Mom called because three-year-old Pomapoo Piper had always been over reactive to even the slightest noises. Then, not long ago, there was a terrible accident on Route 83 and tires exploded on a tractor trailer. This was so loud that it shook the house and put Piper over the edge and even made her worse.
Dogs & loud noises-we will explain this using the natural dog (without humans) and thunderstorms. Like us, dogs have the fight or flight response. These responses are based on being able to see a threat. That way you can run towards it to attack it, or run away to get away from it. Loud noises like thunderstorms present an issue with this response because you cannot see the sound and it sounds like it is coming from all around. Same with us as with an explosion. Your and their immediate natural response is to crouch down making yourself the smallest target possible. Then you may run and hide. This is stressful because you don’t know if you are running to or away from it. So, like us, dogs often freeze where they are and totally shutdown. During this response, ears shutdown. It is called auditory exclusion. You may have experienced it during a traumatic or emergency situation. Even loud noises will be muffled. This is why telling your dog to “relax” or “calm down” has no effect. You are really just attempting to self soothe yourself because you feel bad for them.
Lack of footing– dogs are typically sure footed unless there is no traction, or the ground is moving. This is why they freak out in bathtubs or on the Vet table. As for the bathtub, put a towel in the bottom for them. The first way they interpret the world is through the feeling of their feet and body on the ground. For poor little Piper, the noises were loud enough but when the house shook from the exploding tires it overwhelmed her ability to control her response even by moving and hiding because the ground shook. Taking a dog’s feet off the ground usually results in submission. This is why the first thing I do with a small dog that is trying to bite me is to pick them up off the ground. Within a few seconds they realize their only option is to fully submit. When they do, they quickly realize that even when fully submitted I am not going to do anything to hurt them.
So, what did we do with Piper? Well, we started with the same way we do with every dog. A Silent Loose Lead Walk & Focus Drill without any talking at all. This develops the loose lead which is mental connection that remains even when the lead is removed. The dog is conditioned through movement and lack of it to focus on the handler instead of reacting to anything they see, smell, hear, or feel.
Then we pressure tested this with Piper standing next to Mom as I walked around them both ways without Piper reacting to me…or the noises I was making. Then we sat down and moved onto crinkling a soda can which was one of her triggers. Then we made louder noises with Piper on a loose lead. Whenever she would react by attempting to run away, she would get a gentle correction (think a tap on the shoulder). Soon she would just sit there and look at us.
It will take time but consistency in this process will pay off. Not to mention Mom is now very excited to walk Piper on a loose lead for the first time.