How to Calm an Anxious Dog During a Thunderstorm, According to The Dogfather

A DOG expert explains how to prepare your dog for fall and winter thunderstorms.

Anyone with a four-legged friend knows how scared and anxious they can become when storms are raging outside.

2

2

But your dog doesn’t have to suffer this year, says Graeme Hall.

Also known as The Dogfather, he is a dog trainer turned TV personality.

He may be best known for his role in Channel 5’s Dogs Behaving Badly, but he is also a podcaster and author of articles on all things dog.

Graeme has had great success as a trainer and has transformed thousands of naughty dogs across the country.

But you don’t have to hire him privately to benefit from his expertise.

He regularly appears on radio and television programmes such as This Morning to share knowledge.

Yesterday, the dog expert was a guest on This Morning to share how to prevent your furry friend from being scared during autumn storms.

“It’s an old technique,” ​​he told presenter Cat Deeley.

“You play a soundtrack of rain and thunder, that kind of thing, at a very, very low volume while your dog is doing something fun.

“What could be enjoyable? Food.

“So he’s sitting there enjoying himself, and then we play a very, very quiet version of the sound.”

According to Graeme, your dog’s love of food will outweigh his fear of clapping and banging, and he’ll be able to ignore the soundtrack more easily.

“What we do is a bit sneaky,” he explained.

“Because we start to associate eating with that sound.

Who is The Dogfather?

Graeme Hall rose to fame in 2019 with the launch of Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly on Channel 5.

Before Hall became known as a dog trainer, he worked for 21 years as a manager at the Northamptonshire breakfast cereal company Weetabix.

While he was retired from gardening, Hall trained as a professional dog trainer, a move that would change the direction of his career forever.

Hall didn’t have a dog of his own until he got his two Rottweilers, Axel and Gordon, at age 40.

Rottweilers are an important breed to train well and Hall worked hard to ensure the training was done properly.

From there, Hall started his own professional dog training business, The Dogfather.

He has had a number of celebrity clients, including Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Denise Van Outen.

This led to his now prolific TV career, with regular appearances on This Morning.

“Over time – probably days and weeks even – you start to build up the volume of the sound.”

As the sound gets louder, your dog will no longer be afraid of it.

Graeme stressed the importance of creating a “positive association” between thunderstorms and food for your dog.

This way, they will not only become desensitized to the loud noises that accompany aggressive weather, but will actually welcome them.

“The secret here is that the sound has to be very soft to begin with, almost inaudible,” Graeme points out.

“And those little steps when you turn up the volume, they’re tiny, but eventually you’ll get there.”