Loud noises

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dblock

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My baby is afraid of loud noises. Any thing sounding like a gun shot he shuts completely down. On our walk this afternoon, He thought he herd gun fire it wasn't,(just cars going over a strip on the highway down the street) he stopped in the middle of the street, I pulled him along.(almost dragged him to get him to stand up) I've talked to the vet about this, She has told me to not let him stop walking and to pull him but, it does seem mean to me. Anyone have any suggestions
 
Sorry you didn't get any responses faster -- I was out of town and just returned. Let's see if I can help.

I really don't recommend dragging a Sheltie, especially if frightened.

The next time it happens and he stops, don't do anything. Just let him stop. Ignore him, count to 20, then say, "Let's go!" in a bright, happy voice. If he still won't move, count to 20 again and repeat. The logic is, you neither punish nor reward the undesirable behavior. You put in a buffer time during which you're calm and your Sheltie has time to realize nothing happened. He can process the situation and then respond to your command.
 
Some members here have tried a thundershirt for dogs that are scared of thunder, etc. Maybe this would help.
 
I have been known to sit in the parking lot of an outdoor gun club with a puppy. First just in the car, feeding cookies, then just wandering the parking lot feeding cookies.
 
I had an extremely sound sensitive sheltie that I had to medicate during storms and fireworks otherwise he would throw himself at windows and doors and hurt himself. He would jump, bark and try to attack any loud or unusual noises. He is now really good - only slightly noise sensitive and I dont need to medicate him during storms.

Dealing with the sound sensitivity involved desensitisationn and distraction techniques. Here are some of the things I did that I can remember off hand.
  • Put on the classical music radio in the background (relatively low) when I went out. Classical music is so diverse that it encompasses so many different sounds at many different frequencies. The idea is that the dog gets used to a variety of different background noises and sounds.
  • Played music and sounds when they were eating or playing. Its easier to ignore things when they are focused on something else that's fun.
    • For music my fave is the Edinburgh Military Tattoo - I taped it and would play it in the background a lot as it has lots of drums and weird whiny bagpipes. Other ones were 1812 Overture, Night on Bald Mountain, Saint Saens Danse Macabre and Carnival of the Animals. Anything percusive and lots of crescendos and changes in tempo.
    • I downloaded a lot of noises from the internet - dogs barking, planes, trains, horns, buses, trucks. Basically anything I could think of that would set him off.
    • Of course you could buy the Scary Noises CDs - they were too expensive over here so I improvised.
  • When we heard a loud noise I would cheer and act all happy and playful. Anything to make my dog think loud noises mean fun. Although the flip side is Deska now thinks buses and garbage trucks are the best thing ever and result in silly spinning when they go past.
  • If the noises go on for a while (like a storm) I still keep a lamb shank handy and I played the Edinburgh Tattoo to help mask the outside noise. Funnily Deska will now bark at bagpipes when he hears them - I think he equates them with storms. Still, its better than him hurting himself.
Never ever drag the dog or force it to listen to sounds when its panicking. Shelties just dont work that way and its a great way to escalate their panic and worsen the situation. As a herding dog they are meant to pick up the slightest noise that may mean a threat to the flock. Unlike gundogs they are bred to go into threat-alert when they hear something. My feeling is the best approach for a herding dog is distraction techniques.
 
I've been dealing with a very noise sensitive dog myself. Toby is afraid of city noises mainly so de-sensitizing using sound cd's wasn't much help for him, since he could tell the difference between real and fake noises.

Key things to remember are:

1. Always walk with with some really high value treats and praise like crazy for correct behavior.

2. Distraction is key. When there is a scary noise you want to try and keep him from focusing on it. Change directions (more than once), ask him to do tricks, throw treats on the ground or play games with him. Give him LOTS of praise and high value rewards whenever he focuses on you and not the scary thing.

3. Stay calm and relaxed. If he feels that you are tense or worried, he will become tense and worried too. Also yelling, anger and frustration will also make things worse, which is why its important to stay calm and positive.

4. Give your dog room. If something makes a noise that he thinks is scary, like a loud truck or car alarm, try not to pass too closely to it. As he becomes more accustom to that scary noise, you can get closer to it.

Walking him with a thundershirt or something similar is a good idea. I found that it calmed Toby's reaction to noises a lot. As your sheltie starts to calm down he will need it less and less.

I've found the all natural supplement L-theanine to be a big help too, as well as Rescue Remedy.

I hope that helps!
 
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