New noise - Help!

[JMF]

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Hi, I wonder if anyone could offer any advice. I have a 3 year old female black lab who has always been good with noise and is not bothered by gunshots / fireworks/ thunder etc.

However we live near a park and over Summer they put a zip wire in - she does not like the sort of clatter it makes when the zip wire stops and the metal hits metal. I knew she did not like this noise and generally she has pulled when we have gone passed the zip wire / park and then been ok.

However last Monday we went passed zip wire and into park and headed away from zip wire - usually she is ok by this point.

However she just stopped and lay down and would not move. We left park and tried to continue our walk round block however it was a struggle to keep her walking as she kept laying down and did not want to move!

The next 2 days we went out in the car and drove to our walk destinations and she was ok. However the following day I struggled again to get her passed the park - to go for walk somewhere else - however she was ok at our destination but then i struggled to get her home.

Yesterday she decided she does not even want to walk down the street outside my house - even if I try to go the other way to the park - I presume she is now anticipating hearing the 'scary' noise and thinking we may be going towards it.

I plan to go out in the car for walks this week as I do not want to force her or compound / build on the fear she appears to be experiencing near the house / park.

I would like any advice on the correct way forward? - avoiding the park isnt entirely possible as i have to walk passed it quite a lot as it is on my main route however you can hear the noise everytime you walk past.

Also how long does anyone recommend i leave this issue (if it does not improve) before I consult a professional? My dog has never had any issues like this before and I want to prevent it escalating further.

Apologies for the long post but I am really concerned about this.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Jan Woodhall]

Hi, I wonder if anyone could offer any advice. I have a 3 year old female black lab who has always been good with noise and is not bothered by gunshots / fireworks/ thunder etc.

However we live near a park and over Summer they put a zip wire in - she does not like the sort of clatter it makes when the zip wire stops and the metal hits metal. I knew she did not like this noise and generally she has pulled when we have gone passed the zip wire / park and then been ok.

However last Monday we went passed zip wire and into park and headed away from zip wire - usually she is ok by this point.

However she just stopped and lay down and would not move. We left park and tried to continue our walk round block however it was a struggle to keep her walking as she kept laying down and did not want to move!

The next 2 days we went out in the car and drove to our walk destinations and she was ok. However the following day I struggled again to get her passed the park - to go for walk somewhere else - however she was ok at our destination but then i struggled to get her home.

Yesterday she decided she does not even want to walk down the street outside my house - even if I try to go the other way to the park - I presume she is now anticipating hearing the 'scary' noise and thinking we may be going towards it.

I plan to go out in the car for walks this week as I do not want to force her or compound / build on the fear she appears to be experiencing near the house / park.

I would like any advice on the correct way forward? - avoiding the park isnt entirely possible as i have to walk passed it quite a lot as it is on my main route however you can hear the noise everytime you walk past.

Also how long does anyone recommend i leave this issue (if it does not improve) before I consult a professional? My dog has never had any issues like this before and I want to prevent it escalating further.

Apologies for the long post but I am really concerned about this.

Hi, I am new to this forum, and I have not owned a dog for 38 years till a few weeks ago, so safe to say I know little about them. However, I DO know about horses and I am wondering if there might be any similarity with their hearing? I know that one of the horses I have is particularly sound sensitive, Perhaps that the sound hurts your dogs ears? Best of luck anyway, there are some brilliant folks on here I am sure someone will have an answer for you.

 

[JudyN]

I think stress hormones can take around 4 days to disperse. What I would aim to do then is to take her close enough to the park (by car if necessary) that she can hear the sound in the distance, but it's far away enough that it doesn't upset her. Sit there, and whenever you hear the sound, give her a treat. Rinse and repeat until when she hears the sound, she turns to you for the treat in expectation. Next day, go a few yards further towards the noise and do it again.... and so on.

Another approach would be to walk towards the park until the point where she puts the brakes on, and then turn and go in the other direction - let her choose where to go. This will give her confidence that you're respecting her fears and won't push her into a scary situation. Gradually encourage her to go just one step further towards the park, praising her and then letting her go the other way. When she realises she's in control, the sound shouldn't be so scary - it's like someone with a spider phobia watching a spider from a distance knowing that they can leave whenever they want, rather than thinking they'll be forced to get nearer, and nearer, and nearer...

 

[JMF]

I think stress hormones can take around 4 days to disperse. What I would aim to do then is to take her close enough to the park (by car if necessary) that she can hear the sound in the distance, but it's far away enough that it doesn't upset her. Sit there, and whenever you hear the sound, give her a treat. Rinse and repeat until when she hears the sound, she turns to you for the treat in expectation. Next day, go a few yards further towards the noise and do it again.... and so on.

Another approach would be to walk towards the park until the point where she puts the brakes on, and then turn and go in the other direction - let her choose where to go. This will give her confidence that you're respecting her fears and won't push her into a scary situation. Gradually encourage her to go just one step further towards the park, praising her and then letting her go the other way. When she realises she's in control, the sound shouldn't be so scary - it's like someone with a spider phobia watching a spider from a distance knowing that they can leave whenever they want, rather than thinking they'll be forced to get nearer, and nearer, and nearer...

Thank you for your advice. I will give one of these ideas a go in a few days time and hopefully make some progress.

 

[JudyN]

Do let us know how you get on

 

[Jan Woodhall]

I think stress hormones can take around 4 days to disperse. What I would aim to do then is to take her close enough to the park (by car if necessary) that she can hear the sound in the distance, but it's far away enough that it doesn't upset her. Sit there, and whenever you hear the sound, give her a treat. Rinse and repeat until when she hears the sound, she turns to you for the treat in expectation. Next day, go a few yards further towards the noise and do it again.... and so on.

Another approach would be to walk towards the park until the point where she puts the brakes on, and then turn and go in the other direction - let her choose where to go. This will give her confidence that you're respecting her fears and won't push her into a scary situation. Gradually encourage her to go just one step further towards the park, praising her and then letting her go the other way. When she realises she's in control, the sound shouldn't be so scary - it's like someone with a spider phobia watching a spider from a distance knowing that they can leave whenever they want, rather than thinking they'll be forced to get nearer, and nearer, and nearer...

I like the second option best for me! This way the dog will look to you as a person to trust! Trust building is paramount don't you agree?

 

[JudyN]

Trust building is paramount don't you agree?

Absolutely! Jasper used to be scared of dustbin lorries. I let him choose how close to get, and crossed to the other side of the road so we didn't get nearer than he was OK with. Now, he'll be a little wary, but often choose to walk quickly past and then look to me for a treat as if to say 'I did good, didn't I Mum?'

 

[Jan Woodhall]

Absolutely! Jasper used to be scared of dustbin lorries. I let him choose how close to get, and crossed to the other side of the road so we didn't get nearer than he was OK with. Now, he'll be a little wary, but often choose to walk quickly past and then look to me for a treat as if to say 'I did good, didn't I Mum?'

Such a great feeling when they trust isn't it!

 

[JMF]

I like the second option best for me! This way the dog will look to you as a person to trust! Trust building is paramount don't you agree?

Yes I agree