I would imagine the reactions when it goes off (I know it would be in my house) is for people to shout, run about and flap things. No dog is going to remain calm in those circumstances.

The smoke alarm is hardwired. We just had our annual inspection (it is actually annual) so i am happy to disconnect it and reconnect it when i know they are coming but I can't even get the cover off it to see if i can disconnect it internally. And yes, we used to flap things at it until we discovered if you hold the test button in for 3 seconds it silences it. So the most it ever sounds for is about 20 seconds now. I iwll contact the council and ask them to relocate the alaerm as it really is overly sensitive. (it says its an optical alarm, i wonder is i can cover the sensor it will disable it?) Kitchen door will be shut when any cooking is going on from here on in...


They use a crate in the car and in the caravan when at agility shows but never in the house. I guess i could leave the car one in the house while we are out and see if she would like that but she isn't particularly keen on the cages unlike Jet who loves hers.

Been to the vet whose only advice was beta blockers or dog prozac neither of which i am keen on as i don't want my dog permanently doped up. Would rather not fry again. Am going to record the alarm as previously suggested and start of playing it very quietly and build it up over a couple of months. How long should it be played for each time? an hour? two? longer? I have a very big and loud hifi so should be able to get it up near the levels of the smoke alarm eventually. Should i make a point of interacting with them while the sound is playing or should we just go about as normal?

The idea is that the sound is so quiet in the background that the dog doesn't really notice and on that basis you can just get on with your usual things. The aim is to gradually increase the noise, but always within a level the dog is comfortable with.

However, I found the problem with trying to 'desensitise' my collie from noise was that in fact my hi-fi (and my laptop) volume control were not sensitive enough - i.e. the sound was either off or at a volume which scared my dog.

So, as I say, once I discovered how much she adores the water pistol, I actually took my laptop outside (with a CD of fireworks), got the water pistol out and turned up the volume. She was shaking to start with, but the water pistol kept her attention and within about 20 minutes she went from shaking, to just ear twitching every time a bang went off, to pretty much ignoring it. I do need to do this more frequently though - a one off isn't enough.

There are herbal aids such as Rescue Remedy which some people say work quite well (available at most health shops). Alternatively you can try DAP - either a difuser or collar. This emits the scent of natural pheromones (sp?) which are supposedly calming on dogs - again many people have really noticed a difference. You can buy this on line or i think even PAH sells it now.

Good luck

Poor girl, she is clearly getting very, very stressed Such a problem with many collies being hyper noise sensitive

Her reaction is very similar to my hubby's retired working collie bitch (who lives in the house) and my older german shepherd bitch. Our smoke alarm is also extremely sensitive and is wired to the mains so it cannot be turned off.

What we found to work was that we stopped grilling stuff (which always set our alarm off) and bought a George Foreman grill, which never sets it off. Soooo, instead of frying, could you get a GF grill, and grill your food instead?

This could at least be a temporary measure until you have tried some of the other good advice already given about de-sensitising your dogs.

Hi-sorry to read about the problems your girl is having-my friends dog was absolutely petrified of loud bangs and noises like fireworks, thunder etc. he used to go demented-scraped wallpaper of the walls-made a mess of doors etc. in his efforts to escape the noise She didn't want to give him anything from the vets like diazepam etc. She gave him Serene-um for dogs which I believe you can get from off the internet and also from Health Shops. They are a natural remedy and they worked wonders for her dog. If I remember rightly they took a short time to build up in his system but after you could certainly see the improvement in him. Maybe worth you looking it up on the web-good luck-hope you and your girl get sorted

I've just been looking at some stuff about canine body language. Try googling 'canine calming signals'. Stuff like putting your weight/balance back, yawning, looking away etc... Intriguing! Although our Jake doesn't have any 'issues', he does get excited at times so I'm looking forward to trying a bit of body language to see if it gets him to chill!

It sounds really bad. Hmm. I think to be honest with this reaction I'd get professional advice - see. www.apbc.org.uk if you are insured that may pay for it

The worst thing that can happen is that the fear will generalise and your collie will start to become more phobic of noises which sound a bit like it and it spreads.

A few practical suggestions are to stop frying for a while (eg if you love chips, get chip shop chips!) and when you do fry try a different oil perhaps with a higher smoking temperature.

I have a smoke alarm just outside my kitchen and it will go off if I get the oil get too hot (and it smokes) but not otherwise, maybe you can somehow adjust the method of cooking? not sure if that would work but ...

But overall I'd suggest a behaviourist as they can help with a desensitisation programme (if you do it yourself, there is always the chance you may get it a bit wrong, it's very easy to do).

Good luck
Wys
x

we are now wondering if she is scared of the dark? or more likely scared of sleeping? is that even possible???

maybe she was a sleep when the alarm went off? and she associates sleep with the alarm. And associated lights out with the time to sleep.

She was fine last night until we started getting ready for bed, when she started getting agitated. When we turned out the light, she started scraping the walls and floor again.

Eventually Mrs. Lodainn came down the stairs with her again and spent another night on the sofa. Bree was fine until the light went out when she was back looking for somewhere to hide - this time she cleared the bottom shelf of a bookcase , scattering the books across the floor, so she could lie in there. She switched on the light, dog settles down a bit. Hour later - dog asleep. Lights out.

just a theory...

If she's left alone near the smoke alarm it will make her very nervous (or even not near it but just on her own).

Wys
x

Just read through all of this, I think several have given wonderful advice, the only bit I would say at night can you not leave a night light on with a radio playing quietly (music I mean) I realise why Mrs ZHR is sleeping downstairs, but I think you have to be careful with Collies, that you are not teaching them another habit ontop of the exsisting one....ie someone will sleeping with her.
Hope things sort out soon Good Luck