Hi I have a 4 year old red fox female labrador that is frightened of loud bangs. My husbands friend gave her to us when she was 18months old. She is frightened of any loud noise and when we are out walking she will stop dead in her tracks. I have tried everything to encourage her but am at my wits end. I have started to drop her lead and walk on ahead of her ( only if it is safe to do so), she will catch up with me eventually but only when she can't see me anymore. It is becoming an unpleasant experience as I spend most of my time waiting for her. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Its not going to be easy at that age id start with tv turned low watching war movies ect while playing with her make it fun over time turn it up then if you have say a clay shooting ground around you very slowly get closer I've done this in the past and it worked for me but make no mistake its a job over months not days or weeks
What sort of loud noises is it that she doesn't like? Were you given any info about this when you got her? It could be that something happened when she was younger that has made her fearful. Have you tried LAT? https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/look-at-that.22184/#post-341186
I second the what sort of loud noises? Does she react in the house or garden at all? Is this a recent change or has she always reacted to loud noise with you? Did she react with her previous owners - presumably as she came from a friend you have more history for her. Sorry for the questions but it helps to have a clearer idea of the problem to suggest possible courses of remedial action.
What ia Lat? He said she was trained to the gun but she frightened od gunshot, fireworks amd any loud noises
Ahh, bless her! Some working line dogs can be very sensitive. Has she been part-trained to work? LAT is a type of counter-conditioning training system that helps dogs change their response to a trigger. Although this system might be difficult to implement in areas where you can't manage your environment, such as public places. Here is a thread which covers the principles of LAT training https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/look-at-that.22184/ @snowbunny has some experience in this area, although I am not suggesting your dog needs medication, it does give some great insight into the issue surrounding dogs with noise phobias. https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/willows-noise-phobia-medication-journal.18456/ Another option would be to consult a clinical dog behaviourist to help you. Might be an idea to check out their qualifications first to make sure they are members of an accredited body such as the APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour and Counselling) as well as IMDT ( Institute of Modern Dog Trainers). Good luck and do keep us posted!
You have my sympathies. My dog was also frightened of gun shot and fireworks and to my regret I never got him over it. The only thing that worked was taking him home for the day and keeping him in a nice quiet spot next to me, have a good sleep and then he'd be once again fine the next day. He was only 'cured' when he went completely deaf at 11 years old. As @Beanwood says, @snowbunny has a lot of experience with this that she is sharing here on the forum and which I follow closely so that I can better help my next dog if he also has this problem. Personally I wouldn't recommend dropping her lead when she is distressed, or at least not if her reaction is similar to my dog's. Brogan would be become so distressed that he would just start going in a direction that he perceived to be away from the noise. This was a dog who never ventured more than 10 meters from me and in fact was trained as a mobility service dog to stay only centimetres from my side when working. When he had a panic attack from gun shot, it was like his normal thinking brain would just go and leave only quivering Jello in its place. It was the only time I was truly frightened that I could lose him if he was off lead. What I found helpful to get him home in one piece would be to run him through a couple very basic commands (sit, wait, down) that seemed to reach into that Jello brain, get him securely on lead and then briskly walk him home with a minimum of fuss. If he got 'stuck' (wouldn't move forward on lead), I'd try to reset him again with the sit, wait, down routine until he was able to move forward again. To not end on a discouraging note, I will say that while we never did solve this last phobia of Brogan's, 99% of the time he was an absolutely bulletproof dog who dealt superbly with all sorts of distractions and chaos around him. Gunshot was his Achilles Heel and though I wish I would have known that there were further techniques and medications I could have tried to help him, he still dealt with it like a champ and would be happy and enthusiastic to face the next day after an episode.
