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Does Your Dog Fear Thunder Or Fireworks? |
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Written by Stephen C. Rafe
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 Thunder cracks and booms overhead and your dog is suddenly cowering in a corner, stressed and panting. Sometimes he's in this condition long before the storm even begins. A sudden shift in barometric pressure he's a basket case. Fireworks streak and boom across the sky – and your dog shows similar reactions.
What is an owner to do? Noise phobias are a difficult problem to cure. In fact, many trainers and writers have advised owners to get rid of such dogs rather than attempt a cure. At least until now.
Is Personality A Factor?
Noise phobias can develop in any type of dog, no matter whether it is extremely dominant, extremely shy, or somewhere in between. However, most noise-shy dogs generally show some insecurities at an early age. They especially don't respond well to punishment or even harsh voice tones.
The dominant, "take charge" types appear to resist control and often end up on the receiving end of punishment for disobeying, and "turn off" when they hear certain noises.
How Dogs Become Noise-shy
First, there are no “genetically noise-shy” dogs, although some seem more likely to become this way than others. Technically, this is called a “genetic predisposition,” or likelihood based upon breeding. Yet, most of the countless owners of noiseshy dogs I have worked with tell the same story: For a time, their dogs handled the noise just fine. Then one day, they began to act strange when they heard it – pacing, whimpering, or perhaps looking for a place to hide. Other owners tell me their dogs were terrified from the first bad experience; others say the dogs gradually grew more and more fearful.
Genetic Predisposition
When the dogs have always seemed to have a negative reaction to any kind of loud noise, one can assume a genetic predisposition. Quite often, such dogs have seemed to overreact to anything from an early age -- even to being brushed, having nails trimmed, and the like. The age of the dog when the phobia first occurs appears to be another genetic link.
Researcher Dare Miller first noted five specific ages at which fears seem to develop more than at any other times. He referred to these as “fear periods. I have expanded on his concepts, adding a range around each age to allow for differences in breeds, breedings, and the way the dog has been raised. I also now describe these as “critical learning periods” because any number of changes can happen in a dog during these “windows,” not just fear.
Working backward, they are :
Two years of age -- give or take two months on average
One year of age -- give or take one month on average
Half year (or six months) of age -- give or take a half-month, or two weeks, on average
Three months (or 12 weeks) of age -- give or take a week or so on average
Six to eight weeks of age -- the range is too difficult to determine at this age
Of the five periods, most owners I have counselled tell me their dogs first showed noiseshyness at around one year of age or at around two years of age.
Man-made
Dogs frequently become noise phobic when they have had a bad experience associated with a loud noise. For example, someone may have thrown firecrackers at it. A large number of dogs become noise-shy when the owner tries to “reassure” the dog after an unpleasant reaction to the a loud noise. Frequently, when the dog was experiencing fear, they petted him and said "It's all right.” “It's okay.” Or “Good dog.” Since dogs live in the here and now, this was their undoing. Dogs associate the reassurance with their emotional reactions of the moment. So, the petting and praising doesn't tell them that the noise all right. On the contrary, it tells them that being afraid is the right emotion to have.
Methods Available
Methods for dealing with the problem of thunder or fireworks phobia vary in their ability to produce success. The more effective ones have been developed by behaviourists. However, even most of those are limited in their cure rate – although the better-known ones have been used under the guidance of a Ph.D. behaviourist who is frequently a veterinarian, as well. In the mid-1980's a study by Borschelt and Voith reported that the cure rate was less than 60% despite the method used.
One that is considered to be among the better ones is offered by the University of Pennsylvania, USA. It consists of random, recorded selections of the feared sound – whether thunder or fireworks. The owner is instructed to spray an air freshener in the room prior to each session and begin playing the recording through at a low volume. He or she is further instructed to gradually increase the volume with each new session as long as the dog doesn't show stress.
Indeed, most systems currently offered follow similar patterns and guidelines – with some omitting the air-freshner aspect. What lies behind the use of the spray is the concept of creating a conditioned stimulus for calmness in the dog. Theoretically, if the dog is calm when it first smells the spray, it will be calm whenever it sniffs it in the air in the future. However, as one might expect, an atomised spray in the air is very unstable and unpredictable. In addition, should the owner be moving too quickly through the recording and causes the dog becomes stressed, the spray could become a negative stimulus instead of a positive one.
Instead of air sprays, the Starfire System for curing noiseshyess uses largo music that has been specially orchestrated and performed to a precise 60-beats per minute for this express purpose. This rhythm has been shown to reduce stress while maintaining alertness in dogs and humans. The original scores have been further modified to replace any harsh instrumental sounds with smooth, elongated ones to heighten the calming effect. This music is presented as a 10-minute segment at the start of the recording so that the owner can immediately begin conditioning the dog to make a positive association with it. Then, the music is carried through all of the five-minute segments that follow, until it is no longer needed. At that point it is phased out gradually.
Also, as noted, most systems contain only a random assortment of the sound that is to be used in conditioning the dog. They rely entirely upon the owner's ability to properly adjust the volume levels without causing further stress in the dog. This is risky, at best.
The Starfire System recognizes loudness as merely one of several variables that must be addressed and dealt with in curing a noise-phobic dog. The others are the nature of the sound (rumbling noise is less disturbing than sharp cracking sounds), the duration of the sound (short segments are easier to tolerate than longer ones), and the frequency of occurrence (few segments of the sound in a five-minute period are better tolerated than many in the same period). In the Starfire System, each is gradually and appropriately introduced with the music in the background.
Significantly, the owner never needs to touch the volume control again once he or she has adjusted it for the first segment. Everything is controlled within the production of the tape, making it close to being fail-safe. The manual that accompanies the Starfire System leaves nothing to chance, however. It provides you with a list of the signs of stress that you should watch for.
It also tells you precisely what to do in that unlikely situation. Again, most systems tell you to go back to the previous segment and start again from there. However, Starfire has found that with a dog this anxious, you will need to go back at least two segments to where the dog had a solid base for success. Otherwise, the dog could “fail backward” – which is referred to, behaviourally, as negative (or reverse) chaining.
Can Noiseshyness Return?
The answer is "yes." Even dogs cured with the Starfire System have become noise-phobic again. This can happen when:
1) Punishment is used to train the dog
2) The dog is exposed to heavy storms or fireworks whilst being chained outdoors
3) The dog is teased with firecrackers
4) Someone coddles the dog when a loud sound startles it
Should the dog revert to being noiseshy again, the key to success is this: Look at what you might have done, or might still be doing, that is either causing or contributing to the dog's fear. With a commonsense training approach, you should be able to keep that from happening.
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© 2002, Stephen C. Rafe. All Rights Reserved
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