Prevention of noise anxieties
My newly adopted, Lucy, has been with me for 3 months now and I am still learning about her, every day. All in all, she has been a dream to integrate into our home; she has learnt our routines very quickly, has made some friends outside of the home (doggy and human!), and generally just settled exceptionally well. She has even taken to shaping with a clicker exceptionally well; this evening learning to touch a beaker for a reward within seconds. Her brain has “opened up” to possibilities in terms of managing her own behaviour guided by its consequences, and it is a true delight to see.
She does have a couple of symptoms, however, that I have flagged up as “could escalate to a behaviour problem if left untreated”. Our house fire alarms went off the other night, repeatedly. By the third repetition (when we were busy trying to work out why it kept going off!) she was shaking, squashing her head into my neck trying to get away from the intrusive noise. Of course, no dog is going to ENJOY the squealing of an alarm, designed to disturb everyone in the vicinity, but I’ve observed for a while she is sensitive to loud noises. Loud shouting on the TV will worry her. If I’m playing music in a room, she will go elsewhere. If she can’t, for whatever reason (such as I’m making her dinner!), she ends up repeatedly rubbing her head against the floor.
Noise anxieties can escalate, fast. The other evening, Lucy came running into my room to find me, seemingly alarmed. The fire alarm peeped (annoying thing!); just once, but it was enough to put her on edge. I am Lucy’s safe base so there really is nothing wrong with her coming in and needing to sit with me for a bit. I watch my reaction to her very closely as I do not want to communicate to her that there is indeed something to be worried about, but I do not want to ignore her either. Neither of those extremes are helpful. What I need to communicate is that sure, there’s nothing to worry about, but I’m here.
However, noise anxieties can generalise. How might she react now to the dishwasher beeping to say it’s finished? What about the house alarm that we can hear going off down the street? What about the car alarm that regularly goes off up the road? What about the bell of the fish and chip van that comes around on a Saturday? You can see how from just one negative experience, noise anxieties can spread, until you have a dog who is clearly distressed at even a letter box clanging, or keys turning in a lock, or a microwave and so on.
I will be dedicating some time to help desensitise her to some loud obnoxious noises that she may come across whilst living here with me. Using the trusted app, “Pup School”, I can play noises to her starting at a low volume and pair it with something positive for Lucy. There is an option on that app for “smoke alarm” which will be handy! Also, fireworks, a big problem for many many dogs.
The video at the top of the page is me desensitising Lucy to the sounds of a baby crying.
Notice how I am starting off with the volume low, at a level where she is showing no reaction whatsoever. There is no rush to increase the volume of this. Knowing she is sensitive, every slight volume increase will be felt by her more than it is me. I need to allow time for her to process the sound at that volume, over a number of sessions. If she was showing any signs of stress eg. leaning away from the noise, rushing the treats in order to get away, whale eye, quivering and so on… I would turn the volume down.
It feels really important to emphasise the importance of seeking out advice from a behaviourist BEFORE a problem becomes truly unmanageable. Behaviour difficulties are typically easier to remedy when it hasn’t become well-rehearsed over months or even years. The best time to ask for help is when you spot something that you feel might be early signs of a difficulty. Then we can talk management and treatment with the goal of helping your dog cope with whatever they are struggling with, even if they are not yet drowning.
Lets just focus on teaching our dogs to swim. Always.
She does have a couple of symptoms, however, that I have flagged up as “could escalate to a behaviour problem if left untreated”. Our house fire alarms went off the other night, repeatedly. By the third repetition (when we were busy trying to work out why it kept going off!) she was shaking, squashing her head into my neck trying to get away from the intrusive noise. Of course, no dog is going to ENJOY the squealing of an alarm, designed to disturb everyone in the vicinity, but I’ve observed for a while she is sensitive to loud noises. Loud shouting on the TV will worry her. If I’m playing music in a room, she will go elsewhere. If she can’t, for whatever reason (such as I’m making her dinner!), she ends up repeatedly rubbing her head against the floor.
Noise anxieties can escalate, fast. The other evening, Lucy came running into my room to find me, seemingly alarmed. The fire alarm peeped (annoying thing!); just once, but it was enough to put her on edge. I am Lucy’s safe base so there really is nothing wrong with her coming in and needing to sit with me for a bit. I watch my reaction to her very closely as I do not want to communicate to her that there is indeed something to be worried about, but I do not want to ignore her either. Neither of those extremes are helpful. What I need to communicate is that sure, there’s nothing to worry about, but I’m here.
However, noise anxieties can generalise. How might she react now to the dishwasher beeping to say it’s finished? What about the house alarm that we can hear going off down the street? What about the car alarm that regularly goes off up the road? What about the bell of the fish and chip van that comes around on a Saturday? You can see how from just one negative experience, noise anxieties can spread, until you have a dog who is clearly distressed at even a letter box clanging, or keys turning in a lock, or a microwave and so on.
I will be dedicating some time to help desensitise her to some loud obnoxious noises that she may come across whilst living here with me. Using the trusted app, “Pup School”, I can play noises to her starting at a low volume and pair it with something positive for Lucy. There is an option on that app for “smoke alarm” which will be handy! Also, fireworks, a big problem for many many dogs.
The video at the top of the page is me desensitising Lucy to the sounds of a baby crying.
Notice how I am starting off with the volume low, at a level where she is showing no reaction whatsoever. There is no rush to increase the volume of this. Knowing she is sensitive, every slight volume increase will be felt by her more than it is me. I need to allow time for her to process the sound at that volume, over a number of sessions. If she was showing any signs of stress eg. leaning away from the noise, rushing the treats in order to get away, whale eye, quivering and so on… I would turn the volume down.
It feels really important to emphasise the importance of seeking out advice from a behaviourist BEFORE a problem becomes truly unmanageable. Behaviour difficulties are typically easier to remedy when it hasn’t become well-rehearsed over months or even years. The best time to ask for help is when you spot something that you feel might be early signs of a difficulty. Then we can talk management and treatment with the goal of helping your dog cope with whatever they are struggling with, even if they are not yet drowning.
Lets just focus on teaching our dogs to swim. Always.