Dog With A Phobia

[Bracken]

okay, I'm not sure if there's much to be done to solve this problem but my dog is freaking out right now so I felt like writing about it.

My dog often goes into doggie hysterics when she hears our next-door neighbour. Not barking hysterics but heart-pounding, leg-shaking, ears-back and eyes wide hysterics! We think it's because the neighbour has shouted at her at some point, or because she's picked up on how mean they are to their own poor dog.

But anyway, almost every week we have an extra bad episode. And Gwyn runs inside, or flings herself at the door if she can't get in, and either hides in a cupboard or tries to climb onto us for protection. When she's doing this, you can sort of see in her face that she's 'out of reach' she's just too panicked to listed and calm down so you have to let her work through it.

It's so annoying that the neighbour has got her to this point, because otherwise Gwyn is a fairly calm Border, which took a few years to achieve! When we first got her she was VERY nervous about lots of things!

Anyway, I just felt like having a gripe about it, and now I have so I feel better

Does anyone else have a dog with phobias? If so, what are they and how does your dog react?

[W Sibs]

Maybe you need to find the source of why she is scared and work with it to stop the phobia. Do some desensitisation work with her?

Emmy doesn't have any phobia now but she use to be a bolter. Run and hide.

But, now, she is getting a lot better. If, she gets unsure and nervous about somethings but she has learned to stand back and wait to see what happens. If she is still unsure, she will go seeks out Charlie or myself or the boyfriend to lean against for comfort.

[dancinbcs]

I'll guarantee the neighbour has done a lot more than shout at her, for her to be that frightened. I would never leave her out if you aren't home in case the neighbour is doing something ongoing that you don't know about.

Try to find out if the neighbour is using any sort of dog whistle or ultrasonic device that you can't hear. That could be what is freaking her out. If you can't talk reasonably with the neighbour and find out what is going on, The only permanent solutions would be to put up a really high soundproof fence or move.

[Bracken]

As far as I know she is only shouting, and mostly only at her own dog. (and I'm not even going to start with that dog's issues!)

But she has a REALLY loud, harsh and shrieky shout, exactly the sort that most dogs would hate (and my dog came to me with some nervous issues to begin with) so it just scares her a lot. So the source would almost certainly be the neighbours voice.

I don't think she would be 'cruel' to my dog on purpose, she doesn't even think she's being cruel to her dog when she shouts at it. Also, I just can't imagine her being bothered to spend the money to buy any device!

*Sigh*, She's getting pretty old, so I guess we'll just have to wait for her to downsize to an apartment or something... I've desensitised my dog to most of her fears, she just won't get over this one!

I imagine it's a bit like the fear some dogs have of thunder

[Loving my Oldies]

Frankly, I think I'd confront the neighbour. Nicely of course, in a chatty way and try to address the issues that your dog is having. If she is getting old, could it be that she is deaf?

She may not even know she is shouting??

It doesn't matter whether not she is shouting at her dog, your dog, the paperboy, whomever. Dogs don't like shouting unless you are yelling for them to come to dinner.

Seriously, though, some dogs get very upset by shouting and generally bad vibes.

[W Sibs]

Frankly, I think I'd confront the neighbour. Nicely of course, in a chatty way and try to address the issues that your dog is having. If she is getting old, could it be that she is deaf?

She may not even know she is shouting??

It doesn't matter whether not she is shouting at her dog, your dog, the paperboy, whomever. Dogs don't like shouting unless you are yelling for them to come to dinner.

Seriously, though, some dogs get very upset by shouting and generally bad vibes.

This is true. There are some very sensitive dogs out there.

[kazg]

We are having similar problems with our dog. The kids across the road have whips, and they crack them every afternoon and into the night which sends our dog into a panic. She was almost hyperventilating, and was shaking uncontrollably. She tried to squeeze into the smallest places she could find to hide, or sit on top of me. Nothing we did or said would calm her. I was so worried the first time she did it that I called the vet thinking something was wrong with her. It takes about an hour after they stop with the whip for her to calm down, and she's usually so exhausted that she just lays around or sleeps.

My daughter and the boy across the road are in the same class, and when my daughter told the boy how badly the whip affected our dog, he said he'd do it even more. I took this to be just a kid being all talk, but he was true to his word. We were out one night, and received a phone call from another neighbour from around the corner (that we don't know), saying that they had our dog and that she was in a terrible state of panic. We don't know how she got out of our yard, but she had jumped a 5-6 foot fence to get into this neighbours yard and had cut her chest. The boy had been out with the whip that night and thought it quite funny that our dog had got out.

My husband went over to speak with the neighbour and ask if maybe they could use the whip in the back yard until we desensitize our dog, but the neighbour, who we thought we were friends with, basically told him get lost and shut the door in his face.

Well karma caught up with them and the boy's whip broke that night, but he soon replaced it with one of those long horns that they blow at football games.

Just yesterday, he was back out the front cracking a whip again with the whole family sitting out there watching.

What can you do when your neighbours are being unreasonable? We don't want to stop the kids from having fun, we just need them to be a little more understanding while we fix things on our end.

[poochmad]

We are having similar problems with our dog. The kids across the road have whips, and they crack them every afternoon and into the night which sends our dog into a panic. She was almost hyperventilating, and was shaking uncontrollably. She tried to squeeze into the smallest places she could find to hide, or sit on top of me. Nothing we did or said would calm her. I was so worried the first time she did it that I called the vet thinking something was wrong with her. It takes about an hour after they stop with the whip for her to calm down, and she's usually so exhausted that she just lays around or sleeps.

My daughter and the boy across the road are in the same class, and when my daughter told the boy how badly the whip affected our dog, he said he'd do it even more. I took this to be just a kid being all talk, but he was true to his word. We were out one night, and received a phone call from another neighbour from around the corner (that we don't know), saying that they had our dog and that she was in a terrible state of panic. We don't know how she got out of our yard, but she had jumped a 5-6 foot fence to get into this neighbours yard and had cut her chest. The boy had been out with the whip that night and thought it quite funny that our dog had got out.

My husband went over to speak with the neighbour and ask if maybe they could use the whip in the back yard until we desensitize our dog, but the neighbour, who we thought we were friends with, basically told him get lost and shut the door in his face.

Well karma caught up with them and the boy's whip broke that night, but he soon replaced it with one of those long horns that they blow at football games.

Just yesterday, he was back out the front cracking a whip again with the whole family sitting out there watching.

What can you do when your neighbours are being unreasonable? We don't want to stop the kids from having fun, we just need them to be a little more understanding while we fix things on our end.

How terrible. The only thing I can suggest is to have your dog inside away from the noise when he's out there.

[poodlefan]

I don't see this as a phobia.

I see it as perfectly balanced response to the neighbours behaviour.

Get a dog door. Protect your dog from this person. Or move.

[kazg]

We are having similar problems with our dog. The kids across the road have whips, and they crack them every afternoon and into the night which sends our dog into a panic. She was almost hyperventilating, and was shaking uncontrollably. She tried to squeeze into the smallest places she could find to hide, or sit on top of me. Nothing we did or said would calm her. I was so worried the first time she did it that I called the vet thinking something was wrong with her. It takes about an hour after they stop with the whip for her to calm down, and she's usually so exhausted that she just lays around or sleeps.

My daughter and the boy across the road are in the same class, and when my daughter told the boy how badly the whip affected our dog, he said he'd do it even more. I took this to be just a kid being all talk, but he was true to his word. We were out one night, and received a phone call from another neighbour from around the corner (that we don't know), saying that they had our dog and that she was in a terrible state of panic. We don't know how she got out of our yard, but she had jumped a 5-6 foot fence to get into this neighbours yard and had cut her chest. The boy had been out with the whip that night and thought it quite funny that our dog had got out.

My husband went over to speak with the neighbour and ask if maybe they could use the whip in the back yard until we desensitize our dog, but the neighbour, who we thought we were friends with, basically told him get lost and shut the door in his face.

Well karma caught up with them and the boy's whip broke that night, but he soon replaced it with one of those long horns that they blow at football games.

Just yesterday, he was back out the front cracking a whip again with the whole family sitting out there watching.

What can you do when your neighbours are being unreasonable? We don't want to stop the kids from having fun, we just need them to be a little more understanding while we fix things on our end.

How terrible. The only thing I can suggest is to have your dog inside away from the noise when he's out there.

We have a vizsla, and she is inside with us whenever we are home and stays inside when we go out for short trips to run errands etc...but if we go out for a few hours or more, I don't like to leave her in the house. She is usually in the house with us whenever he gets the whip out, but it is so loud that even with all doors and windows closed, you can still hear it clearly. We need to get her used to it without making her fear worse.

How do you desensitize a dog to a fear if the dog doesn't stop shaking or panting long enough to reward calm behaviour, and you obviously don't want to reward them for being scared?

[poodlefan]

We have a vizsla, and she is inside with us whenever we are home and stays inside when we go out for short trips to run errands etc...but if we go out for a few hours or more, I don't like to leave her in the house. She is usually in the house with us whenever he gets the whip out, but it is so loud that even with all doors and windows closed, you can still hear it clearly. We need to get her used to it without making her fear worse.

How do you desensitize a dog to a fear if the dog doesn't stop shaking or panting long enough to reward calm behaviour, and you obviously don't want to reward them for being scared?

Get professional help. That may involve some drug therapy initially.

I'd consider moving too.

Edited November 22, 2010 by poodlefan

[corvus]

How do you desensitize a dog to a fear if the dog doesn't stop shaking or panting long enough to reward calm behaviour, and you obviously don't want to reward them for being scared?

Look up counter conditioning. If you could reward them for being scared, it wouldn't work. It works. But the key is to keep the dog under threshold. They likely won't even take food if they are over threshold.

[Mollie10]

We are having similar problems with our dog. The kids across the road have whips, and they crack them every afternoon and into the night which sends our dog into a panic. She was almost hyperventilating, and was shaking uncontrollably. She tried to squeeze into the smallest places she could find to hide, or sit on top of me. Nothing we did or said would calm her. I was so worried the first time she did it that I called the vet thinking something was wrong with her. It takes about an hour after they stop with the whip for her to calm down, and she's usually so exhausted that she just lays around or sleeps.

My daughter and the boy across the road are in the same class, and when my daughter told the boy how badly the whip affected our dog, he said he'd do it even more. I took this to be just a kid being all talk, but he was true to his word. We were out one night, and received a phone call from another neighbour from around the corner (that we don't know), saying that they had our dog and that she was in a terrible state of panic. We don't know how she got out of our yard, but she had jumped a 5-6 foot fence to get into this neighbours yard and had cut her chest. The boy had been out with the whip that night and thought it quite funny that our dog had got out.

My husband went over to speak with the neighbour and ask if maybe they could use the whip in the back yard until we desensitize our dog, but the neighbour, who we thought we were friends with, basically told him get lost and shut the door in his face.

Well karma caught up with them and the boy's whip broke that night, but he soon replaced it with one of those long horns that they blow at football games.

Just yesterday, he was back out the front cracking a whip again with the whole family sitting out there watching.

What can you do when your neighbours are being unreasonable? We don't want to stop the kids from having fun, we just need them to be a little more understanding while we fix things on our end.

I assume having a conversation with them isn't going to happen? Honestly, I'd call the police. Like I said in Sheridan's threat, if people are making constant noise above a certain level it's a nuisance. Irregardless of my dogs, that would annoy the hell out of me.

[kazg]

Thanks poodlefan, I think that might be our only option.

Bracken, goodluck with your situation. It is distressing seeing your loved pet in such a state.