Does your dog start to wimper or try to find a hiding place when the weather becomes windy?

Wind, like fireworks or slippery floors, is just one of many phobias that man's best friend may experience.

What can you do about it? The veterinarians from Fox Valley Animal Hospital in New South Wales, Australia offer the following advice to help dog owners.

What to look for in an anxious dog:

Phobias in dogs will show as heightened anxiety. Anxiety is fairly easy to spot, especially in a usually happy go lucky dog.

Things to watch out for include:

To truly understand if you have a dog phobia on your hands, it’s better to consult with a vet. You can discuss the kinds of behaviors your dog is engaging in. Then your vet can help you design a plan to reduce your dog’s phobia in terms of impact.

The following are some of the ideas your vet may suggest to help your dog reduce their wind phobia.

Use music to help soothe your dog

Dogs find music soothing. This is why they are commonly used with assistance dogs to calm the puppies during training with the soothing sounds of jazz. In addition to jazz, dogs will often like classical music, ambient and instrumental tunes of a calming and soothing nature.

One of the ways you can increase the ability for your dog to settle down during a time where their wind phobia may be heightened is to play soothing music during positive moments in your dog’s day.

It hurts nothing to put on some jazz or classical during the following moments:

This helps connect the music to happy, positive experiences. This, in turn gives you the ability to use the music as a soothing agent when your dog may be distressed.

Experiment with using scents

Dogs are highly driven by their nose. That’s why scents can really help your dog when they are feeling certain tricky emotions. The same way we may have positive associations and even feel calmer when smelling some scents, your dog too can be soothed and even calmed by the use of scents.

Lavender oil calms human and dog alike. You can dab a little on the collar or use a diffuser.

Another specific product you can use is Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP). DAP is a synthetic version of the pheromone secreted by a nursing dog when feeding and tending to her pups. This is why it has such a calming association with a fearful dog. It brings them right back to the greatest comfort of all, feeding with mom.

Change the focus

Enrichment toys are a big part of helping you conquer wind phobias in dogs. By using a Kong, a favorite puzzle or an interactive dog toy, you can distract your dog from those feelings of fear while giving them a happier association.

Just as we might try to distract ourselves from being afraid by watching TV, reading books or doing things, your dog is looking for the opportunity to do the same.

Break out the doggy massage

Dogs love pats and massage. That’s why it’s a powerful calmative when they are stressed. With the hands-on feeling of deep pats, gentle massage and human touch, your dog can relax. It helps break down the rigid and tight muscles of a stressed dog in the thralls of their wind phobia. It also means they can take their lead from you- that it is a time to relax and unwind, not stress.

Look for points that are particularly soothing for your dog, such as the spine, the neck and the muscles between rump and leg. Knead these areas and give soothing pats as you move from nose to tail down the body. Be careful to avoid any area your dog doesn’t enjoy being touched so that the sensation is as stress-free as possible.

You may even find the gentle massaging helps your dog go to sleep, another great antidote to anxiety and phobia in dogs.

For added brownie points, massage and pat your dog out of the phobia stage with DAP in their favorite room while music is playing. This is a great way to bring on a calm, content pup when wind strikes.

Consider a Thundershirt or similar garment

Think of the calm, comforting swaddling of a baby. Now check out the dog equivalent, the Thundershirt. A Thundershirt is a tightly fitted yet comforting tee shirt style wrap. It fits around your dog’s shoulders and torso, attaching with Velcro.

Thundershirts feel like a big warm full body hug. They reduce the anxiety and make your dog feel sheltered, held and protected. It’s great for wind phobia and other sensitivities your family dog may face.

Applying pressure to the abdomen, the Thundershirt hits a calmative point in your dog. This helps trigger natural sensations and hormones that help your dog resist the phobia and feel safe and secure.

Thundershirts do take time to work with dogs. This is especially true when introducing it to a puppy and/or a dog that is not used to wearing coverings and garments. However, the feeling that these garments and similar jackets can give can really help your dog when a phobia takes hold.