Hi, My lab seems to be scarred for life. One day someone was firing fireworks and my lab was really scared of the noise. It was her dinner time so in order to distract her I said "foodie time" (which she understands) and gave her the food. Its been few months now but everytime I say the word foodie time she looks up with a scare face and tries to listen to any sound/noise. Is there a remedy for this. I am thinking of not saying those words anymore and just give her the food which I would hate to do as these very words use to bring happiness in her life . Also any sort of similar noise bothers her now.
Aw, your poor girl. What about just choosing a new word - like 'dinner time' or 'dinner's up' If you say it every time before she gets a meal she will very quickly come to know what it means and she will be just as happy to hear it as she was to hear 'foodie time'. In relation to being scared of loud noises, one thing you can do is buy an app that has a whole lot of different noises on it, like fireworks. You can play this on your phone really really softly while feeding her some very tasty treats (whatever her favourite is). If she is ok with the soft noise you can turn the sound up very slightly, continuing to feed her treats. Over a number of sessions you can gradually make it louder. What you are doing here is teaching her that loud noises mean nothing bad at all, and in fact can mean something really good. Go very gradually though, and if she seems worried then make the sound quieter again or move it further away.
Poor girl. My girl Willow is scared of lots of loud noises, although not fireworks strangely. I'm trying to do some work with making her happy around these noises but it's really hard because she reacts even when it's really quiet. The CDs of fireworks are definitely worth trying; they may work for your girl. Similar things didn't work for mine, she didn't seem to associate the noise on the TV/phone/sound system with the noises she's afraid of. But definitely worth a go. I agree with Rachael that you should change the word. I use "Is it that time?!" for my two. Although, I only get out "Is it..." before they get the idea. I can wake them from the deepest of sleeps just by whispering those words
We say "Ella? Do you want some food?". Although we get the 'Labrador stand and stare' a good 15 mins before meal time and as soon as we say "Ella?" she's at the fridge haha. Here's the 'Labrador stand and stare' in action:
You could also place her dinner in a different place which wold help to break the association of the fireworks with her dinner. I would also change the verbal cue from "foodie time". She will learn the new cue and it may help, together with trying the noise therapy.
Thank you all for your advice, i will change the words from now onwards. We actually never taught her those words. Me and my partner must have used it couple of times and she was so smart to pick it up and from third time onwards it became a routine. Don't we all love that stand and stare look at times I tease her for just that look on her face and then she gets a small treat for bringing a smile on my face…
Just realised that I actually posted the 'Labrador stand and stare with sock in mouth' a variation of the 'Labrador stand and stare'. Here's the original:
Naw, thanks Fiona . After all of those games of tug she's finally developing some muscle on that skinny little backside
Hehe, it's funny looking at the different build of my two now they're so much older. Willow is still slim and leggy and, although she is building muscle, it's nowhere near as rapidly as Shadow, who is a solid monster now! I guess that's the testosterone effect. After struggling to get body fat on him, he's maintaining really well; he's still nice and lean, but covered in slabs of muscle, especially around his shoulders and rump. He's looking very grown up now - where did my little boy go?!
Ella is definitely going through her teenage lanky stage. I notice it most when I compare the size of her narrow little chest compared to her two grown up lab friends (although they're both boys so she may never get to their size). Hehe, Shadow the big muscle man I just can't picture it. How old are your two now? I feel like they were about Ella's age now (coming up to 11 months) when we first got Ella!
Buster is also scared of fireworks/ gunshots he has got a lot worse recently with any thing that make a bang noise, I am waiting on a behaviourist to get back to me as I really think we need professional help with his recent noise problems. But I did buy the noise cd of Amazon and have been playing it this past week and he is doing really well, I am either playing/ training or give him a bone while I am playing it so he isn't focusing on it, so far so good
