Any hope?

[CKC1586]

Any hope I can help my lab overcome her fear the sound of thunder and gunshots? She was fine until I stupidly without thinking last year left her in the truck while parked at the neighbors and they were siting in rifles. She is now terrified of the sound of thunder and guns. Suggestions????

 

[dun]

Good luck.

 

[CKC1586]

Good luck.

Thanks, I am gonna need it. Gun season opens up here on the 15th..... There were shots fired somewhere near yesterday and she wanted to be on my lap! She is about 70 pounds...not your typical lap dog.... :roll:

 

[bigbull338]

weve had an got a dog thats scared of gun fire.an if she sees a gun she will run through you to get in the house.they can get some better over time,but as far as i know theres no way to completely get them over being scared of guns an gun shots.

 

[cowmilker]

It's a long shot, but you could try a DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) collar. We've found that it's been helpful with fourth of July fearful dogs. Should be available at your vet's.

 

[CKC1586]

It's a long shot, but you could try a DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) collar. We've found that it's been helpful with fourth of July fearful dogs. Should be available at your vet's.

:shock: Really!??? Never heard of such a thing! Will give vet a call tomorrow to see if they have such a thing! :nod:

 

[angie1]

Just wanted to mention also, watch your dog during deer season. My dog is also very afraid of gunshot, fireworks and thunder storms. If I am home she stays near me, and she is ok ~ just anxious. If I am not home, and she is outside alone, for some reason she runs off (she NEVER does this unless there is gunshot, thunderstorms or fireworks). Actually, I have talked to several owners whose dogs react this way. Anyhow, if your dog were to react by running off during deer season, there is a very good chance that it will get shot. Hunters understandably hate to see running dogs in the woods, too often they are up to no good. I would hate for your dog to get shot because someone assumes she is out chasing deer on their property. And yes, there are meds out there that are low dose and calming. My sister uses them for her dog. The collar thing might work better, as it would be a shame to have to have your dog doped up the entire rifle season! Good luck on getting it to go away though. Seems like once they develop that fear, its there to stay.

 

[mlazyj]

This isn't a quick fix . Get some canned dog food or table scraps ( something that your dog really loves to eat) . Put the treat in their bowl and stand back 20 feet or so and fire a cap gun once while the dog is eating . Do this several days in a row till the dog will continue to eat when you fire . When the dog accepts the niose at that distance start moving closer , if the dogs stands this up to the piont you are right by them . Move back and this time use a .22 blank pistol and repeat . The other thing you can do along with this is work on the dogs prey drive . Have your dog on a lead , dizzie a quail or pigeon by swinging the bird by it's feet in a circle , put the bird on ground and let the dog chase it and retrieve it , do this a couple of times so the dog is good and excited . Then when you turn the bird loose and the dog is really getting on it snap your cap gun . Hopefully the dog is so so dialed into the bird it will ignore the shot . The other way to make it so the bird cann't fly is put some duct tape on it's flight feathers on the back of it's wings or pull some of it's flight feathers . Good luck , hope you have the time.

 

[hillsdown]

Steffie was afraid until the day we had to put her down at the age of 12 . I tried everything I could think of even the different desensitising drugs out there. I think the one thing you can do is be calm, ignore any thunder or gunshots you hear so it becomes less stressful to her .As well as what Angie said, make sure you are with her when you know these situations are going to occur.

I remember one time we went to a bday party a couple hours away and left the dogs outside as it was a beautiful evening, well thank goodness they all knew Steff at that time and she had a coller with my name and contact #'s as someone must have been shooting and she wandered a few miles away from home. They called me and I asked if they could put her in out home as it was unlocked . I was very grateful, and sent brought the lady a huge bouquet of flowers. After that I always put her in the house even if I had to rune quickly to the neighbors etc.

Friends of ours lost their dog to being scared and hi8ding, he crawled under a grain bin during a thunderstorm and couldn't get back out. By the time the neighbor found him he was dead and had bloody paws from trying to dig out from under there . :cry2:

All 3 of the dogs we have now are not scared of anything even Nikkle ,which makes it much less stressful on me .

Good luck CKC ,you have your work cut out for you .

 

[wbvs58]

My foxie used to hate the sound of guns and thunder up to the age of 7 when we moved onto the farm, if I got the gun out she would run in the opposite direction back to the house, fortunately. Somehow she got to realise that at the other end of the bang there was something dead and kicking on the ground that she could grab and shake. She now associates the bang with something good and runs out to murder the the shot animal, I just have to pick up the rifle and she gets very excited, runs over to the quad bike, stands over the top of the handlebars as we head out looking for something for me to shoot.
They can change, but being a min foxie helps, they have bred into them over many years an insatiable desire to kill.
Ken

 

[MistyMorning]

CK, I like the sounds of desensitizing the dog without drugs first. That dog has hunting instincts and if you awaken them, you may get this issue cleared up. If that doesn't work, drugs might help during the more stressful times. Our dogs are hunters and deer season opened this weekend, gawd does every weekend warrier have to end up around me already! It's a hassle keeping them from investigating every shot.

 

[CKC1586]

Thanks guys for all the advise! Rough day today as there was a bunch of folks around that must be siting in their rifles. Maggie is never outside alone for any length of time, she is usually at my heel inside or out.

 

[peg4x4]

He's kinda silly at times,but The Dog Whisperer has some good advice on desensitizing.. You might hafta dig for it.. My German Shepherd was terrified of thunder,guns,fireworks and the train.. Let us know how this comes out..

 

[peg4x4]

He's kinda silly at times,but The Dog Whisperer has some good advice on desensitizing.. You might hafta dig for it.. My German Shepherd was terrified of thunder,guns,fireworks and the train.. Let us know how this comes out..

 

[JSCATTLE]

I had a squirrel dog when I was a kid that was afraid of gun shots ...I would tie him to a tree before I shot the squirrel and after a box of shells he figured out it wouldn't hurt him and there was a dead squirrel to fetch ...

 

[CKC1586]

I ended up getting her some drugs, helped a little bit....I hate using them. Her eyes look like she has been on a three day drunk on them, pitiful looking. I need to figure out how to "desensitize" her if possible...