Animal Welfare Professionals

Hey I just adopted the best puppy dog I could ever have asked for. He is amazing! He loves our children and so easy with the baby! We recently found that he is terrified of a popping noise like a play gun. He hides in the closet and we have to coax him out. I don’t know if his previous owners did something to him. They surrendered him to the shelter with no info on him or them. Sooooo how can I help him not be terrified? We sat in the closet with him and loved on him and gave him some treats and got him to come out the closet. We walked with him and when he would take a couple of steps we would reward him. We don’t fuss at him and we would never hit or spank him. I just wanted to know if there is any other ways to try and show him it’s ok. Thank you!!

Hi Khb6912,

I am glad to hear you are using rewards/treats to help your dog gain back some confidence (walking and treating) after a traumatic event. The goal will be to change your dog's emotional state ABOUT the noise. Here is a quick overview of what you can try.

Desensitizing your pup to the noise by starting with some VERY high value treats, whatever he may love the most, whether it be turkey, chicken, hot dogs etc. Then you will need to make the noise at the quietest level possible and/or as far away from the noise as possible for him to still hear it but not be overwhelmed by it and then quickly treat your pup. Noise = Chicken!

You will do this for several repetitions and until your pup is no longer showing signs of stress in relation to the noise (lip licking, yawning, looking away) and looks very relaxed.  If your dog does not want the chicken or wants to run and hide or is shaking, then you are too close to the sound and/or the sound is too loud so back up or muffle the noise more. Then you can gradually increase the volume of the noise and/or distance to the noise a little at a time and repeat making the noise and immediately treating your pup.

Eventually your dog will start to see the noise as a precursor to a fabulous treat and feel differently about the noise all together.  It takes time but it works.  Similar to a clicker in clicker training. Sometimes we need to get our dogs used to the sound of the click as it may scare them but when we start out with a muffled sound or a "quieter click" like a pen  and treat them immediately after each click, pop, knock, they lose their fear of it with our practice.

Again this is not detailed but a quick summary. I hope it helps and your pups gets more confident with your help.

Wags,

LK

KPA-CTP