How to Keep Your Aggressive, Fearful, or Anxious Dog Safe (As Well as Those Around You Safe) While You Prep or Travel for a Hurricane

Having one or more dogs with behavioral challenges during an evacuation can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be complicated. It can be simple, possible, and safe, with a plan.

There’s a lot of information floating around on how to keep your pets safe during a hurricane. But, having a dog who displays aggression, fear, or anxiety, is a little different. You not only have to keep the dog safe, you also have to keep everyone around you safe during this stressful event. When we have an imminent potential

hurricane coming, I get a lot of clients needing to postpone, but they feel lost at how how to deal with their dog’s “issues” before we have gotten the chance to really begin behavior modification. So, I compiled this list of 20 things you can do to keep everyone safe and stress levels as low as possible. While this is geared specifically towards dogs who have displayed aggression/fear/anxiety, many of these safety precautions can be used for all dogs.

1. Note that safety and management is the number one priority here. Know your dog’s triggers and avoid them as much as humanly possible.

2. Note that traveling during the time of a natural disaster means that there will be a lot of STRESS on everyone’s end. If your dog is stressed, he or she is more likely to go over threshold faster than they would on a normal day. This makes avoiding triggers even more of a priority. Even if you are staying in one place, the environmental changes - shutters, equipment, routine changes, new objects, etc - can also cause an increase in stress.

3. If your dog is on medication, make sure that you have enough and if you feel the need to, please contact your veterinarian and see if you are able to increase dosages, before you begin to travel.

4. Bring any and all alternative therapy calming aids with you and utilize them frequently: Thunder shirts, calming caps, CBD products, pheromone collars, supplements, etc.

5. Use large ID tags that are easy to read or collars with phone numbers embroidered on them so IF something happened and your dog got away, a person wouldn’t have to get too close to retrieve your information. You don’t want someone sticking their face near your dog’s head trying to read tiny print or scratched up tags. Keeping “new” and easy to read tags in a hurricane kit is your best option, so they don’t get so worn down.

6. You can add a second tag or engrave “USE CAUTION” on the original tag. This is a good warning to let people know that your dog may have some issues, and to execute caution when handling him or her.

7. If your dog is muzzle trained, utilize it anytime they are out of the car or the crate while you travel.

8. If you have DO NOT PET collars, vests, or leashes, have them on your dog at all times.

9. When traveling in the car, make sure that your dog is either crated or tethered. This way when you open your car door, you don’t have to worry about your dog bolting out.

10. When walking your dog around, use two leashes and/or have one leash attached to TWO pieces of equipment. Ex: head collar + snug fitting martingale with no plastic snaps, harness + snug fitting martingale with no plastic snaps, etc. If you use slip collars aka chokers PLEASE use a second leash attached to a harness or a snug fitting martingale because if it fits over your dog’s head, one good shake paired with a head lowered can make it come off. British style slip leads with the stopper placed snugly against the neck is a good alternative. And if you use prong collars, PLEASE also use a second leash attached to anything else or don’t use one at all because they are notorious for popping open. The one time you definitely don’t want a loose dog is during a natural disaster.

11. Double, triple check that your walking equipment is snug and fastened each time before you go out.

12. Do NOT allow your dog to be off leash outside of the house at all. Even pre-storm and post-storm, as there are still high levels of stress. And even if you have a fenced in yard, still take your dog out on leash, as anything - a tree falling, a fence moving, a loud crack of thunder, etc - could spook him or her and cause them to bolt or hide.

13. Make your crates safe. For metal crates, zip tie up and down every side and be generous with the amount you use. Stressed dogs can chew through zip ties, so make sure they are snug and that there are lots of them. Use carabiner clips to secure the doors. If you have collapsible fabric crates, use a small zip tie, twisty tie, or clip to hold the two zippers together. If you have an airline crate,  use several bungee cords connected from the door to the side slots. And if you have a stand up kennel, make sure the top is covered and that you have a clip on the door latch.

14. Crates can be covered with sheets or blankets to keep your dog calm and lessen the exposure to triggers. Sheets and Blankets that smell like home are helpful when away from home as well, so your dog has the scent of something familiar.

15. If you are staying with other people and/or dogs and your dog is aggressive to strangers and/or other dogs, confine your dog to an area where he or she cannot visually see the other people/dogs and therefore fixate on them or stress out about them. You also want to confine your dog in a manner where you create an “airtight space,” meaning you have at least two barriers between your dog and the other people/dogs. Examples include: crate + closed door, crate + gate, two closed doors, crate + xpen, etc. This way if one barrier fails, or a person fails to secure one barrier, you still have another.

16. If you have one of the above situations, before getting your dog out, communicate with the others in the household. If your dog is aggressive towards other dogs, have them put the other dogs in crates or behind a closed door. If your dog is aggressive towards strangers, have everyone else in the house sit down for a few minutes so they are less threatening. Then, leash your dog when coming out of the crate (again another reason why having the “airtight space” is important, you can leash your dog up without worry) and walk your dog on leash through the house to go out. This prevents your dog from getting to close to the other people/dogs that upset him or her. Dogs can even fight through the crack under the door, so this is important.

17. Speaking of closed doors, if you are using any doors with French handles as a barrier, lock them! Dogs, especially smart dogs and dogs who may panic, can open these door handles SO easily. Hell, even my cats know how to open these doors!

18. If your dog is loose in the house with you, put up a barrier around the door that you will most likely be using as an exit and entry way. If there’s a hallway, put up a gate; if there’s a room next to the door, put a gate up to prevent access to that one room as well as the door; and if there are no places to put up a gate, you can unfold an xpen and set it up around the door. While any dog can bolt through a door when stressed, this is particularly important if you already have a dog who is a door dasher.

19. Bring lots of enrichment items so your dog can stay busy while being confined. Food toys that you can stuff, bones to chew, edible food items to work on, etc. The stinkier and bigger, the better. Chewing can also be a stress reliever.

20. BREATHE! While having to take care of a dog who displays aggression, fear, or anxiety during a hurricane can be stressful, as long as you keep safety in the forefront of your mind, you’ll be just fine. If we are stressed out, it will ultimately affect our dogs as well. But, they are depending on you to stay safe.