few weeks ..seems to have worked , but I have no idea if he had been left to tackle tiled flooring and tip tappy wooden floors if he would have adapted anyway .
If anything is harming the dog though ,(frenzy) personally I would have her in the bedroom at night and find a way to keep her  away from the noise in the day , especially as she is 9.

try making a cosy den that she can retreat to when she wants. i think if you crate her and she is scared, she will panic when she cant get away to 'hide'.  It could be a den under the stairs, bottom of a wardrobe, doesnt really matter so long as you dog knows she can go there to hide when she feels the need. try a 'Thundershirt' as well, and maybe the bach rescue remedy.

I have had the same thing with an oldie. Obviously weather is difficult to predict ( especially in the UK!) but I would do as others have suggested and make a den. I use a DAP diffuser ( whether it actually works who knows) I also shut the curtains and turn on the TV or radio. I have no experience of a thunder shirt but know of other people who say they are good.

I find as they age that things start to worry them, a bit like elderly people. My husband has been a way for a few days and returned last night, our 13 year old is really mithering today, needing reassurance; he adores my husband and it's almost like he's beside himself and can't settle.

Good Luck, let us know what works for you. 

Thanks for your replies.  Molly is our first dog, and I had no idea that dogs get more noise sensitive as they get older.  She's definitely getting more stubborn, and my husband thought that she was just being manipulative and trying to get to sleep on our bed, but I knew it wasn't that because she is fine downstairs when it isn't windy or raining.  She already has a nice den-like space in the kitchen, a small gap under the worktop, between the cooker and the wall, with a big cushion, but once she gets distressed, she won't stay there - her tactic seems to be to try to get into a plant pot, so we come down in the morning to compost strewn all over the floor! 

I'd not heard of the thundervest, but this sounds like a really good idea, so I think I will order one of those, and also see if I can get a CD to desensitise her to the noise.

I'd let her sleep in the bedroom if she was mine.

The reason I'm resistant to having her sleep in the bedroom is that she will want to sleep on the bed with us, not a crate.  I have no real objection to this in itself (in fact she used to sleep on our bed before our second dog came along and we ran out of bed space!) but I'm worried about what will happen if she becomes incontinent as she gets older. Is this something that usually happens with older dogs?  I would hate to have to relegate her from the bedroom to the kitchen when she's an elderly dog, it would seem really mean.

> I'm worried about what will happen if she becomes incontinent as she gets older. Is this something that usually happens with older dogs?

My last dog had the run of the house, untill he started to get too 'dodery' to safely get up & down the stairs. We then got a stair-gate to stop him having access to the stairs. He never acted upset/hard-done-by by the change atall and accepted the fact he was no longer allowed on the stairs and slept in the livingroom on his own with no objection.

We also stopped him getting on the sofa as he'd often fall when trying to get on, previously he would never get in any dog-bed we had for him, but in his final years he just accepted a dog bed instead of the sofa with suprising ease.

He never got incontintent as such in old age, but he did start to drop the odd little drop of wee a lot - and occasionally would need to be let out for a wee during the night (he'd wake me up about once per week by barking at 4am for a piddle and then happily go back to his bed to sleep :) )
He also lost his hearing through old-age, as he was rather noise sensitive that had it's advantages!!!

I'm afraid I give my veterans loads TLC. I don't mind the drool ,the breathy kisses, the bit of wee, the accidents, I clear up  after them , throw the rugs out , buy cheap replacements  and thank them every day for being there and for what they gave me in their younger days , winning at shows , jumping through tyres , up A frames, obedience demos , being there when I was sad...bit like looking after my elderly father ...I remembered what he had done for me ....:)

I have been lucky keeping my girls slim and not had incontinence with any of my medium size breed.

As he has not been sleeping on the bed for some time now I can't see why she wouldn't' get used to sleeping in a crate in your bedroom rather than on the bed, if you started as you meant to carry on and not let her sleep in your bed. 

Just your presence and voice or a hand dropped down to her would be reassurance enough.

If she is used to crating a fabric crate might be handier in the bedroom. 

> I'm afraid I give my veterans loads TLC. I don't mind the drool ,the breathy kisses, the bit of wee, the accidents, I clear up  after them , throw the rugs out , buy cheap replacements  and thank them every day for being there and for what they gave me in their younger days

:) :) :)
We had to stop our oldie geting on the stairs, he was too heavy to carry up/down, he stumbled up them a few times but after he had a fall on the way down (fell from half way, rolled & bumped all the way to the bottom but luckily was not hurt) it was safest to stop him getting on them - same with the sofa. But yes, who cares if an oldie has an accident or has a leaky willie - they have allready carved a HUGE deserving spot in our hearts  :) :) :)

She might well not become incontinent--lots of elderly dogs don't, Sadly, she might not even make it to old age-- cancer takes so many dogs these days, though of course, I hope she does! Why make her miserable now because you are worrying about something that might happen in the future. Let her in to the bedroom now, and cross that bridge IF you come to it.

...and I'm with the others on not bothering about accidents in my precious old dogs--would never shut one in the kitchen because of it. Obviously, I wouldn't want an incontinent dog on the bed, but I believe you get waterproof backed throws that you could put at her space IF the need arose.None of mine have been incontinent as such and none of mine actually sleep on the bed--there are dog beds in the bedroom and all the doors in the house are open at night so they can choose where to sleep.They always choose to sleep in the bedroom with me, even in winter when it would be warmer by the stove.

I have a 12 year old BC who, for some unknown reason has recently become nervous every now and then. I could be sat on the sofa watching t.v. when she will suddenly leap on my lap panting and shaking. No amount of cuddles will calm her down.
I bought some Rescue Remedy and she has a few squirts on her tongue and after a few minutes it seems to calm her down.
I have no idea what it is that sets her off and as for bonfire night i'm dreading it this year. She hates the banging with a passion :-(
I think i will try a DAP diffuser.

You might find that a DAP collar is a better choice as the dog keeps this with her. A diffuser only covers a fairly small area and you might need 2 in a large room. She won't necessarily become incontinent and you should be doing all you can to alleviate her fears that she has developed. Let her sleep in your bedroom again and try to encourage her to use her own bed rather than yours if you are concerned. The oldies need and deserve cosseting. They most certainly become more sound sensitive with age: I guess as their hearing distorts. Dogs who were never bothered by fireworks and thunder can suddenly become really frightened. I have experienced this many times with old Goldens. The stage at which they become almost deaf can be a real Godsend!

Yes, my 10 year old Yankee is becoming more sensitive to sound - any raised voices will send him scurrying out of the lounge to his basket. And I don't mean just arguments, lol, anything like shouting 'come on xxx' while watching sport, or calling across the room because the other person wasn't paying attention or something. He used to react very strongly to the oven timer in our old house, but he doesn't seem to mind the new one luckily.

she will literally cry all night and work herself into a frenzy.

I agree with all about the age thing & noise phobic, some are in real terror, I canonly suggest a thunder coat but still might need to either leave the bedroom door open, if your lucky, or hae it in the bedroom, its difficult to address & there is not one answer, DAP is worth a try but it takes a few weeks to start working to its peak.
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You'll all be pleased to know that madam has been reinstated to her rightful position on the bed! She was OK the night before last, but started crying again when we went to bed last night.  The only problem is that my husband thinks it is "unfair" to leave the other dog downstairs on his own so we had two dogs on the bed and it was a little cramped.  Husband might have to find somewhere else to sleep, I think...

Sounds like a plan!

Husband might have to find somewhere else to sleep, I think...   Bigger bed?:)