I'd work on desensitising him to sound. You can get apps with lots of noises on them and you can play these on your phone, starting at a very low noise level (this is way more portable and versatile than a CD). You can also try balloons popping and party poppers - but over the other side of a football field at first. The sounds need to be soft enough and/or far away enough so that he can detect them but is not too scared to eat a treat.
I play the cd from time to time trying not to have it on at the same time of day and it has to be very, very low volume still. It was quite telling for us how severe is reaction was compared to the other dogs who were also near the bang. One or two were a bit startled but we're back to normal in less than a minute. Although one lady involved in organising the event was very sympathetic and said her dog would 'run three counties'.
My old rescue was like this with thunder and fireworks. We were advised by the vet to keep er in the smallest room in the house and make a cave for her to retreat to. We got out the old crate and covered with blankets and she would go in there and shiver and pant but not charge around panicked any more. It took her some time to calm down after each episode though. So awful to watch it was actually a blessing when she turned deaf at 13. Her last two years were blissfully calm. Good luck.
I would personally avoid the thunder shirt because I think they can shut the dog down, rather than actually calming them, so it may look like they're coping better, but they're actually not. My Willow is sensitive to certain loud bangs. Thunder and fireworks don't cause her any problems, but gunshot, avalanche blasters and similar do. She varies in her reaction depending on how close the sound is. Sometimes, she'll just stare intently in the direction of the noise, other times she becomes frantic and jumps up at me, which looks very much like excitability but is actually fear, and other times, she'll sit and look very dejected. She'll ignore even the tastiest treats, her favourite toys etc, so there's no pairing it with something positive. I've also tried the desensitisation noises downloaded from the internet and she paid absolutely no attention to them at any volume, although I've heard some people have had success, starting playing them at a volume that you can't hear (a volume that the dog has zero reaction to) and, over days, weeks, months, however long it takes, increase the volume, each time going back a level if there is any reaction at all. The closest I got to something that worked was a video I found on YouTube of duck shooting. So maybe try a variety of different sources until you find the right one. The place we've bought in Spain has shooting for different game almost all year in the local area, however what we thought at first was hunting, I think was actually bird scarers. The regular bangs seem to have diminished markedly in the last couple of weeks. Before that, Willow was actually doing really, really well with the bangs. She had been scared at first, and, had the noises been under my control, I would have definitely made them quieter and built them up slowly over time, but as it was, that wasn't possible, so I went for a management style which combined being blasé about the noises if she didn't have a strong reaction, to comforting her if it became too much (apparently moreso when she was tired). She had got to the point where she barely glanced if there was even a pretty close shot. Which was fabulous. Until two weekends ago, when we went to our normal swimming spot for an evening dip, and, while the dogs were enjoying the water, someone let off a banger on the opposite bank. She was absolutely terrified, poor love, wouldn't even take beef from my hand, and she cowered in the back seat of the car while we drove home. We've not heard any shot since then, which I'm glad about, but I fear it will have set her back a long way. I read somewhere that the stress hormones can remain in the dog's system for up to a week, so if they have been scared or stressed by something, to not repeat exposure to it again within a week, even at lower levels. I don't have the article to hand, but it might be worth looking into.
I hope Willow recovers from her fright. It's those random unexpected bangs that are so difficult. There were a few distant fireworks last night - a Tuesday night! I get what you say about dogs shutting down with the thunder vest. I went ahead and ordered one and tried it on him. He had been passing up and down, anxious but not completely distressed. After a minute or so he lay down on the carpet quite still, but not altogether relaxed. I think I will keep it for emergency situations but only put it on him for short periods of time when absolutely necessary. The nutacalm is helping so will use that along side desensitisation noises.
Re the thunder vest: Many years ago I listened on the radio to an autistic woman who had insight into her condition. (While writing this post I decided to Google her and found she is a professor of animal science!) She designed a squeezing machine for herself which she'd get into when she was feeling hypersensitive. She said the squeezing had a calming effect. You can read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hug_machine
Whilst that may be true, apes are built for hugging and get comfort from it, canines aren't and generally don't.
I know the replies are kind of outdated but I was wondering if anybody found a solid fix for this? There is a set of Apartments behind my home and Stryker and I were outside playing in the yard when a truck, which he can not see because of the bushes, went speeding over a speed bump. He must of had a trailer or something on the back because it made a loud banging metal sound and Stryker took off running yelping. I've been trying to coax him back in to the yard but after he does his business he will not stay in the backyard and makes a mad dash for the house. Any car sound he hears now he has the same reaction except he doesn't yelp. He sounded like he was being beaten really bad. Some of my neighbors came out to see what was going on it was so loud. I felt so bad for him and scared because I kind of stood there after it happened kind of dumb founded like, "What in the world just happened?" This is an issue as his appointment for his second set of shots was rescheduled due to a few pet emergencies and the vet that I take him to (It's a 24/7 animal hospital). That being said, I can't let him walk new area's yet and my yard is the only one that I know is safe as I took good care to spray it just to be safe. I really don't know what to do as I have never encountered this issue before.
It's now a couple of months later since my initial post and things have hot a bit better. Mostly through showing him where noises have come from and fortunately we haven't had much thunder recently and fireworks season hasn't started yet. Stryker is still a young puppy so try to get him used to as many different noises as you can around the house, but start with noises at a low volume. Maybe some videos of car chases on a low volume in the background while you play with him inside. Also play a gentle ball game or put out some tasty treats for him to find in easy to spot places, some toys that make noises such as an empty plastic soda bottle or a tin dish with some treats under it that will rattle as he tries to get them out. These games could be played both inside and outside so that outside becomes a fun place too. Hope the little chap will get more confident.
After visits to the vet and finally a referral and an appointment we went to see the behaviour clinic at the Royal Vetanary College. I was quite nervous at first as I was expecting to be told that we'd done everything wrong and ruined our dog but there was no need to worry. Thankfully because with a rumble of thunder at 2:30am there was much sleep lost last night. The vet went into detail explaining various medication, some we'll be using in the short term coming up to Bon fire and Divali. He is concerned that Homers noise fear is expanding to all sorts of noise and that he's not wanting to go back to places where he's heard noise. So at this point medication would be our best route. He also said that desensitising at this stage would not be effective as he can't bare the CD even at the lowest volume. But this is something we will be working towards later. We will need to set up a den for him with blankets he can scratch and an adaptil spray. But he'll need to be free to go in and out of his den on his terms and not be shut in.
Willow has decided that the bang of a cider or cava bottle opening is absolutely fine - in fact, it's the world's most exciting noise! Maybe she's picking up on something from me there She will go all giddy, prance around, jump up and squeak when a bottle comes out. Despite it being hunting season here, we've not heard much gunshot yet, but the ones we have heard, she's not flinched at. She managed to remain relaxed through a windy day and night this week, too - the last one we had, I built a den out of blankets in the bathroom and sat up with her all night long. I'll be interested to hear how you find the Adaptil and the medication.
Really interesting thread - please do let us know how you get on. Brogan also had this problem, mainly around thunder (he didn't hear it until we moved to Germany as there is no thunder in California) and gun shots (hunters in Spain/Italy). Nothing I tried really worked and I'd really like to be better equipped to help my next puppy not have this problem. Lots of pets to Homer - he's very lucky to have you working so hard to help him!
We live in London so he was exposed to all sorts of busy city noises, traffic, sirens, builders and deliveries. His anxiety began at about two and got steadily worse. There no real explanation as to why. Once I get the report and the prescription I'll be able to add more detail. Our first step is to raise dopamine levels. (May need to check this) then desensitising. Some nuggets I came away with are: It's the clever dogs that get scared, because they try to think things through and make connections. It's not us that's making him nervous it's his past reactions that make me anxious. As he said, you've been perfectly confident with other dogs. He's seeing a growing problem with Labradors with noise fears. He thinks more labs are bread to be pets so being being gun shy is not actively de-selected as much as before. Don't try to trick him by going to the same noisy place a different way. He stop going out altogether. When doing desensitisation make sure your hi-fi is set up correctly so that the noises are as realistic as possible. He thinks Homer is handsome and a lovely dog!
Snow bunny, that's great news about Willow. Now hunting season is a time to celebrate and pop open all the cava!
I opened a bottle of cider for her (well, for me, but you know what I mean!) last night. It gave a disappointingly flat "blop". So I had to open another one. Just for her, you understand! I now have two bottles of cider to finish off before they go flat. FML
What do you mean? Do you mean that he can dig in his blankets? I ask cos Snowie often digs when he's very tired and wants to go to sleep, and annoyingly he also does it in the middle of the night. We've tried to understand why he does this and have come up with a million reasons, but none that satisfy (perhaps the midnight digging is due to his getting too hot in our bedroom). We also use blankets -- so if he starts digging in the carpet (a particular sleep spot), we redirect to his blanket and he digs that up and then plops down on it. Those "nuggets" you listed are very interesting -- and I particularly agree with the last point! I do absolutely LOVE Homer's colour.
The loose blankets for him to dig would prevent him ripping a mattress and give him somewhere to snuggle up or burrow under. Homer sleeps in our room and also sometimes scratches at his bed in the night.
