New sounds

[Joxgirl]

Rogue heard the coyotes yesterday morning, behind our house, for the first time. She was spooked. Our Chocolate Lab barks like crazy, and goes into protect mode instantly. We were outside having our morning walk/ break when we first heard fire truck and police sirens. This stored the coyotes, which triggeredthe Lab. Rogue wanted to run back in the house. I kept her outside. Got her to sit. I stood by her and encouraged her to listen. She watched the Lab. She calmed down a bit. Then top all of this a squirrel got spooked by the labs barking, and ran up the utility pole from our brick fence. This only excited the Lab more. That squirrel sat there and chattered at the Lab. I exposed Rogue to this mornings antics only for a few minutes total. Didn't take her inside until she was not as nervous as she started out. I had her walk back in but at her little trot.

Later that funny squirrel retuned as the sun was setting. Rogue calming sat as the Lab and squirrel annoyed one another.

Proud of my girl.

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[Dree_19]

I found the more we do with noise and distractions, the more they are immune to it all. Vacuum, blow-dry, honking horn in garage or driveway, rattling water bottles, shaking bags. Have someone making subtle sounds around you while you are running through some OB. The focus she has on you will drown out whats happening in the background. Sound distractions are good. Whatever you can find around you in the home- have kids or someone in the home help out in the background while you are training through the noise with a high valued treat. That is how we desensitize sound so they can work through anything. We went out in the yard during the neighborhood fireworks to feed the evening meal.

Work slowly with something subtle first and maybe every week move up to louder/different sounds as she gets used to each sound. The will go through different fear stages at different ages. Just keep working through at home and anywhere you go. Every opportunity is a training experience! It takes time, as sounds are a big distraction and you don't want a sound sensitive dog.