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Has anyone dealt with fear of gun shots with their AIdogs? Chhaya is afraid of them....and it's deer season here in PA. She doesn't go crazy and run from me. She will stay close, circle me and tremble. She seems a little better now that the "practice" shots for deer season is over. An occasional gun shot here and there doesn't seem to bother her too much. Any feedback would be appreciated!

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Hey Maria

I feel your concern and frustration.

 

Wasn't an AI dog, but our BCx Mina

We go to SCA events and often they are 'ship' related.

Several of the folks around us had black powder rifles and one guy had a cannon, which was fired at random times during the day.

Mina was a little wigged by it all, so we made it "fun"

It became her job to tell me when she heard the shots, by quietly saying 'woof', and pointing the direction of the sound.

Much like her 'watch dog' job at home.

As long as she was merely telling me and not acting afraid, we would play or she would get a treat as reward.

So it kind of became a game for her, and she began associating the sound with good things.

"Hey Mom, didja hear that?"

"Thank you Mina, it's just a cannon."

*Whee!*

 

LOL

Now she gets a kick out of watching the black powder target practice (slightly unnerving for the shooters, who expect a dog to be startled by the shots, not to grin and wag their approval.) Another development- she also enjoys watching fireworks.

 

Just so long as I keep up my side of the conversation when she says 'Momma look!' - she's fine.

 

I never tried to console her or comfort her when she was originally afraid, so I didn't have that battle to fight.

I am also using the same method with Jas, and having excellent results.

(didja see the vacuum video? Now he plays tug of war with a rope toy with the shop vac, or just sleeps through on the couch..)

 

So that's my $0.02

 

Good luck

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My parents live near a quarry in NJ and the blasts scare the bejeezus out of their AIdog, Arrow. He starts running around the house barking incessantly, then he finds my mother and lays on top of her feet so she can't go anywhere for about 15 minutes, then he's fine again... This happens at least once a week, and he is now 8, I don't think it's gonna change anytime soon either!

 

 

 

 

 

Has anyone dealt with fear of gun shots with their AIdogs? Chhaya is afraid of them....and it's deer season here in PA. She doesn't go crazy and run from me. She will stay close, circle me and tremble. She seems a little better now that the "practice" shots for deer season is over. An occasional gun shot here and there doesn't seem to bother her too much. Any feedback would be appreciated!
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Gee Star, I wish you had been on line when I first had Coyo. Very good advice.

 

Later, I did read that you should play your dogs out of their fears, which is exactly what you recommended.

 

Coyo is scared of those loud sounds, but the little guy seems oblivious. Now, I can see that Coyo does not want to look too scared in front of the little guy. You can always teach these dogs new tricks, no matter how old.

 

Coyo used to try and run....anywhere. So that was worrisome. Now during the fireworks, I set up a pillow in the basement, where he seems to feel safe, and he gets through it much better.

 

Gunshots still upset him, but he does not try to run away anymore. I open the door to the truck, and he likes to sit there for a few minutes, and then he is fine again.

 

I look forward to next summer, and will try your methods.

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Thanks everyone!

Starghoti....I think I'm on the same page as you. The first time she got scared I had her come to me...told her that as long as she stayed with me all would be fine and gave her a big hug. After that I tried to play ball with her...she didn't want anything to do with that ball, which surprised me!!! Since then I have asked her "What's that?" and would do the "woof" trying to get her to go into that "guard dog" mode. I will continue to do more of what you have suggested!!! Thank you!!! This is just very different from what our yellow lab Kayla would do. She would see Ken going for his gun and get sooo excited. When she heard a gun shot she immediately went into point and would bark once or twice.

 

I so would love to see Mina do this: Now she gets a kick out of watching the black powder target practice (slightly unnerving for the shooters, who expect a dog to be startled by the shots, not to grin and wag their approval.) :) That would be GREAT!

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Star, that is genius.

 

Danza is a total wimp, afraid of too many things to name. She's afraid of large white things, my son's guitar case, flapping plastic bags (and now napkins), to name a few. The other day my husband said to me "Danza's afraid of a new thing..."

 

We have never comforted her, and I've tried anti-aversion therapy, to no avail. It started off with propane tanks and the vacuum cleaner, which was easy enough to try to work with. Now, frankly, there are too many triggers to try to face. Fortunately, she recovers as soon as the perceived danger is past and is on a sharp lookout for when the coast is clear.

 

Maria, good luck!

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Snake was alot like Danza since we have had Malachi he no lays on th ecouch and watchs me vaccume Malachi is scared to death of it Now we hear alot of gun shots in a distance in our area the dogs do not react but if it was real close Snake would hide Malachi would bark and run or stand by me I have taught both dog when scared run to mom Most of the time it works

 

 

Star, that is genius.

 

Danza is a total wimp, afraid of too many things to name. She's afraid of large white things, my son's guitar case, flapping plastic bags (and now napkins), to name a few. The other day my husband said to me "Danza's afraid of a new thing..."

 

We have never comforted her, and I've tried anti-aversion therapy, to no avail. It started off with propane tanks and the vacuum cleaner, which was easy enough to try to work with. Now, frankly, there are too many triggers to try to face. Fortunately, she recovers as soon as the perceived danger is past and is on a sharp lookout for when the coast is clear.

 

Maria, good luck!

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Snake was alot like Danza since we have had Malachi he no lays on th ecouch and watchs me vaccume Malachi is scared to death of it Now we hear alot of gun shots in a distance in our area the dogs do not react but if it was real close Snake would hide Malachi would bark and run or stand by me I have taught both dog when scared run to mom Most of the time it works

 

 

Luckily Shunka is not gun shy, he takes no notice of the bangs from fireworks, our blackpowder guns or the cannon, but he hates the shrill whistles that some fireworks give out.

 

If he is startled by something he usually stands close and leans on me, bit like I'm not scared really and I'll protect you!

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I have to say, I am so lucky with all of this stuff....BUT I think it is mainly because my Boarder is almost stone deaf and almost blind, so hasn't been able to teach Tolinka lots of her undesirable habits, like shaking if fireworks go off..., or chasing cars....etc. I find that if there is a new object that is disturbing to Tolinka, the vacuum cleaner, my car parked in the drive at night, a tree that has fallen, or a stump of a different shape, etc, etc, etc, all I have to do is take him to it, let him sniff and study, and all is well.

 

I never tried to console her or comfort her when she was originally afraid, so I didn't have that battle to fight.
I am with your philosophy Star, make a game out of it. Keep it light. It's only for the moment. Great advise for all.
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I have to say, I am so lucky with all of this stuff....BUT I think it is mainly because my Boarder is almost stone deaf and almost blind, so hasn't been able to teach Tolinka lots of her undesirable habits, like shaking if fireworks go off..., or chasing cars....etc. I find that if there is a new object that is disturbing to Tolinka, the vacuum cleaner, my car parked in the drive at night, a tree that has fallen, or a stump of a different shape, etc, etc, etc, all I have to do is take him to it, let him sniff and study, and all is well.

 

I am with your philosophy Star, make a game out of it. Keep it light. It's only for the moment. Great advise for all.

Yes, Shadow HATES gunfire, fireworks and extremely loud noise. Nothing has calmed her over the years and she'll be 12. Some of these guys are just like that. Making a game out of it never worked or calmed her. We just comfort her as best we can. The other three aren't phased.

 

JudyK

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......Mina was a little wigged by it all, so we made it "fun"

It became her job to tell me when she heard the shots, by quietly saying 'woof', and pointing the direction of the sound.

Much like her 'watch dog' job at home.

As long as she was merely telling me and not acting afraid, we would play or she would get a treat as reward.

So it kind of became a game for her, and she began associating the sound with good things.

"Hey Mom, didja hear that?"

"Thank you Mina, it's just a cannon."

*Whee!*

 

 

Almost everyday we have Draco "walk the perimeter" with us and we go all the way around our fenced backyard. That's good, but that puts us right in the middle of the amazing subtlety and discernment these dogs can learn and we must somehow teach and learn to communicate.

 

Your quote above is a simple way of saying some major/important/vital training subtleties. Moving from being wigged to playing a game with loud sounds is a world apart. Care to go into a little more detail?

 

 

And the same regarding how you trained "watch dog" if you don't mind.

 

Part of which is barking. I found myself saying to Draco, "No barking." Then, I realized how limited our communication would be if he told me, "No English."

 

So, there IS barking, but how much in what situation. I need to say, we don't have an issue with Draco. OK, every once in a great while he joins in the mindless barking of the two neighbor dogs. And when I say mindless, I know from where dogs get their mindlessness. But, usually, we now say, "Draco, stop barking." and he does.

 

Usually, if something out of the ordinary happens we get a couple of very enthusiastic "woof's". Something extraordinary? A good, solid Bark. Or, two.

 

But, it ultimately comes to some sort of conscious (Psychic? Maybe. Sentient? Definitely.) connection in the moment that establishes the communication so that both sides know how much barking and how many treats are involved. It seems, Star, you transformed it from threat level to treat level.

 

And this is just the barking part. So, we are now on the cusp of really entering advanced subtleties in "watch dog" and "not getting wigged" and ..... and ....

 

I quoted Star to start but I sure would love to hear any training details along these lines.

 

Thanks, everyone. I love this forum.

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I agree Gib....I love the Forum too! It's amazing how much we can learn and help each other with everything even though we are miles apart! :lol: Thanks all for sharing!!!

Edited by maria
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Gib (and others)

You want the breakdown of what/how?

Ok- I'll try. Sorry if this sounds New-Agey, or preachy.

I don't mean for it to- at all..

 

Part of it began long before-

 

She was a rescue, at about 4-5 years of age, and was a bit unnerved by 'new' things. so anything that gave her pause became a game.

We found her goofy-play trigger, and utilized it to help her adjust to living with us.

"It's gonna git ya- Mom's messin with ya. ha ha Nyaaa! Rrwarrwr - Am I messin with ya?"

Example- I shake out the trash bag to reline the can, Mina 'startles' and looks at me like WTH!! So I go through the "gonna get ya, messin with ya" routine (with some script variations..) and my whole body is doing the puppy wriggle/play bow- shoulder drop- head turn body language of dog-play. This continues for a moment until she responds with her own play bow and eyes light up and her body relaxes and she is in play mode. We play for a quick moment (still shaking the trash bag, mind you) and then we are done.

She no longer is startled/afraid of the trash bag. I know it's not as simple as that- there is watching her body language and responding with my own, and tone of voice, and using 100% of yourself and your mind dedicated to the moment. Because it is necessary. They know if you think they are being stupid or aren't THERE with them in the moment, and they respond differently. I know- I've seen it.

 

And we built the foundation of 'Watch' by asking her "What's that?" and to "Watch it" for us. things like skydivers, dirigibles, random weird things in the neighborhood- like someone riding their horse down a city street. At one point she became obsessed with 'UP' as we had a string of weird UP related events. So we made it a game by having her, instead of obsessively watching the ceiling all night for something to happen, it became her 'fun' job to check the ceiling for bugs before we turned off the light for the night. Took about a week for her to get that it was her job to check - once- for bugs, then bedtime. :lol:

 

And then we just combined it together.

 

Now bear in mind, I was taught that training dogs is a 24/7 job. You are always on. (Just ask Kim about the scolding he got last summer..lololol)

Which is probably one of the reasons I have been so blasted tired the last 3-4 months. Been a while since I've raised a young pup. (and I am not a young pup myself anymore. lol) But he has learned bunches, and things have gotten much 'easier' (I use the term loosely, as you all know) And now it is more of a maintenance thing and adding, and less of Building.

 

And, of course, no two dogs are the same- just as no two people.. so the recipe may need adjusting or may not work at all for whatever reason. I know I use different techniques with Jasper than I do with Mina. They are different personalities.

 

 

The problem is this is not Engineering, there is no set formula.

This is organic life, and it constantly changes.

Whew- there I go again with the Preaching.. LOL

Sorry-

 

Have fun :P

A

 

Oh and for fun, here's a couple of Mina in her "uniform"

IMG_0526.jpg

SD10_mina.jpg

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The ship! It does look like fun.

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Thanks Starghoti! Tonight there was more practice shooting.....we were at the barn....no frisbee or ball to play with.....over the last couple days I have used "watch um" when the shots were fired, so I started with that and Chhaya is responding better. No trembling but she still is going in circles around me. I didn't deter her of that, because like Linda I want her to stay with me when she is unsure about something. As we walked back up to the house they were still shooting, I repeated to her after every shot "let's go play frisbee". It worked wonders...got her excited about the frisbee, the circling continued till we got to the house. We played frisbee as long as the shooting was going on. She did some awesome catches when a few shots went off. I praised her alot when she got them. It went well. She is definitely getting better! Of course like you said there will always be training to do. I FULLY understand the "it's been a long time since you've raised a young pup", I'm there too!

Woohoo....guess what just happened has we speak....shooting started again and Chhaya barked. Houston we have success!!!!!!!!!!!! Whew we are getting there!!! :lol:

 

Love Mina's uniform and the picture with the boat! Thanks again for sharing...it's good to get new ideas and feedback!

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We did something similar to what Star did/does due to Soul being totally freaked out about fireworks (and we shoot them off several times a year). Now its a game...the first one goes off and I play it...what's that? Look up..(which he knows)...woo hoo...good pup...play...again and again...

 

He now does a startled look and then goes about his business...but the big ones? He watches them...can't wait to get a picture from down under with him watching them in the air!

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