Hi

Can anyone help - I know I probably need to see a dog behaviourist but just wondered if anyone had similar experiences. My dog has always been afraid of fireworks, thunder etc. and have tried many ways to cure this without success. However I now have a new problem which I think is associated with her fear of noise.

Yesterday when I went to take her out she refused to let me put her harness on - and was quite aggressive about it - I think she might have bitten me if I'd persisted. She has always worn a harness and let me put it on with no problem. Over the last few days there have been quite a few fireworks which she has heard when out for walks (Diwali seems to go on forever) and then the day before there was a lot of hammering from a house near the park entrance which made her try to run straight home. I think she may associate her harness with going somewhere she is afraid - has anyone else had a similar situation?

I managed to take her for a walk on her collar last night and this morning but don't want to just accept that she won't have the harness on.

She does have a tendency to posessive aggression - she's fine with her toys with us but won't let other dogs near them and can growl at us if she has managed to acquire anything she thinks she shouldn't have!

Thanks for any advice

Bless her she does sound scared! You can get a cd that is used to desensitise dogs to loud noises, but I really would consult a behaviourist before you try anything as you may make the situation worse.

Good luck and I hope someone can help you out

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She sounds scared to death, poor girl, I would get a good positive behaviourist to come visit, maybe you will be able to build her confidence up enough that she dosnt get so stressed over going out.

Mo

We've been dealing with similar situation for past 2 years. Our dog was O.K. with fireworks, thunder and loud noises for the first 2 years of his life. 2 years ago we were playing in the park, he was fetching a ball and hit a water sprinkler. He was in a lot of pain.Unfortunately it was during Chinese New Year celebrations here in China and when we carried him home somebody put a fire cracker into a can and threw it by our feet. He got very scared and unfortunately ever since he's associated the pain and the loud nouise. He's now scared of thunder, fireworks and even rain drops bashing on the window. We get a lot of hurricanes down here so it a challenge. ( I want my old dog back, the one that was never scared of anything I thought he would get used to it over the time and he recently surprised us. He figured out that if he plays during the thunder storm he's not thinking about it so much and kind of distructs himself. So anytime there's a storm outside or fireworks we have to play hide and seek with a ball or another toy. You can see that he plays very nervously but he insists on playing. I don't have any real advise for you and would love to hear what a behaviourist says to you. The only thing I would try is slowly putting the harness on and reward her every time she's good. I mean do this step by step. Let her just sniff it first and reward etc. Btw. wearing a collar isn't so bad if the harness fails but I would love to know how to cure dog's fear

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I do think getting someone in for maybe even just one session might be worthwhile, just to give you some hands on advise and let them see her reaction to the issues. Ask your vet to recommend a good behaviourist.

Regarding the harness, right now I'd forget about it and not push the issue and work on her trust. She basically is telling you she's scared and to be honest right now with the fireworks etc if she doesn't want to go out I wouldn't bother taking her, you might be doing more harm than good. Can you change the time of her talk, take her early morning instead when it's less likely to have noises? She needs to reassociate walks with good times and right now she only see's it as traumatic.

I can highly recommend T Touch for her, she sounds the perfect candidate. It's a calming method using your hands and has proven itself for nervous dogs. I use it on one of mine because she was terrified of fireworks and shooting (living in a rural area wasn't good for the shooting as we hear them all the time!!) and it helped massively, she now listens to the noises but doesn't run terrified away from them.

TTOUCH UK and TTEAM UK with Sarah Fisher

Poor little love

I would also give her some rescue remedy.

Its a calming remedy for stress and fear. You can get it from Boots in the Homeopathic section

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You can also try a DAP or Beaphar collar, it contains pheremones which can help with anxiety and stress in dogs (and cats!).

Also the bit about the harness, I wouldn't push it til she bites you obviously, but don't let her keep getting her own way. Either she has a harness on and you go for a walk, or no walk.

Lots of treats and praise when you're putting the harness on, if it's got to the stage where she won't let you near her with the harness because she's associated it with the fireworks then you'll have to desensitise her to the harness. Leave it on the floor and when she goes near it praise and treat so she thinks 'oooh the harness, this means good stuff'.

Does that make sense?

Good luck! The fireworks will all be over in a few weeks with any luck!

Hi

Sorry to hear how this has escalated, it is horrid to see or hear about a dog being so fearful.

Do visit your vet, there are new products on the market that can help with the fear in the short term. Tellingtouch is ideal, it also helps you too, as you can breath with her, but make sure you are not rewarding the fear.

Phosphorus is a homeopathic remedy that can have good effect, you need to give a high dose for a few days before the peak of the fireworks, this worked on my sound sensitive BC.

At home, try not to fuss her, put the TV, or radio on high, draw the curtains, avoid going out if she is really fearful. Don't push her with the harness, use a thick rope slip lead for now, or clip onto the collar. Picking her up first may help, before you get any leads out. Use lots of treats if she will take them.

A desensitisation programme and tape is a good idea, but it is too late to do it now really, the idea is you play noises on very very low in the house when she is eating playing etc. etc., gradually over days increasing the sound. They do work really effectively, I actually worked with a dog that was sound sensitive and after two weeks, we could let off a starting gun in the garden and she didn't bat an eyelid!!

I think like a lot of people, you will have to cope the best you can for now and then address the issue as soon as you can after the fireworks are over.

Kate

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Sounds like your letting her get her own way too much. If you want to take her somewhere then you should be able to, if you want to take something out of her mouth you should be able to, no matter what it is. There are many dangers out there - and you know what they are. Youd never put her into danger so by letting her choose what she wants to do you are reinforcing her being in charge (to get worse) and are effectively letting her decide what is going to happen. Be bold and do not take any wriggles for an answer, I would use caution at night time as there is no need to stress them out unduely. But you do need to assure her that when you want something you get it. This boldness has to be carried with your walks too, if only for 5 minutes out of the house and then back

I would disagree that this is letting her get away with it, although not seeing the dog to be totally accurate, I think this is fear based. Pushing a dog when they are fearful can cause problems.

Her possessiveness is another problem really that you need to address and this is done by being a bit more controlling in the home generally, which should also help with her seeing that you are also in control enough to deal with the other situations that arise (i.e. the fireworks at the moment) and be more inclined to trust you to take the lead.

However, if you push her too hard when she is fearful, she could snap or bite, if you back off and she learns that works and then you end up with a dog that will use this to her own effect. It is such an easy trap to fall into.

There is a fine line between fear and agression and stress is a major factor, putting a dog under more stress can make them aggressive (big full stop).

You need to speak to a behaviourist who will assess how fearful she is and put something in place for you, along with possibly something from your vet to help the process along.

Firework month (it is no longer a night nowadays), is a prime time for all sorts of issues to arise with dogs especially being unsettled and you will probably find that when it is over, things will be easier and you can work on task of desensitisation with a little bit more hope!

Kate




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