Oh what a shame, have they stopped producing the beaphers? I've not used them, but have heard very good reports about them. A friend of mine uses them (or did do!)

Wys
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Yes, in theory a clicker would work, but if treats/toys are not sufficient distraction, what would the reward for the click be?

You also have to be very careful about what you are clicking at and rewarding, since you could inadvertently encourage the nervousness. But if you can get him doing something (e.g. obedience, jumping over obstacles etc) and rewarding him for doing those, that would probably be a good way forward. Again, Stumpy is better when she has something to occupy her mind, but if the noise repeats too often, then she's not interested in doing anything.

Sometimes Collies Noise Phobia can worsen with a change/minor hearing loss. (So it might be worth giving his ears a clean)

Im lucky to have only had one Noise Sensitive Collie. She used to bolt.

I taught her to lie down if she heard a noise she didnt like , by my feet preferably but if i wasnt close then whenever she is.

Id then wrap my lead in a figure of eight around her head(make shift head collar ) so i could lead her away, The figure of eight did use to calm her slightly too.

I've known many dogs that don't react to loud noises for years but then suddenly something sparks it off & they go downhill from there, getting scared by all sorts of noises

I had a rescue rottie/GSD years ago & I remember clearly standing with him in the garden watching the fireworks going off on the Queen's Jubilee (or something similar) & this dog completely ignored the bangs, happily played with his ball & took treats, no signs of fear at all. Come 5th Nov he was climbing the walls & absolutely petrified & nothing could calm him down

I'd love to know what it is that sparks off the initial fear although it maybe different for each dog.

Flame was like this too. Not scared of any sort of loud noise or bang - gunshot, fireworks etc. However, she became sensitive to banging or rattling doors/windows in the old cottage where we moved when she was around a year old. In the end the vet prescribed diazepam for when the wind was bad - as she was literally crawling the walls Thankfully that worked well.

There were no other problems with noises until a year or two ago when she suddenly became gun shy ... not good when you live on a shooting estate If a gun goes off anywhere near by she will turn and run home ... thankfully we are usually on one of the tracks that crisscross the hills up here and she doesn't need to cross any roads etc. If I hear the shot and can get her to recall to me before she takes off, then I tend to pop her on the lead and just carry on - trying not to comfort her or make a big deal out of it.

Unfortunately, I don't have any particular advice to offer you Leanne, as I am just managing the problem, and can't see me being able to change her behaviour now she is 9 years old.

Thankfully none of my collies are fearful of loud noises, although some of hubby's are scared by gunshot/thunder etc. However, when working sheep they don't bother at all - so I suppose if you can find something that Jed covets above all other things then you may be able to work with that. Good luck.

Yes unfortunately they have stopped producing them there was a thread where it is mentioned here http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=137234 post 9

I might try the lying down with Ted, if nothing else it may stop him bolting

I havent tried treats to be fair but if he will take one whilst he's worried then I can introduce the clicker. Might see if he will do some tricks to take his mind off the bangs.

Thanks, will have a look ...

Wys
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Could I suggest that this maybe one time to be a bit anthopomorphic? Imagine you were faced with something that caused you to be very afraid (spiders? lightning, being in the dark on your own? etc) then imagine if someone came & sat down with you tried to get you to learn something. I suspect you would be unable to concentrate, nothing would go into your brain because all your short term memory slots would be full up with worry, fear & anticipation of the loud bangs! In fact you may start to feel a bit frustrated with the person trying to distract you as it would mean that you can't concentrate on keeping yourself safe from the scary noises happening in the background.

But conversely, what if you were in the same situation, but someone sat with you & said what about playing cards, or having a sing-song, or doing something you can easily do and you associate with fun & good things? Now that might work by putting "nice" thoughts in your brain, activating the reward pathways in the brain, & perhaps deactivating the fear pathways?

So if you think about this in terms of dog training, perhaps do some really easy stuff with your dog, stuff he/she already knows, but make the rewards even better. Think about doing things that he/she loves to do, or things he/she loves having done, e.g. cuddles, grooming, unwrap the sausage from a pile of newspaper etc. Maybe that would be the route to go down for fireworks when you're in the house (possibly not very practical when guns are going off when you're out on a walk ) but you get the idea.

I might just try this with Barney next 5th Nov. He absolutely adores unwrapping his Xmas chew stick so I might get a few treats & wrap them up & produce them with huge excitement at the right moments Can anyone see any pitfalls with this? I hope to god he doesn't start to associate presents with fireworks but given the good associations he already has with presents, I would hope it may take his mind off the fireworks.