Creating safe spaces to mitigate fear in pets

Discernible objects or situations such as thunderstorms, fireworks or other sudden and loud noises can trigger phobia, distress and a behavioral reaction in a pet. Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC (IAACB), a practitioner at the Animal Behavior Clinic in Portland, Oregon, offered a variety of phobia and anxiety intervention strategies while presenting an educational session at the 2025 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. The lecture included discussion of pets that may need spaces that they feel safe in, such as a quiet area with bedding or other comfort items. In a dvm360 interview recorded at the conference, Pachel further discussed the need for safe spaces as one way to help calm a patient experiencing fear.

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The following is a transcript of the video:

Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC (IAACB): “Being able to access safety, whatever that means for the animal, and to have a sense of agency, to be able to make some choices, to be able to choose that, addresses both the exposure level, to be able to help them manage that situation, that noise, that stimulus, more effectively. The ability to have some agency and choice actually helps to address some of the anxiety components. What we find is that by giving animals the ability to choose between options that are meaningful for them—in this case, talking about meaningful because of safety or reduced exposure—that actually addresses some of the anxiety component. So we're coming at it from multiple angles. And what I love about really helping caregivers to understand what the animals needs are is they said, ‘Well, what do I do? What's going to make my pet feel better?’ And the honest answer is, ‘let's ask your dog. Let's ask your cat. Let's observe them.’

“I remember one particular case, which was a noise phobia case, and the owner said, ‘I don't know why, but in the storm noises, when we have fireworks, the dog always comes here’—and they pointed to a space just in the middle of their basement family room—'always here.’ And we said, ‘well, I don't know why.’ So, because I'm weird and I don't mind being awkward, I'm like, ‘Cool. Let me get down at your dog's level.’ And I'm down on my hands and knees in the middle of their living room. And I have no idea how to explain it from an acoustic standpoint, but it was like a little dead zone right there. And once you got into this 3 by 3 space, you could just kind of feel the reverberations of noises getting really, really muffled. The dog is clearly going to be able to recognize that and know that ‘I feel better here,’ rather than any other space. And so simply observing, they didn't know why yet, but observing that this is where my dog feels more comfortable, let's make sure they have access to that, and let's see why that might be meaningful. Can we replicate that? So then having that knowledge that, okay, your dog is more comfortable when their acoustics are buffered. Let's see if we can layer that into so many other scenarios as a way to, again, give them that sense of safety and control and agency.”