Hi all Our 7 month old lab has started to become more reactive to sounds that she never paid attention to before. Any strategies?
Depends, got a few ideas, but generally I want to stress that I am *not* a dog trainer and if the reactivity continues, I'd look at finding a good balanced trainer near you. That said, your puppy's a covid puppy - in between lockdowns, topsy-turvy work at home orders, ect, there's a lot going on. If this is happening at home, you're going to have to designate a "safe space" for them. Be it a crate or a mat. Play the noise, whatever it may be, direct them onto the mat or into the crate and treat them whenever they settle or make good choices. If this is happening outside, keep them on leash at all times, whenever the noise happens, make them sit, and treat them whenever they disengage and look at you. Escalate this after a while to just stopping and waiting for the dog to sit, then treat them. Treat all disengagement - looking away, turning away ect - and give hefty praise. We often forget that event 7 mnth old labs are babies. We have to be gentle and encouraging with them. Theres a chance your pups gotten spooked and now associates the noise with a bad feeling - you need to actively rewrite that experience with positive reinforcement. If you're not comfortable with taking your pup on walks around the noise - see if you can find a recording of it and play it at increasing volume over a period of a month or two while rewarding disengagement and ignoring the noise. Hope that helps!! Good luck. (P.s: highly recommend doing the noise socialisation/reward for disengagement with firework noises in prep for New Year, so your dog can ride out new years without stress)
