I read something where they said you shouldn't coddle a dog when it's afraid of a thunderstorm. For instance, if it goes into a closet, don't go in there with it and sit and comfort it. The advice was to act normal, play outside where the dog can see you, and show that everything's ok. If it looks like fun outside the closet, the dog will eventually come out, and not be afraid of the storm.

While I think it's great advice to act normal and playful to entice the dog out and allay its fears, I don't think there's anything wrong with comforting the animal, at least for a while. It's my instinct to go let the dog know it's ok.

I could tell you a very sad story about a dog and a storm, but I'll not, so as to keep this thread on a mostly high note.