<p>Well, after losing our dog, we just adotped another border collie…Maggie…she is about 9, and lovely, however, she panics a bit when she hears sirens, garbage trucks- stuff with that high pitched sound</p>
<p>Anyone have any ideas to help? I want to eventually walk her off leash, but not until I know she won’t want to run from the sounds</p>
<p>Most noises she is fine with</p>
<p>We don’t know much about her, but her foster dad said she has gotten much better about the sounds</p>
<p>Ohhh - I think teaching this to a 9-year old will be very tough. That is one fear behavior that they learn when they are little - could be hard to undo. (A few things really need to be learned when they are young - good dog manners i.e. social skills is the other thing.) I think you’re smart to keep her on leash!</p>
<p>Meantime, you could try to gradually desensitize her - play a recording of a scary noise at low volume and give her lots of treats. Laugh when you hear the sound.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Walking a dog off leash is really not a good idea. I attended dog training classes at a highly regarded school, and the owners of that school never had their dogs off leash if they were outside their own fenced property. Any dog can take off after a rabbit or squirrel or cat and you might never see the dog again.</p>
<p>A friend of our family nearly lost her champion-level obedience-trained dog who took off in the woods while off leash. It took a huge effort to find the dog in the woods by dozens of concerned fellow dog owners.</p>
<p>we have amazing dog parks, so off leash is generally not an issue…never really has been, this is new</p>
<p>also, the sounds make her anxious, so even just to help her, even if she stays on leash is my goal</p>
<p>I would try the classic desensitization methods. What has foster dad been doing? Do more of it, if it’s working.</p>
<p>Take her absolutely favorite treats with you when you walk (for my dog, that’s bits of chicken hot dogs). When you first hear the noises that bother her–keeping in mind she’s already heard them, because she’s got more sensitive hearing than you do–ask for some simple task, like a sit or a “watch me”, and then give her a treat. Repeat, repeat, repeat. You might easily give out a hundred treats on a short walk, if it’s in a stressful area. Do it over and over again, and eventually the noises should come to predict her favorite things.</p>
<p>Doggie ear muffs??</p>
<p>How does she panic? Run away? I am assuming the dog park is fenced somehow around the perimeter so is it that big of a flight risk as long as she can’t (or doesn’t try to) go over the fence? </p>
<p>I would not do anything that obscures her hearing.</p>
<p>CGM, do you ever watch The Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic Channel? That Cesar Milan is a genius! Your problem with Maggie sounds like something he deals with on a consistent basis. The beauty of his methods is that they make perfect sense, and almost invariably yield incredible results, when followed accurately. He’s written a book, too.</p>
<p>
I agree - I was just making a quip.</p>
<p>poetsheart, I love that show and with my 3 dogs, I have picked up a few helping points.</p>
<p>I have a rescue boxer mix that is fearful, particularly of loud mechanical sounds—leaf blower, lawn mower, motorcycles, etc. He reacts by being aggressive toward that object as in barking, growling, snapping at tires. I use a John Deere 4x4 to do work around our property and he was constantly snapping at the tires and being a real PIA. After watching Dog Whisperer one night I tried a few of his techniques.</p>
<p>Basically Cesar says not to talk to them when they are acting “badly”–just insist on the behavior you want and only reward that. In my case, I put him on a leash and had him stand beside the Deere when it was being started–he struggled like a trout on a line! I just calmly held the leash and waited until he stopped reacting and then rewarded him. After about 30min of getting him closer and eventually into the vehicle, I was able to drive him around for 10-15min and he actually sat and didn’t try to escape. Now I can drive the thing around and he will follow or run beside but has stopped the craziness–I’m sure I may have to do some remediation–but for now it worked wonders.</p>