Dogs vs Fireworks/Storms - Page 2

The thundershirt works quite well. I know many who have used them.http://www.thundershirt.com/ 
 

Marjorie
http://www.gsdbbr.org The German Shepherd Dog Breed Betterment Registry
BE PROACTIVE!
http://mzjf.com --> The Degenerative Myelopathy Support Group http://www.mzjf.info/hgate Heaven's Gate  

 I wondered if that Thunder shirt worked or not??

  WOW  DO not need it myself but my daughters little schnauzer needs it and we talked about it the other night when they came to eat GUMBO..

 Was gonna ask if anyone has tried it..before we buy one.



YR

Dawulf wrote:

I also have to doubt genetics. Her bloodlines are as good as any, and you see plenty of aunts/uncles/half-sisters/half-brothers/cousins/nieces/nephews/etc. running around... and I doubt those lines would be near as popular if they were all afraid of fireworks

If you follow that train of thought, we would all have
complete litters that don't have HD/ED, EPI, cancer etc.
Shit happens. And whilst there is indeed a large group of
relations from your dogs lines, I can put money on the fact
not all of them are the poster children for solid temperment,
nerve and good health.

It's not the end of the world if your dog has some nerve issue,
every dog has some kind of issue. Fireworks are evidently her
issue.

For those that want to believe this is not a sign of a nerve issue,
all I can say is, it's no wonder we have such fucked up nerve/temperment
in this breed. Making excuses for issues is exactly that-making excuses.
 
Dogs do in fact feed off each others displayed actions, however, what I
was referring to is, one dog cannot CREATE a fear issue in another dog.
Once again, if one believes it can, well, it certainly explains a lot.

While the dog may in fact feed off the others actions, when the same dog
is removed from the other dogs presence, the issue should not continue.
Or at least lessen in it's severity.
Thats not the case with Dawulfs dog as demonstrated by her own words. 
Praising/babying the dog while it shows fear is in fact rewarding the 
unwanted behavior, and in fact encouraging it. The dog is being lavished with
baby talk and 'cuddles' for showing fear. You don't think a dog 'gets that'?

As far as to why she can play during a storm etc, it's very simple Dawulf,
you are providing her with a distraction. She obviously loves to play, so, she
can 'block' anything unpleasant going on in her world while you play.
Her prey drive is allowing her to block out/mask something unpleasant
and stressful to her.
 
Most gunshy dogs are 'conditioned' to gunfire by using this same type of
method, or others that are much less pleasant for them.

Continue to work with your dog, but try to get out and experience some
training groups, it will help you better understand the componants of 
temperment, nerve etc. This is one of the main reasons it is SO very
important for people to get out of their backyards and train somewhere.
Apply pressure to the dog, see where the 'cracks' are in the dogs make up.
This is the ONLY educated way one can make breeding choices. 
Sitting at home surfing over pedigrees, emailing and posting on bulletin boards
will only teach you so much. One must get out and DO.
The dog that acts fine in it's backyard might shit it's pants at the
grocery store parking lot etc etc.

Good luck with your dog Dawulf .
Fear/anxiety issues in dogs are seemingly almost as stressful on their
owners as well. 

Sound sensitivity is usually based in genetics and weak nerves. And here is an eye opener for newbies.....dogs that are genetically weak can come from the same litters as other dogs in the litter that shown no signs.

Great post as usual WD. And Gustav!
It is very obvious from posts, who on here  actually know what they are talking about when it comes to dogs.
Thank goodness there are a few left on this board.
Some things you just can't find out by using Google.

Couldn't an originally "good nerve" dog, develop PTSD like reactions to Fireworks/Storms due to some kind of severe trauma or experience over time?

MightyZeus, I disagree with you regarding the neighbors who 'play games' with you. I never let anybody play games with me. Especially if it is illegal and can hurt me, my dogs or my kids.
 
Jenni78 - call police and report them, if not, 'neighbors' will think you are a sissy and they can do it to you whenever they feel like it... If you don't stop it now - it will get worse in the future. And if something like this happens again (maybe, God forbid, injuring one of your dogs) - the first question police will ask you is: "Why didn't you report it before?"
 
In my town, illegal shooting of fireworks is treated very seriously by police. Every year there are serious injuries and houses burned down by illegal shootings. I wouldn't mind if shooters injured themselves or burned down they own homes, but unfortunately it's usually the neighbors who get hurt and loose their homes...

Regarding 'Sound sensitivity' - there is so many factors that came into play, that it hard to blame genetics if the dog responds negatively to one or two particular sounds. If the dog is OK with gunshots, heavy equipments, etc. and is afraid of storms only - I wouldn't jump into blaming 'genetics'. From my experience genetically sound sensitive dogs are usually sensitive to all strange and loud notices from puppyhood.
 
Based on my own experience, dogs do feed of each other in terms of reaction to certain stimulants. Separate the dogs, and you will know who is the 'instigator' of an undesirable behavior.
 
Dawulf, on a positive note - dogs reactions to storms and fireworks may change over time. It happened to me. When I found a 'safe den' for my dog to hide out during the storm, she stopped freaking out. She actually became a 'storm alert' as she would calmly migrate to the bathroom saying "Why are you looking at me like that? The storm is coming.” The older she got, the more storm resilient she became, to the point that she would snore thru the biggest storms on her own chair.

Just to explain what I meant in the post above -  many army dogs come back traumatized and sound sensitive from service in Iraq or Afghanistan. Does anybody blame their bad genetics? They wouldn't be in service if they were genetically 'sound sensitive' in the first place.
 
My dog, who was afraid of storms definitely had a genetic 'sound sensitiveness' as she would jump at other strange noises as well.

There is a big difference between war and occasional fireworks and thunder storms. Also, many dogs returned from war without something happening to them. There is a big difference between s dog that becomes something as a result of something traumatic happening to them, and a dog handling a normal part of life. In terms of sound sensitivity. The vast majority of cases I have seen were genetics, except for older age, or physical harm accompanying the sounds.