Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I posted. Cola is doing super well. I finally identified somebody to show me the ropes with Schutzhund, somewhat locally. His name is T.Floyd, works primarily with German Shepherds but has had experience w Dutchies and Mals as well. The reason that I am writing is that I went to his place with Cola for an evaluation. Everything went really well, until while showing me a routine involving the whip, Cola went to pieces over the noise and was sensitive to his voice after that, while he was shouting commands at his dog. She pretty much checked out, lost all drive, wouldnt go after the ball, was somewhat stupefied and wanted to hide under the bleachers he had there for the remainder of the time. After leaving she went back to her normal self again, and was playing as usual by the time we got back to Brooklyn. I have however noticed that she is having a continued sensitivity to noise, she seems to recover more quickly but then again she hasnt been exposed to a noise as severely jarring as the crack of the whip was that day. It seems to be somewhat unpredictable, we could be outside and somebody makes a clapping noise, she will look and keep going about her business. However last night my wife swatted a bug with her hand, slapping it against the wall and Cola ran under the bed. She was in the familiar setting of the house in our bedroom, and she still went and hid. Cola is 7 months old as of yesterday, and according to Christie M. the rest of her litter has also been showing signs of being more reactive than normal, perhaps due to an early maturing, putting them in their 2nd fear stage earlier than usual. I think that Cola may have been extra sensitive that day, caught off guard by the noise and I think that it has stuck. I have tried to get her out of it but it is a difficult and delicate thing to do, I am finding. I was wondering if this is something that she will come out of on her own after her hormones have settled down, (she is un-spayed for the time being) if this is something that may have left an imprint on her permanently, thus rendering her unfit for Schutzhund work, or some other alternative I have not yet thought of. I know she is a sensitive dog in general and really hope this experience hasnt left a permanent impression. Any thought s would be much appreciated.

all the best,

Nico and Cola

Hi Nico,

Sorry to hear about Cola having this issue and experience.

On the plus side, it's OK for dogs to display a startle response to something unexpected. The thing is how quickly they recover. Ideally, it's good for them to recover quickly (duh)

Alas, Cola didn't recover too quickly, and instead, just shut down.

Her general sensitivity doesn't bode well for this particular kind of startle response, tho she is young, and there are things you can do to help her.

First, never coddle her or reassure her when she reacts to sharp sounds, as she did when your wife splatted that bug. That just tells her she's right to be alarmed. If anything, I'd laugh.

Perhaps you did this stuff when she was a baby puppy, but I'd go back to creating lots of startle noises...dropping pans and lids in the kitchen, etc., making it a big game, having fun (again, laughing), and also, rewarding her when she does well (acts curious instead of freaking out, etc.). Pay attention to her thresholds...perhaps she can accept a pan lid dropped in another room and get rewarded for that, before you move the dropped lid closer to her (you'll have to find out what her threshold distance is; I'd start out with as much distance between her and the noise as possible...she's in the kitchen with you and your wife is helping from the front room? Something like that. Move it closer very gradually...). When you do this kind of thing, don't say "What's that?" Don't draw attention to the noise...just act like it's no big deal at all, nothing to be at all concerned about.

What will happen is that you will enable her to be as copacetic with these kinds of noises as she's genetically able to become. If this is just a phase, you'll be helping her to get thru it to the other side of it. It may be more than a phase, tho, and she may be ultra sensitive to loud noises; in that case, again, you'll be helping her to be able to handle these things with as much aplomb as possible, given her temperament.

Will she be able to do Schutzhund? Duno. I'd wait a while before taking her back again, for sure.

Good luck!

Leih, I was hoping someone would have a smart response to Nico. Sakima has had the same problems. he is getting better, but.... I have done some things right and others not. now I can do better. thank you.

You can always count on Leih

Don't worry, not all IPO dreams are gone......I know of a top IPO dog who competes on national levels who had issues with audience noise/clapping and through training and exposure it was fixed successfully.

In regards to the whip, I would recommed buying one (http://www.hallmarkk9.com/HELPER_STICKS.aspx)and make it a fun thing. Let her play with it, carry it, after a while a little cracking here and there, as a reward a tug toy. She will get the drift, whip means engaging into fun tug play and later bite sleeve.

Schlussdibusti wrote:In regards to the whip, I would recommed buying one (http://www.hallmarkk9.com/HELPER_STICKS.aspx)and make it a fun thing. Let her play with it, carry it, after a while a little cracking here and there, as a reward a tug toy. She will get the drift, whip means engaging into fun tug play and later bite sleeve.

GREAT idea!

I just wanted to say thank you. Cola is doing much better. We actually live on the bottom floor of a house with three more stories and a basement below us where I have a team of guys working six days a week remodeling the whole house, needless to say there is a ton of noise. It seems to be only the clapping sound that spooks Cola. I have been making it on occasion and at times she is fine and other times she loses all drive. However I am happy to say that her recovery time is becoming increasingly shorter. She has been back up and biting or playing in as little as 30 seconds. I think she is going to do alright. I am going to order the whip as soon as i finish writing this post. I think it's a good idea. Thanks again and all the best.