7 Yr old Lab suddenly afraid of noises

Zoe, our Lab, who had never batted an eyelid over thunder, fireworks or other loud noises has become terrified of the slightest crackle.

We live near army land where we often walk the dogs. The normal firing is ignored by the dogs and louder bangs when grenades are set off. Shortly before Xmas, when hubby was walking them beside a firing range, a grenade was exploded and she shot back to hubby, shaking with fear. She didn't appear to have been injured but I suspect she may have hurt herself as the bang went off?

Since then, she has become afraid of fireworks and our log fire in the living room. A crackle will send her scuttling upstairs and she will not enter the room again. When the fire is out, (most of the time) I have been tempting her in again with treats.

Up until this year, we had to prevent her from almost climbing into the fire, she loved it so much.

Just before Xmas, we took her to the vet to check her out, to make sure there were no underlying causes of her phobia. She had a thorough check up. I did query thyroid tests, as our clicker trainer had mentioned it as a possibility. He said he could run them but really felt as she was in such good health it wouldn't really be necessary and added, all behaviourists suggest that.

Otherwise, she is up for anything. Loves her training sessions, walks, cuddles as normal.

I'm planning on conditioning her to the living room as I have been doing and from a distance when the fire is lit.

Any other suggestions very welcome.

Thanks, Nicky

Hi Nicky

How close was she and how loud was it?

It seems possible that she may have suffered tinnitus as a result. If she was unlucky that her ear was uncovered and pointing in a direction where she got the worst of the bang she could have felt quite a nasty pain too.

It can take a few weeks to settle down, so I'd want to keep her away from loud noises from a while - even if just to build her confidence back up.

Hi Nicky - Sorry I don't have any answers but it's interesting because I remember well when our lovely Labrador was about 7 years old she suddenly took a dislike to cyclists we used to walk along a track where cyclists also ocassionly appeared, Ria never batted an eyelid until one day she chased one and tried to bite the tyres, the guy was not very happy but what could I say she had never behaved like that before

This lasted for over a year and then she just suddenly reverted to how she had always been with cycles, even 'tho it was more than 20 years ago I still can't figure out what triggered it. Is it something all Labradors do

Thanks Azz. I imagine tinatus is something the vet wouldn't pick up during a check up? That would explain a lot as there were no apparent physical trauma signs.

Hubby was a good 300yds from the grenade range fence but the bangs are still extremely loud.

I'm glad Kikopup posted the video"you can't reinforce fear". At New Year, when the fireworks were going off, she was trembling but wasn't stressed enough to not eat treats, but then she is a Lab.

Losos, how odd that your lab stopped after a year. Maybe Labs have mid life crises?