Mommy created a fear...

[RhodyNewf]

Now trying to undo it...

I had the retrospectively stupid idea to take Lucy to the Bristol 4th of July parade this summer. It is a really big deal here and I have always seen dogs there. So I dressed her up in red, white, and blue and off we went.

All was well, until they shot off a cannon right in front of us. She panicked that kind of panic that I thought she could bite. She was trying so hard to run, and of course was leashed, and she was shaking so hard.

I obviously left the parade...didnt think about it. Recently, I have noticed that Lucy has been hiding in my bedroom, very unlike her, and did not know why. So yesterday I did some experiments.

The poor thing is afraid of my binder, when I click the rings open and closed she convulses. I feel so guilty. I tried giving her treats when I open the binder and she is so scared that she wont even take them.

So, now what do I do?

Bad mommy!!!

 

[4ondafloor]

Oh dear!
I can certainly sympathize with you. All five of mine are scared of fireworks etc. I dread the 4th of July and New Years Eve.
While I can't say with 100% certainty that it will work for you I can say that the more attention I pay to the problem the worse it gets. I reassure them and give them a pat on the head telling them it'll be ok and then ignore it. I let them go into the bedroom and turn the tv on loudly to help drown out the noise.
Perhaps with the click of the binder you're seeing her cower and then running to her and trying to console her? Maybe that's feeding the fear?
Year before last and without thinking it was around dusk on the 4th. We decided to go ahead and walk the newfs early so as to beat the fireworks. WRONG! We got about a block and a half away from home and BOOM, kids started shooting bottle rockets. I don't have to tell you that the newfs did an about face, hunkered down and made a bee line for the house dragging both Mark and me behind. They were petrified and so was I. I wasn't about to let go of the leads either. I had mine looped around my wrist and I was determined to hang on whether I was dragged home or not. We made it without anyone breaking free and that was the last holiday we went for a walk while the sun was setting. Never again. If there's even a remote chance that a firework is going to go off, we stay home.
I hope you can help her along... I'm sure others will add advice for you. Just thought I'd share my "bad mommy" experience to let you know that you're not alone in that camp
(hugs)

 

[Jager's Mom]

We have the same problem with my 8 year old newf...freaks out with fireworks and thunder. Barks and goes extremely hyper. BUT....we have cameras in the "dog room"...one night we were out to dinner when a thunder storm rolled thru...get this...he wasn't barking or freaking out. Just laying there calm as could be. So we realized that he was feeding off of us. Hmmm...

 

[wrknnwf]

Keep trying to associate the things that frighten her with something good. When she startles, dance around happily and quickly offer her a really high value treat, like hot dogs or something even better. Don't give up trying. It may take a while and it may not completely cure her fears, but will help considerably.

 

[ElvisTheNewf]

Elvis is terrified of fireworks too, but oddly enough thunderstorms don't bother him at all......yet! We don't take him outside when they're going off if we can help it. If one does happen to fire off from far away (he can hear it but isn't in any danger) we remain calm, make him sit for a second, stroke his back, and walk him back to the house. We try not to let him freak out, but that's way easier said than done. We're trying to walk that middle road of not purposely exposing him to his biggest fear, but not letting him spazz if it happens.

He used to be terrified of motorcycles, but working with his trainer helped that. He gradually introduced him to them, and eventually even took him to a bike garage. While he still doesn't like them, he'll search them out and stare them down until they drive away - which is loads better than him hightailing it back to the house.

Maybe show Lucy the binder? Leave it closed on the floor and let her sniff it? Slowly desensitizing Elvis seemed to work pretty well.

 

[charlieinnj]

Gillian,
I can sympathize with what you're going through. I went through a similar 'spooking' incident with my Oliver.

http://www.newf.net/Forums/showthread.php?t=98606

The only advice I can offer is to go about your business and not make any big deal about it at all. I wouldn't offer any type of 'reward' if she's not in a calm state of mind. That will only reinforce the mind's reaction to the triggering sound. And realize that the sound of the binder is something that you've recently discovered. It could very well be unrelated to the incident with the parade.

The best thing I found was to remain 100% positive, confident and nonchalant in all situations. They can read us like you wouldn't believe. They'll pick up on the littlest bit of our apprehension of a situation.

 

[Joan Fisher]

I don't know if its right for all Newfs but we've always tried to get our Newfs used to everything. We didn't want them to be afraid of fireworks or loud noises so we've intentionally brought them in contact with those things. Tiika has been brought to neighbourhood gatherings where there are lots of adults and excited kids and setting off of fireworks at least 5 or 6 times since she was around 10 months old. She can see them being set up, watch them go up in the sky and go bang! We get all excited and tell her how pretty they are, etc, etc. She 's not exactly enthusiastic but she warily watches and doesn't do anything. Of course she's on leash and having her ears scratched the whole time and the kids are always coming and loving on her during the whole time so it's negative mixed with positive. I figure if the Newfoundland Regiment Newf Mascots could stand with the troops during gun firing, bombs, and grenades, my dogs can get used to fireworks. Thunder hasn't ever bothered any of our dogs but it doesn't bother us either, so I guess they don't think it's a problem. We're approaching 35 years of Newf ownership with 4 Newfs of our own and we've also looked after my brother's Newf and my friend's Newf for extended periods up to a couple of months. The only one who ever had a fear was Kelli who got scared by an air balloon going right over our house when she was around a year. She took off and didn't come home for a couple of hours, but after that we just kept showing her the balloons and she gradually got to be okay. She never liked them but she could tolerate tham.

 

[Cascadians]

" .... The best thing I found was to remain 100% positive, confident and nonchalant in all situations. They can read us like you wouldn't believe. They'll pick up on the littlest bit of our apprehension of a situation. "

Not much freaks Orka but cannons did, like Lucy right near, echoed off all the cement and steel columns, buildings, freeway, river, etc -- he had the bolt reflex. He was totally freaked. It was painfully loud but we just kept calmly walking away, pretending it was nothing. He was a little more skittish for a couple weeks after that but then back to normal. We've been back to the location sans cannons and he's OK.

Cannons not only are really loud but shake and are convulsive with shocks running in air ground through buildings etc so it's a huge experience for a dog.

Since then also Orka has regularly been around fireworks and is fine. I think because he is constantly out and about and so well socialized he has learned not to startle with most sounds. He does run and wrap himself around me if he thinks there is anything to worry about. I do acknowledge his concern, massage him, tell him what's going on and then proceed. No phobias so far.

Newfs have excellent memories and really do notice how ppl react. Orka is around a lot of dogs. There's 2 labs that come with a neighbor to the playground across the street (well actually many sets of 2 labs) and one is an aggressive male. Orka never paid attention to this dog until once a woman came and didn't know how to handle dogs and started kicking Orka when *her* dog became aggressive. So now whenever Orka sees this male dog he runs to me and plasters himself against me, even though the woman isn't there, because he remembers her behavior and associates it with the dog. I have not tried to "cure" him of this fear because the woman is crazy and he needs to stay away from her if she ever shows up again.

 

[new_2_newf]

I have to agree....I quite purposely expose my guy and my fosters to potentially scary things. I just chill...sometimes they act out a little bit, but I just insist they stay put, and either sit or lay down..no hiding between my legs or anything. I just try to act like whatever we are doing is equally relaxing as sitting at the beach with a beer. After a while they settle down and sit or lay beside me. Once they are calm, they get pats, scratches and cookies. Otherwise, aside from putting them back into a sit or a down, they are largely ignored. It seems to work for us. Sulley isn't crazy about things like fireworks, parades or gun fire, and if he wasn't leashed he'd opt to leave the noisy area, but he tolerates it when we do go. When we go hunting and I am shooting, his reward for being a good boy is extremely fast and extremely good. Quite literally as fast as I can shoot, safety the gun, and stuff a fresh bird wing, neck, gizzard, heart, etc. into his mouth, it is done. It is a super loud noise, it smells funny and it is about 4 feet from his head, so we have some equally super rare treats for that training.

 

[DAWNMERIE]

It's a tough one...and I'm no expert Myra is fearful/nervous at times. Especially fireworks and motorcycles. We've tried everything we can think of for the past 3 years.

This year we did things differently. She's still fearful but it doesn't seem to be as bad. First sound of fireworks this year she drug Vin home, After that night we started to praise her when she walked with us and the fireworks went off -not 4th of July but the days before and after. She was still scared but I think it eased her nerves.

I made her sit with me (panting) and watch the fireworks on TV and praised her some more and we also bought a thunder storm cd that I have been randomly putting in the surround sound system, During the Hurricane she didn't make a peep, so I'm not sure if what we've been doing is helping but it doesn't seem to be making anything worse.

Normal things don't seem to work with her so we tried the opposite by praising her and being happy and it did seem to help a bit. Funny thing is here at the shop she hears all types of noises dismounting and mounting tires, cars back firing and doesn't bother her at all. Last week a tire blew out in front of the shop and both dogs went into protective mode and I thought she would be scared to death. Go figure. I think each dog is different and hopefully you can find what works for you guys.

We are still a work in progress.

 

[new_2_newf]

Not much freaks Orka but cannons did, like Lucy right near, echoed off all the cement and steel columns, buildings, freeway, river, etc -- he had the bolt reflex. He was totally freaked. It was painfully loud but we just kept calmly walking away, pretending it was nothing. He was a little more skittish for a couple weeks after that but then back to normal. We've been back to the location sans cannons and he's OK.

Cannons not only are really loud but shake and are convulsive with shocks running in air ground through buildings etc so it's a huge experience for a dog.

Since then also Orka has regularly been around fireworks and is fine. I think because he is constantly out and about and so well socialized he has learned not to startle with most sounds. He does run and wrap himself around me if he thinks there is anything to worry about. I do acknowledge his concern, massage him, tell him what's going on and then proceed. No phobias so far.

Newfs have excellent memories and really do notice how ppl react. Orka is around a lot of dogs. There's 2 labs that come with a neighbor to the playground across the street (well actually many sets of 2 labs) and one is an aggressive male. Orka never paid attention to this dog until once a woman came and didn't know how to handle dogs and started kicking Orka when *her* dog became aggressive. So now whenever Orka sees this male dog he runs to me and plasters himself against me, even though the woman isn't there, because he remembers her behavior and associates it with the dog. I have not tried to "cure" him of this fear because the woman is crazy and he needs to stay away from her if she ever shows up again.

I suspect Orka's testicles will help correct that in time. Some dogs react poorly to an intact male, and I wouldn't be at all shocked at some point to hear of Orka standing in front of you with his tail up and chest puffed out in a show of dominance. It won't go anywhere since I know you will have at least of one them under control, but it might be enough to make the other dog reconsider it's behaviour.

 

[ward_hill]

One advantage of growing up in the city is that noise don't bother him at all. He'll sleep through thunderstorms, barely opening an eye when the thunder cracks! Similarly, fireworks (and, more frequently, nearby gunfire) don't bother him at all. He's been to 4th of July things on the beach, etc. Loud horns, crashing noises, he's impervious to all!

 

[RhodyNewf]

fireworks, thunderstorms, motorcycles, gun fire...nothing bothers her.... that's why I figured the parade would be ok.

I think the correlation between the parade and this recent change, is that school just started. I have been paying more attention and I noticed that as soon as I grab my backpack she leaves the room. I am ignoring her, for the time being. I feel really bad. I dont want to try giving her treats because it is so hard to tell if she is in a calm state and I refuse to reinforce the fear. I am not coddling or reassuring, as one previous poster asked. I just hate to have her remove herself, because most of the time when I am home, I am doing school work.. =)

Any more ideas?

 

[new_2_newf]

you might try some umbilical training. Put her on a long lead around your waste when you are doing your homework and when she gets anxious put her in a sit/down, then just ignore her. If you catch her totally chilling out (like half asleep), stop and give her some cookies or some cuddles, then go back to your work. repeated exposure/over coming that fear is the only way I know to get past it. the long lead just physically keeps her from running away from her fear...it lets her get a few feet from it, but keeps her in the same room sort of thing. Take a few calming breaths before you start and keep positive. **** happens, and you are just moving forward, this is no biggie and is what is best for your pup.