How do you calm a dog afraid of noises like smoke detectors, Squeaky chairs and humming of a deep freeze?
My 3 year old Austrialian Cattle dog/Blue Tic/Blue Healer has suddenly became terrified of small sounds..I recently lost my 15yr old dog due to illness and since this occurred my other dog has started to be afraid to the point of tremor shacking and running all over including on the end tables. I believe she always took her que from my other dog, if she was okay then it must be okay. Unfortunatly expenses and the fact that my 3 year old is an agressive dominant female, I am unable at this time to get another dog. Small sounds like the squeek of my recliner send her into histerics. Calming voice, cuddling and hiding under a blanket just don’t seem to work for her. The radio works but I can’t have it on and sleep to. The sounds of my deep freeze humming and when the house creeks, everything is setting her off. Need some advice on this. Are there any essential oils/homeopathics to calm her?
That is because your calming voice and cuddling is reinforcing the behavior. Best when she is afraid is to ignore her.
Watch Cesar Milan The Dog Whisperer On The History Channel
Go about your business and when she calms down then pet her.
First of all do NOT give her affection when she is in that state of mind. When dogs get spooked over something and their owner comforts them the dog is understanding the affection as rewarding. Resulting in more of that behavior.You need to be the leader and act like nothing is going on. Be confident. Your dog needs to learn to see you as leader and take ques from you.
I have been taking my puppy to a training school for a few weeks now, and before then he was afraid of many things especially bicycles and big trucks. They really helped with that and taught me how to deal with it. They also told me to ignore him when he was acting afraid and not to comfort him as this will reinforce bad behavior. I hope this helped.
You need to slowly introduce these sounds to your dog as you and everyone else around your dog acts calm and unimpressed by the noise. Don’t coddle the dog when she acts scared. You’ll convince her that it’s no big deal, if you act as though it’s no big deal and you ignore the dog. Take it slowly, one sound at a time, maybe once per hour. It’ll take time, but you must not coddle your dog. That would be interpreted as a positive reinforcement to her fears – you need to avoid that.
Good luck.
My Chi puppy has been afraid of a few things like that. A trainer told me that if they are afraid and zone in on the noise (like staring at the ice maker when it dumps the ice) go over and pet it. This shows the dog that you are not afraid of the noise. I encourage my dog to come over to the machine and sniff it, etc. She also said to ignore the dogs emotional response of fear to it, but instead show the dog you are not afraid of the noise by petting or touching the thing that is making the sound. He is much better about these things now and much less afraid of the little weird noises. Remember, you are pack leader now and the dog will take his/her cues from your response.
It sounds like your dog is still mourning, and getting used to the fact that she is the only dog now. This has happened with my horses, as I lost one a month ago yesterday, and now my other two are trying to adjust. It just takes time, for you and them. I still cry about it every day, and the horses still aren’t quite themselves. That is the first thing to understand. To keep her from being scared of the noises is like sacking a horse out. Sacking out is when you take something that the horse is not used to, like a colt with a saddle or any age horse with something spooky, like a bag of oats, and rub it around them, get it used to them. I guess time is a big issue for your dog, but you can do things like get the dog to sit in the chair, or walk around with her when the house creaks. She needs to get used to the sounds, just like with a horse. It will take a lot of patience, but it can be done. Start out small, not with any sounds like the smoke alarm or a vacuum cleaner. She needs to learn that these sounds won’t hurt her. Make these sounds a regular thing, and she will learn to not be afraid. good luck, and sorry about your loss. I know how hard it is to lose an old pet and friend. God bless!