There's a new treatment for dogs scared by fireworks and thunder

It is entirely possible that no one dreads the dog days of summer more than dogs themselves.

Sodden heat gathers itself into sudden barrages of pounding thunder, crackling lightning and pane-rattling rain. Drives dogs crazy, all that noise.

And then, on the Fourth of July: fireworks.

By some estimates, at least 40 percent of dogs experience noise anxiety, which is most pronounced in the summer. Animal shelters report that their busiest day for taking in runaway dogs is July 5.

Veterinarians tell of dogs who took refuge in hiding places so tight that they got stuck, who gnawed on door handles, who crashed through windows or raced into traffic — all desperate efforts to escape inexplicable collisions of noise and flashing light. Ernie, a wired-hair pointer, was so terrified by thunderstorms that he would vault fences at his Maryland farm and run in a straight line for miles.

"It's very serious," said Dr. Melissa Bain, an associate professor of clinical animal behavior at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. "It's a true panic disorder with a complete flight response."

Over the years, a mishmash of remedies for noise anxiety have sprung up: homeopathic blends; a calming pheromone; CDs of thunderstorms mixed with Beethoven; swaddling jackets; even Prozac and Valium.

But this month, the first drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for canine noise aversion (a term encompassing mild discomfort to phobia) came on the market. The drug, Sileo, inhibits norepinephrine, a brain chemical associated with anxiety and fear response.

In the coming days, the annual onslaught of calls will pour into vets: "'The fireworks are happening and my dog will freak out, so I need something to stop that, and I need it right now!'" Bain said.

Some vets prescribe strong sedatives, but even if the immediate crisis is averted, the underlying phobia remains untreated.

Being startled by a loud noise is normal, for dogs as well as humans. But these dogs cannot settle back down. Even if most reactions are not as extreme as the dog who tears out its nails while frantically scratching a door, many dogs will cower, pace and defecate indoors.

Cats can have noise aversion, though reports are less common. Animal behavior experts say cats often seem more self-reliant and understated than dogs, so when they hide under beds during storms, owners may not read that response as unusual.

Veterinary behaviorists say that as years pass, dogs with noise aversion may associate one sensation with another: storm-phobic tremors can be set off merely by dark clouds.

And thunderstorms are complicated beasts. "There are significant pressure changes, frantic winds, massive electrical discharges, concussive sounds: Dogs can hear above and below our auditory range," said Dr. Peter H. Eeg, a veterinarian in Poolesville, Maryland, who has been reporting Sileo results in patients to Zoetis, the company that distributes the drug.

Wrigley, a 10-year-old golden retriever in Naperville, Illinois, started trembling three hours before a recent storm, said Allene Anderson, a foster caretaker of abandoned dogs.

"She was desperate to climb down my throat," Anderson said. "I got down on the floor with her, and she clawed me. She couldn't get close enough." After the storm passed, Wrigley quaked for hours.

"If owners don't understand what's going through the dog's mind," Anderson said, "they shout and throw them in the basement. That just makes it worse."

Countless other noises set off dogs: jackhammers, lawn mowers, coffee grinders. One vet said that even garments designed to cocoon dogs in a secured wrap can irritate some by the sound of Velcro flaps being ripped apart. A toddler's shrieks freaked out Winnie, an Indiana bulldog; her owner, Dr. Sara L. Bennett, a veterinary behaviorist, taught Winnie to relax with yoga breaths.

During a thunderstorm two years ago, Rebecca Roach was awakened at 3 a.m. by Stella, her 6-year-old miniature Australian shepherd, clambering on her chest, panting, whining and shaking.

"My instinct was to comfort her," said Roach, who lives in Boyds, Maryland. "so I held her until the storm passed."

But behavior specialists disagree about whether owners should comfort animals. Dr. Daniel S. Mills, a veterinarian at the University of Lincoln in England who is an expert on canine noise aversion, suggests that owners "acknowledge the dog but not fuss over it. Then show that the environment is safe and not compatible with threat, by playing around and seeing if the dog wants to join you. But don't force it. Let it make a choice."

Other experts say that soothing a spooked animal, bred to seek safety with its human, is just fine. "You can't reinforce anxiety by comforting a dog," Bain said. "You won't make the fear worse. Do what you need to do to help your dog."

Other tips include muffling noise with quiet music and, if possible, staying with the dog in a windowless, interior room. Because a dog's flight response is on overload, it is seeking a haven.

For years, veterinarians treated noise phobia with acepromazine, a tranquilizer. It sedates the dog but is not an anti-anxiety medication. During a thunderstorm, the dog can still see and hear everything. But like someone having a nightmare in which he or she cannot run from danger, the frightened dog can't move to escape. So veterinary behaviorists say that acepromazine can exacerbate noise aversion.

Some dogs function better with Prozac, but as with humans, the daily medicine takes four to six weeks to become effective.

Stella was impervious to prescriptions. During thunderstorm season, she and Roach lost hours of sleep. Roach tried positive reinforcement: When Stella's symptoms would begin, she would be given treats from the night stand.

"Then Stella started climbing on my chest at 3 a.m., whimpering, whining and looking at the night stand," Roach said. "And no thunderstorm! That was the end of that."

The new canine noise aversion drug, Sileo, is actually a micro-amount of a medication approved as a sedative for minor veterinary procedures — a flavorless gel, measured in a syringe, that is squeezed between the dog's cheek and gum and absorbed within 30 minutes.

Orion, the Finnish company that developed it, tested it on several hundred noise-averse dogs during two years of New Year's fireworks. Three-quarters of the owners rated the dogs' response as good to excellent; their pets remained unperturbed. The drug lasts several hours, after which another dose can be administered.

A syringe costs about $30 and holds several weight-dependent doses. Sileo's main side effect, in 4.5 percent of dogs, is vomiting.

"I'm not naive enough to think this is the miracle cure," said Dr. Emily Levine, a veterinary behaviorist in Fairfield, New Jersey. But she considered it a worthy option.

The optimal solution, vets say, is catching the response early, and desensitizing the dog with calibrated recordings of the offending noise, and positive conditioning.

But training takes time, patience and consistency.

"And humans," Eeg said, "are one of the most inconsistent species on the planet."