Trampoline fear

J

JessicaR

Forums Enthusiast
It is finally starting to get warmer out YAY!! but this warm weather has caused a fear problem for me. My kids was jumping on the trampoline and Dusty is absolutely petrified!!! He started shaking, peed as he ran, and when I picked him up he screamed like he was being killed! I held him about 6 feet from the trampoline he shook and cried for several minutes. I let him down after he stopped shaking and crying. while I was holding him I did not pet him talk to him or look at him. he refuses to go to the bathroom even though I know he has to go. He just wines and stays by my feet. I took him out again after the kids came in, and he still refuses to go.

what can i do to help him get over this fear?? It is funny that he is scared of the kids jumping since the trampoline has been in the yard the whole time, plus their are contractors putting in a sewer system so there has been all kinds of noises with that, and Dusty isn't afraid :confused2:
 
JessicaR said:
It is finally starting to get warmer out YAY!! but this warm weather has caused a fear problem for me. My kids was jumping on the trampoline and Dusty is absolutely petrified!!! He started shaking, peed as he ran, and when I picked him up he screamed like he was being killed! I held him about 6 feet from the trampoline he shook and cried for several minutes. I let him down after he stopped shaking and crying. while I was holding him I did not pet him talk to him or look at him. he refuses to go to the bathroom even though I know he has to go. He just wines and stays by my feet. I took him out again after the kids came in, and he still refuses to go.

what can i do to help him get over this fear?? It is funny that he is scared of the kids jumping since the trampoline has been in the yard the whole time, plus their are contractors putting in a sewer system so there has been all kinds of noises with that, and Dusty isn't afraid :confused2:
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Let him get used to the trampoline without the kids on it. Hold him. Give him lots of treats (and/or praise). You need to really distract him-NOT ignore him. Think of him as a 2 year old kid. If they are horribly frightened of something, you don't hold them and ignore them. You'll comfort them, and help them get over their fear. That's what he needs. Ignoring the problem isn't going to work.
 
he has been around the trampoline for 2 weeks now and never had a problem with it, he even used to chase the other dogs under it. it wasn't until the kids started jumping today that he had a problem with it. I will try giving him treats while the kids are just sitting and not jumping. hopefully that works!

I thought though when dog is afraid of something if you coddled them you are reinforcing the fear behavior :confused2:

thanks for the suggestion
 
Yes, you need to work him up to it. So your idea of having the kids just sit on it without jumping is bang on. Then maybe they progress to walking on it. And making moderate noise. Then small jumps (without noise) - etc. etc.

Very different circumstance but same approach when I first brought home the Pedicure for Bacca's nails.

I started by just taking it out of the box and laying it on the floor. If he sniffed it, I gave him a treat. Progressed to turning it on but behind my back. If he was interested but not jumpy, treat. Then I laid in the floor in front of him and turned it on. Treat. Then turn it on and hold to his body. Treat. And on, and on. Within a couple of days, I was doing his nails and he was mostly sleeping through it.

Good luck! I'm confidant you can work him through this. They are funny about their little phobias!
 
Yes, you are correct. Coddling is a no-no. Many times, comparing dogs to children to prove a point works. But psychologically dogs are not children. And while physical comfort may work with a child, it gives a completely different message to dogs. That is not to say that you should ignore him, just pay attention to your body language. Dogs speak "dog language", so things we do as humans can be interpreted very differently by a dog.

So if you see that he is scared and you rush over to him, bend down (which results in you dipping your head and hunching your shoulders), bending your knees, pulling him close and speaking in a voice that is different than your normal voice ... guess what that looks like to a dog. Those are the body language signs for "fear or anxiety". So, if YOU the FEARLESS LEADER, are showing fear at the same time that the dog is showing fear, you are just supporting the idea that there is something to be afraid of. A more accurate comparison to prove the point would be something like traveling in a plane. If there is turbulence and all of a sudden the airline stewardess starts running up and down the aisles screaming and crying, you are going to get nervous and scared too, right? Because you look to the stewardess as the authority in that situation. Just like your dog looks to you as the authority (or at least, they SHOULD look to you as the authority). If their authority figure is displaying signs of fear themselves, then they start to believe that there is something to be afraid of.

Instead of picking him up, or hunching over him to "comfort" him, change the topic. Distract him from the scary thing. Ignore whatever it is that is scaring him and work on something else. Even if it is something simple like "watch me" exercises. Get out your high value rewards, something that is no fail, and start working him on some fun and easy stuff while the scary thing is happening.

Remember to always pay attention to your body language and interpret what that means in DOG LANGUAGE. Hunching over a child, and cuddling them means something completely different in human interpretation than it does in a dogs'.
 
JessicaR said:
he has been around the trampoline for 2 weeks now and never had a problem with it, he even used to chase the other dogs under it. it wasn't until the kids started jumping today that he had a problem with it. I will try giving him treats while the kids are just sitting and not jumping. hopefully that works!

I thought though when dog is afraid of something if you coddled them you are reinforcing the fear behavior :confused2:

thanks for the suggestion
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I didn't say-nor mean-coddling. Please re-read the first part of my post. Which is almost the exact same thing that Geerome suggested.

"Let him get used to the trampoline without the kids on it. Hold him. Give him lots of treats (and/or praise). You need to really distract him-NOT ignore him."

That's what I meant by comfort him. (To my puppies, food is comfort...)
 
Narmowen said:
I didn't say-nor mean-coddling. Please re-read the first part of my post. Which is almost the exact same thing that Geerome suggested.

"Let him get used to the trampoline without the kids on it. Hold him. Give him lots of treats (and/or praise). You need to really distract him-NOT ignore him."

That's what I meant by comfort him. (To my puppies, food is comfort...)
Click to expand...

I guess that I am just confused by this. I always thought when you praise and treat a scared dog you are reinforcing the fear behaviour, and by ignoring the behaviour you are not reinforcing it :confused2:

He is fine around the trampoline when no one is on it. so should I have the kids jump on it while I have him outside, keeping Dusty across the yard at first and then slowly work my way closer to the trampoline?

thanks again for all your help :biggrin2:
 
There is a difference between treating him for being scared and asking him to work while scared and then rewarding him for that behaviour. If he is scared, do not just pop a treat in his mouth. Rather, draw his attention to you and ask him to DO something, could be as simple as a "watch me" or a "sit", then reward for that behaviour.

If he is truly petrified of the trampoline when people are on it, I would start slow. Start out in the yard without anyone on the trampoline. Work him a bit, do some tricks and give rewards. Then stop for the day. Next day, start out with him near the empty trampoline, as close as you can be without him freaking out, then ask the kids to go and sit on it not jumping. Repeat the tricks and commands, rewarding when he does well. Then stop. Next day, try again. Only progress as far as he is successful. It may take him a few days to be comfortable with working while the kids are sitting on the trampoline, that is fine. Don't progress to the kids standing, low bouncing, or jumping, until he is comfortable with the previous step.

The key is to keep him working, keep him from focusing on the activity by the trampoline. He has to learn that he can function normally while other stuff is happening.
 
ok I understand now!

he is doing much better today. my daughter was jumping while I was raking the yard. he was too busy attacking the rake to even notice she was jumping, even when I was raking right beside the trampoline. now I will have to try that when the boys get home from school, but with them jumping I will start farther away and watch his reaction carefully.
 
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