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Shelby is a six-year-old Brittany we rescued a few years ago. A few specific notes about Shelby: -According to the rescue organization, she already had a litter. -She had a staph infection on her leg that was treated before we adopted her. But because of it, she often walks with her back leg raised. The vet says that it doesn't hurt her; she's just used to it. -She recently went to have surgery to have nodules removed. The vet called us to say that she had bird shot in her X-ray, likely from before she was adopted. Since she's a hunting breed, we suspect it was an accident. The vet says the birdshot is not hurting Shelby. -She's very attached to my mother. Now, Shelby has a major fear of cameras. If she hears one turn on, she runs away. If she's backed into a corner, she begins shaking rapidly. She's smart enough that she's recognized camera phones and a 3DS camera. Hiding the camera has not helped. Another issue is the barking. The slightest noise, the sound of a door opening, a "good morning" to my mother, a sound after a long silence will set her off on a barking fit. Her tail is wagging, so she's not upset. Any ideas how to deal with either issue?
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Sep 24, 2014 17:50
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 14:08 |
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Blue and Dog posted:Her tail is wagging, so she's not upset. Yes, she is. Tail wags pretty much just indicate that the dog is in a state of excitement. They'll happen when a dog is happy or anxious. The barking plus the camera phobia says to me that she's an anxious, fearful dog. Here are a few links to get you started: Dog training megathread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3364451 Scaredy Dog by Ali Brown: http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=dtb799 My guess about the camera fear is that your dog is responding to the pressure involved in having a photo taken. It's almost imperceptible to us, but there is a behaviour change that happens when we bring out a camera. Our body language becomes more stilted. We may try to pose our dog. We may sit at a weird angle. For some sensitive dogs, it's enough to unnerve them. And if nothing is done to address the initial nerves, they compound on each other each time they're approached with a camera and eventually you can wind up with a phobia. Like Pavlov did with his drooling dogs, you've classically conditioned your dog to experience fear in the presence of a camera. You can address it the same way -- via classical conditioning. Each time you bring out a camera, food and other good things should rain from the sky. If your dog won't eat, the camera is too close. Repeat this around meal times and eventually the dog will brighten when you pull out the camera since that means that good things are about to happen. This may take a while. Don't rush it. Don't even turn the camera on or bring it anywhere nearby unless your dog has become 100% okay with it being around. Then you can start to break the process of taking a picture down into little pieces -- turn on camera, feed feed feed, end session. Food stops when camera goes away. When your dog is comfortable with that you can bring the camera closer or wave it or put it to your face then feed, feed, feed. Basically you'll address barking in much the same way. She's fearful of changes in her environment. Identify her triggers and start introducing food and other good things which are highly valued and pairing them with the presence of low intensity triggers.
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Sep 24, 2014 18:41
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a life less posted:Yes, she is. Tail wags pretty much just indicate that the dog is in a state of excitement. They'll happen when a dog is happy or anxious. The barking plus the camera phobia says to me that she's an anxious, fearful dog. This is all a great place to start--thank you!
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Sep 24, 2014 20:20
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My dog also has a fear of cameras, although hers comes from the flash, which turned into a fear of anything camera-like being pointed at her. Thank you, a life less, that was very helpful!
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Sep 26, 2014 19:41
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MrConfusedTurkey posted:My dog also has a fear of cameras, although hers comes from the flash, which turned into a fear of anything camera-like being pointed at her. Thank you, a life less, that was very helpful! I wonder if Shelby's fear comes from the flash, too--it seems she was in a hunting accident of some kind, so maybe she equates the camera flash to a muzzle flash?
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Sep 26, 2014 19:48
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 14:08 |
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Muzzle flashes outside of movies aren't (e: generally) bright. Often times you can't see them until dusk at the earliest.
Parts Kit fucked around with this message at 13:39 on Sep 30, 2014 |
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Sep 30, 2014 13:14
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