Millie my black lab is luckily not a gun dog,she hates everything loud,from fireworks to thunder and lightning and even the kids pinging elastic bands,
toy guns have been banned from our house as she is reduced to a drooling quivering wreck,
lately tho after a spell of rainy weather and storms shes now come to associate heavy rain with loud noisies and thunder and everytime it rains shes terrified,she pees on the floor and paces round panting and trying to escape from god knows what to god knows where
its very upsetting to see her in such a state over rain,not to mention a real pain in the butt if it rains in the night as i get no sleep!!
as a last resort ill get her some downers from the vets but any suggestions please,ive considered the plug in calmers but they are hugely expensive and ive not found anyone whos used them so i dont wanna fork out 50 quid to find they are rubbish,i would however willingly pay it if it calmed her down,ive tried various herbal remedies without much success as these tend to need to be given half an hour b4 storms/fireworks etc
the husband is threatening to have her PTS,hes kidding he knows he would go first but i really could do with some advice

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Me,Goat and Sid Lola.........


the 3 Rumsketeers

she needs patient de-sensitisation. reassurance ONLY when she behaves properly. if you try to comfort her when she is distressed, it will only re-enforce her anxiety. when she shrinks from the noise you should tell her no. when she settles down fairly well during loud noises, do the good girl thing. she'll get the hang of it. i'd take her in a feild with a shotgun, but this isn't britain, and work her through it from time to time. she'll get better as time goes on. there is more to it than this but no room. positive re-enforcement and no reassurance when she's doing the unwanted behavior.

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To be honest £50 will get you a good hours session with a private dog trainer with good qualifications and this will probably help you (and the dog) a lot more than any plug in scents or pills. There is behaviour therapy and it's mostly about rewarding, calming and helping.. I'm not really experienced in the area but I know there are specialist dog therapists/trainers/ "whisperers" who really can help in this sort of situation.

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Try this, friends used something similar with their Labs to prepare them for the arrival of noisy twins.

aversion

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thanks all for your replies, and thanks ^^ ill seriously consider giving that a go.............anything to help her really,thanks Habu,i couldnt possible fire a gun near her she would bolt but i know exactly where youre coming from,shes such a pussy tho she would drop dead on the spot
Athravan,ive used a behaviourist with badger to cure his aggression and some ideas he had worked altho badger did try to bite him on several occasions i didnt even give that a thought actually i may well give him another ring and see if he would be willing to visit

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Me,Goat and Sid Lola.........


the 3 Rumsketeers

aggression=anxiety, almost always.

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ive got badger sorted out,typical story had 3 homes b4 6 weeks of age,a staff lab cross so he doesnt know if hes a worker or fighter,bad start etc,hes ok now, i know how to read his signs and step in any sign of trouble,hes a big old baby really,but he tries to be top dog if anyone or any other dog shows submissive behaviour hes on to it,hes got better with age,millie however is getting worse,but theres not a bad bone in her body,id stake my life that as terrified as she is she wouldnt hurt a soul

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Me,Goat and Sid Lola.........


the 3 Rumsketeers

Good luck with Millie, keep us posted. Hopefully you can get her settled before the dreaded Nov 5th !!

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I was so sorry to read this and I wish I could offer some help, but I can't - only sympathy!

My first dog was a labrador and he was terrified of noises, Guy Fawkes, thunder, the coal fire crackling was all a nightmare! He even ran a mile when we put milk on Rice Crispies!!

Nothing I tried succeeded, but at least he never associated rain with thunder so we didn't have that problem.

I do hope you can sort her out, because it must be so distressing for her! The Aversian CD suggested by Raeven looks like it could help?

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One of our dogs behaves similarly with beeping noises. Only started when I changed my motorbike and the alarm made a different 'beep' in service mode to the one before. Now she is the same with smoke alarms and mobiles when the battery is low. We have used the 'only praise when behaving normally' approach and she has got a lot better provided she is not in the house with something beeping for a long period.

Good luck with it.

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