Strange Phobia

[Dotty&Duke]

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I'm not sure if anybody else has experience of this particular phobia in a whippet or has a dog with a different strange phobia? Dotty is, and has always been, since we've had her from a pup, scared of the oven :wacko: She hates it if the oven is on. I don't know if its the sound of the fan or the smell as it heats up. My oven has never been so clean since we've had her in case its old food burning? we always also make sure the grill pan is clean after every use and everything is always rinsed thoroughly but nothing seems to make any difference. I've tried feeding her treats in the kitchen whilst its on to try to desensitise her but she just takes the treat and runs off, its so bad she shakes and hides in the furthest corner of the lounge and doesn't calm down until at least 20 mins after its been turned off. I'm probably not the best cook but I'm not that bad and never burn food. :lol: I rang her breeder to ask if there was ever a fire in the kitchen when she was a pup but couldn't get hold of her. I'm now at a complete lose as to what to do next? Any body else got experience of this? or any ideas as to how we can help her? Cheers sue

 

[meddling]

does your smoke alarm go off often when the ovens on?

 

[Suerose]

How strange. Do you think she might have burned her nose on it once? I met a St Bernard once that was afraid of open fires, the great big wimp.

 

[Dotty&Duke]

Hi meddling, No the last and only time I have set the fire alarm off was when we first moved here 7 years ago burning toast :lol:

Hi Sue hadn't thought of that maybe she has burned her nose, :thumbsup: it's so odd though. If she has it must have been within days of her coming here because she's been the same ever since we've had her (which is since she was 10 weeks shes now 2 and 4 months). At one point I thought maybe its the fan so stopped using the fan but no change. It really bothers me because she gets soooo stressed shaking and refuses to move its really weird :wacko:

 

[pippywhippet]

Poor Dotty Good excuse to get a takeaway though! (w00t)

 

[Dotty&Duke]

Poor Dotty Good excuse to get a takeaway though! (w00t)

Lol (w00t) i've tried that one quite a few times but it's wearing a bit thin with the OH now :lol: We need Caesar!

 

[Janimal]

I have two in here with strange phobias too.... :-

Oscar does not like the oven fan and as soon as I switch it on hes off downstairs (we have an upstairs Kitchen in the house)....also Archie

does not like the frying pan when I fry bacon especially...maybe the spitting that sets him off...and hes away too.... :lol: ..I have a small cat bed

next to the oven which the dogs fight over sometimes...so maybe he got splashed once too...that would explain it...

 

 

[Rachel]

I'm not sure if anybody else has experience of this particular phobia in a whippet or has a dog with a different strange phobia? Dotty is, and has always been, since we've had her from a pup, scared of the oven :wacko: She hates it if the oven is on. I don't know if its the sound of the fan or the smell as it heats up. My oven has never been so clean since we've had her in case its old food burning? we always also make sure the grill pan is clean after every use and everything is always rinsed thoroughly but nothing seems to make any difference. I've tried feeding her treats in the kitchen whilst its on to try to desensitise her but she just takes the treat and runs off, its so bad she shakes and hides in the furthest corner of the lounge and doesn't calm down until at least 20 mins after its been turned off. I'm probably not the best cook but I'm not that bad and never burn food. :lol: I rang her breeder to ask if there was ever a fire in the kitchen when she was a pup but couldn't get hold of her. I'm now at a complete lose as to what to do next? Any body else got experience of this? or any ideas as to how we can help her? Cheers sue

Hi Sue,

wow! what an unusual fear from your girlie! I'm not sure if finding the initial fear provoking incident will help, I think you have to tackle what you are left with. I can't imagine how I'd tackle this in any other way than desensitising which you are already doing BUT I wouldn't allow her the chance to escape from the kitchen with the 'scary thing' in it and go down the lines of when dogs are afraid of thunder for instance - ignore the fear response as I think it often feeds their fear of the thing ie/ ooh err if she's reassuring me, I must be justified in being afraid.

You say you feed her treats in the kitchen - I'd feed her evening meal in there, particularly if Duke is another whippie and will eat happily with the oven on. I'd give both a good satisfying walk and feed them an irresistible (chicken, sardines, or whatever) meal in front of the oven, possibly away from it to begin with and gradually move in towards it as the days go on? - have the food ready for immediate eating - so no chance of getting ultra frightened whilst you prepare it, and perhaps deliver it from close to the oven so she associates the oven with food. Completely ignore both whilst eating - no 'good girl' and no hovering - act normal! Possibly she'll have to be very hungry to do this. Paradoxically, in my experience, you must not praise her if she eats the tea, as the theory is that 'everything is normal'.

It may not work immediately, but no dog will starve itself, and I think you may have to be a bit cruel to be kind. I had a very neurotic chinese crested with endless fears - I found that when I was at my least sympathetic with her I had the most success. It took me ages to cotton on that I was adding to her fears and so as soon as I'd tackled one, she'd invent a new one! I cracked her in the end!

We are fortunate that whippets are not a neurotic breed so I think she'll come good - one of mine hates the vacuum cleaner, we no longer get any fear response but she removes herself when I vacuum - if only I had that excuse! lol

Just my opinion, and good luck with her, but desensitisation is the key - think people in spider phobia therapy! :wacko: )

 

[gilliwigs]

Strange creatures aren't they! :lol: Something must have happened to make Dotty so scared of the oven! :unsure: I guess you may never know what.

The phobia we have here concerns Muffin. He always used to come to bed with me and get settled in the middle of the bed and wouldn't move even when Richard came up. But for the last 6 months or so, when he hears Richard go into the bathroom, he's up and off the bed like a shot, running downstairs. :clown: He comes back after quite a short while though. The only thing we can think of which started him behaving like this is that Richard once sat on him! (w00t) But you'd really think he'd have forgotten about that by now - it just shows what long memories they have.

Hope you can find out what's causing Dotty's behaviour :thumbsup:

 

[Dotty&Duke]

Thanks for the feedback guys . yea Dotty also doesn't like the frying pan as well forgot about that one, god she's getting more and more freaky by the minute :teehee: :wacko: Thanks Rachel I do feed both Dots and Duke in the kitchen anyway, i have tried feeding her with the oven on also but she's so fussy anyway she just seems perfectly happy not to eat. As you say though maybe we should try something a little more tempting for a while like sardines. the only reason I havn't tried this is because if I change her food or treat her too much she gets more fussy. Think Im just gonna have to go for it and try because some days she seems to be getting worse and like you say maybe I need to try for days rather than just the odd day. thanks again Sue :thumbsup:

 

[June Jonigk]

I have one with a phobia too, and I think it may have been the dishwasher, which we always seem to put on when we go to bed. One of our boys (Sweep) started to shake, pant and cling to me whenever we started off the routine of bedtime.

All the dogs go out for a wee, and then the young ones are put to bed with biscuits. Sweep would be in a right state, and I think he connected us going to bed, with the noise of the dishwasher. I expect we once put pans or their food bowls in there, which do make a funny noise when the water squirts on them. Whatever it is, he associates it with us leaving him - so he and his sister sleep in a crate in our bedroom. He is happy with that, and we don't mind, as long as he is happy. I did try ignoring him, but would come down in the morning to a pool of dribble, he must have been really dehydrated, and he also started losing weight, so I couldn't let it go on.

At one time he used to freak at the sound of my mobile phone, but we did the desensitising bit (I made him sit with me and listen to it, while I stroked him and fed him treats) and he is fine with it now.

They are sensitive dogs, not neurotic, but very sensitive - but that's what makes them the addictive, beautiful, loving creatures they are :wub:

 

[LasVegasNo1]

Alfie doesn't like the ironing board, I think the noise it makes opening/closing scared him when he was a pup, he leaves the room when it's ironing time... or if he has to pass the ironing board he rushes by with his head down :wacko:

 

[Tracy_mk]

you could always cook a nice chicken and when its ready dish it up for her so she see's that good stuff comes out of the scary cooker.....

Mine are always up at the cooker and I forever worry about burnt tootsies and when the door is open they are all peering in to see if its for them. As soon as I put veg into a pan they are following me about because they think its their dinner

Tracy