Easing Your Family Dog Out Of Noise Phobias}

Easing Your Family Dog out of Noise Phobias

by

Norma Acosta

A dogs most important sense is his smell, but hearing comes in at a close second. You probably already know that Marlin can hear a whole lot better than you can, especially when he runs to the door to greet a visitor before they even ring the doorbell! Unfortunately, this amazing sense of hearing causes most dogs to react poorly to loud noises like thunder or fireworks. Some dogs get irritated and bark loudly (perhaps also engaging in some destructive behavior) while others become terrified, hiding in corners and cowering until the noise is over.

Many owners accept this case of acting up since it occurs infrequentlygiven the infrequency of both fireworks and thunderstorms. But what if Marlin is a bit more sensitive than most dogs, and hates it when you get on the phone or laugh loudly or raise your voice? These kinds of things happen on a daily basis and are problems that youll need to address. Understanding what’s behind it will help you combat the issue and make both of your lives better.

What Loud Noises Mean

In general, loud, unexpected noises mean bad things to dogs. This isnt hard to understand, as the same thing happens for those of us of the two-legged variety. Its an evolutionary trait that puts us on the alert for incoming danger. If youre calmly watching TV with your partner and they suddenly yell at the top of their lungs, your heart rate is going to quicken, your body will tense and your brain will start the fight or flight reaction.

For Marlin, this reaction is intensified. His lack of reason and understanding of noises coupled with his highly receptive hearing make any loud noise worse for him. Marlins hearing is much more sensitive than yours. He hears things at greater distances and higher frequencies than you. As a result, noises that dont trouble you may be very bothersome for him.

You cant sit down and explain to sensitive Marlin that your laughter is a good thing or that raising your voice sometimes just means youre talking to someone whos upstairs (and not that youre angry). Instead, you have to gradually desensitize him and associate these noises with positive things. Because he doesnt understand what these noises are and mean, he can only rely on instinct and conditioning to tell him whether these noises pose a threat to him or not. It may have taken just one instance of something bad happening simultaneously with this noise for him to make the association forever. So you need to change these associations to something positive.

What to Do

The first thing you need to understand is that you cant coddle and comfort Marlin when he reacts badly to your loud voice or laughter. Then hell associate bad behavior with rewards. For infrequent events like thunderstorms, its sometimes suggested to provide a safe and quiet space for Marlin to weather the storm (literally), but this isnt a solution for daily noises.

What you can do is slowly get Marlin accustomed to the specific noise that bothers him. If he hates it when you laugh loudly, sit near him, armed with a handful of treats. Laugh quietly first and see how he reacts, giving him a small treat if he remains calm. Keep raising the volume of your laughter until you get to a level where he becomes agitated. At this point, refrain from giving him a treat, but remain still and quiet. Lower your laughter again and see if he calms down. By doing this frequently, you can get Marlin used to laughter by associating it with good things. The same can be done for yelling or any other daily noise that causes Marlin stress.

There are some things thatll well never be able to understand about some dogs. The amount of strange sound phobias that exist are widely varied and sometimes quite bizarre; there are cases of dogs being afraid of the humming of a refrigerator or even the sound of the toilet paper roll! Even if you never know the root cause of what makes Marlin fearful of certain sounds, you can understand that he perceives noises very differently than you and patiently get him more and more used to hearing them in a positive environment. Then life will be much more pleasant for both of you.

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Easing Your Family Dog out of Noise Phobias}