Facing Your Fears

When I was young, my mom made a terrible pre-dog trainer mistake. It's something she's never admitted to anyone. She was blow drying her hair when she saw me trying to run off with an article of her clothing. She turned to yell at me and blew some of the air from the blow dryer in my face. Since I'm scared of everything, this terrified me, and I never came into the room when she was blow drying again.

About a year ago, I decided to brave the hair dryer. I walked into the room when she was blow drying and watched her. She was so happy that she praised me a lot. This doesn't work with every dog, but I love it when my mom praises me. It's my favorite. I got excited and moved closer. She praised more. And so the story continues until yesterday when I stood almost face to face with her, receiving her warmest pets and praise while she used a new hair dryer, which did make me afraid for a few days.

I've never been afraid of thunderstorms, growing up in Texas, but I can understand why your dog might be. But he can be relieved of that fear just as I was relieved of my hair drying fear.

First of all, some dogs are not afraid of the noise but the static electricity. When the storm comes, rub your dog with a dryer sheet periodically to see if that helps.

However, most dogs with a thunderstorm fear are afraid of the sound. When you live in Los Angeles, you don't get a lot of storms to practice, but that's actually a good thing -- no element of surprise. Instead, buy a CD that has storm noises. Play it at a level where your dog's ears prick in curiousity but does not react in fear. That's really important. Praise your dog and give him treats during this time.

At first, play it for only a short time. Then, build up to playing it for long periods where you reward your dog only intermittenly. He should be learning to enjoy it and then igore it. Once you have reached this stage, play it a little louder. If you have increased the decible, decrease the time so you are back to listening to it for only a few minutes and rewarding frequently. Build up to ignoring it most of the time. Then increase again. Keep repeating until you are playing at full storm volume.

During the training, your dog should never get stressed out. If he does, you're moving too fast. This isn't a race. If you start the training in the summer, you have months before you even have to worry about a real life storm.

When the real storm hits, treat it just like you treated the CD. Reward your dog for improvements in his behavior. Any time he initiates calm behavior, reward him. Reward a lot during loud noises and ignore more as the storm goes along.

You'll be able to watch your dog progress to a dog that doesn't even notice the loudest thunder booms. And if you're anything like my mom, it will make you so happy that you even shed a few tears.

Love, Muggsy