would you believe more doggie drama?

emma is pathologically afraid of thunderstorms. it's crazy. her whole body shakes violently, her tongue hangs out and she pants and drools, she slides into a crack in her favorite chair and sinks in as deep as she can. she is essentially a catatonic (no pun intended), in some sort of doggie shock. she doesn't get destructive or try to dig through the carpet or anything, but her heart races so fast that it makes me worried.

my "wholistic" dog journal claimed that melatonin would lessen the symptoms if given before the storm or when the symptoms first began. even though the storm was basically over, i got some and gave it to her anyway as the freak outs last ususally long after the storm has passed. i gave her the recommended dosage before i left for school. the storm started back and the melatonin was apparently no help according to walter.

i don't know what else to do. the only other suggestion was to get a tape of thunderstorms and condition her out of the fear. thing is, i don't think it's just the noise. it's like she can feel the storm, the barometric pressure drop, the electricity in the air. she looks nervous when she sees tv thunderstorms, but figures out pretty quickly that it's not the real thing. so what do i do? i mean, if we ever move to seattle we're screwed. (w reminds me that it's also not just the thunder, but the rain that gets to her as well).