Escalating Problem With Bird Scarers

I need a little help on how to manage Jed's increasing fear of bird scarers.

I cant really understand why it started. He was raised in my previous home which was a stones throw away from a rifle range. We even used to walk right past the range during shoot days and he wouldnt take any notice. Today he actually ran away from me, the more I called and took steps towards him, the faster he ran (and one hadnt even gone off!) It's getting to the point where, even though he hasnt heard a bird scarer, he's anticipating it and doesnt want to do the walk.

Today I managed to get him back. Once he was in what he obviously felt was a 'safe' area, he came back to me. I dealt with it by popping his lead on, without a word, and carried on in my original direction. Although he wasnt happy about it he didnt resist. He did start pulling like a train on the lead though after a short while. Correct me if i'm wrong but my mind is telling me that when he's pulling on the lead and i'm following, thats just reinforcing his belief that he's succeeding in leading me away from the noise thus not really helping the situation I've tried turning round and changing directions but he still pulls no matter which direction I go.

Now, you could suggest that I simply avoid walks where there are bird scarers but the number of places we used to visit that we enjoyed are now getting less and less because Jed doesnt want to go. It's very difficult to enjoy a walk in a rural area without hearing a bang. During the winter months it's gunshot and during spring and summer it's bird scarers so it's a no win situation. It's not practical for me to take the other dogs separate and take Jed somewhere else because I simply dont have 4+ hours to spare during the week and fuel cost is an issue, i'd be making double the journeys.

If I cut the walk short and turn back and go home then the other dogs and myself are being cheated out of a lovely walk. If I carry on with the walk then Jed is being towed along in a state of fear. Neither option seems fair.

Both collies are sensitive and easily upset. The difference is, once upset, Jed remains so and cannot be coaxed out of it. If Jessie gets upset then some lightly spoken words or an attention diversion tactic (like producing a toy) snaps her out of it and she forgets what she got upset about. I deal with the noise of the birdscarers by not even acknowledging one has gone off and I ignore any negative behaviours the dogs display but it doesnt seem to be working with Jed. I try and display a nonchalant, indifferent exterior but they are probably picking up on my rising frustration and stress levels.

I just want him to learn that they are nothing to be afraid of so we can enjoy the same kind of walks we've become accustomed to. Any suggestions on how I can do this would be gratefully received.

Gosh he sounds like Stumpy. She reacts exactly the same.

I used to pop her on the lead and carry on walking but I found this made her more reluctant to come back to me. So I'd call her and then walk the way she wanted to go.

With Stumpy she can be encouraged with her water pistol and/or playing in the river. Sounds daft but it has helped Stumpy. She can hear the sound a few times before bolting, though if they go on for more than 6 or 7 times, then even playing will not help and she just seems to shut down.

The best I can suggest is getting near to the noise and doing his favourite thing there - whatever that might be. But don't stay too long so that he only gets to hear the bang once or twice each time (do you know how regulary they go off - when they had them round here, it was about 40 minutes).

Hali answered you....I was going to suggest asking Hali.

I've seen Stumpy with this as Hali says, and I know that Hali has handled it extremely well, remaining calm and she carries on walking and Stumpy returns in time too.

As Hali says her idea with the water pistol, seems to really work with Stumpy.

I'll be interested to see how you deal with this as Ted is exactly the same. Like Stumpy he just got wary of coming back to me if i put him on the lead, last year was the worst he once ran across a fairly busy road with me chasing to get back to the car. If i manage to get him on the lead often he will just lie down unless we go the way he wants to.

The only thing that sometimes works is his squeaky ball which can sometimes be enough to distract him but rarely more than once. So far this year we haven't heard many and they have been on routes he knows well and i can safetly ignore him and carry on, it can take several minutes and i have to go right out of his view but this has worked the last few times. I've also been trying this year when he hears a bang that we are moving away from, so he is ahead of me,calling him back and giving him a treat and then letting him go again. I'm hoping this will make him more comfortable coming back to me but it is early days.

Just before I forget, don't worry that he is pulling you to get away from the noise, or where he thinks the noise is - it's anxiety/fear and in those situatoins, I'd always listen to the dog and simply take them away.

It's very hard for sensitive dogs such as collies. The problem is, you can end up with a dog who is too scared to go out, who hates going for walks, or who bolts away from you. You can also end up with a dog who "generalises" the noise and then becomes fearful of many different noises, eventually noises that don't even sound much like the bird scarer!

I agree with Hali that using a toy (if the dog is into toys) can really help a lot . You need to take it very slowly and ensure that:

1) The dog is not exposed to the full sound when he is not ready

2) that when you are using a toy, you start a good way away and only very slowly, over weeks, get closer to the noise.

It won't work if you try to go too fast, and it may take months.

It may help if you can also find a sound phobia cd, one that has bird scarer noieses on it. Pets at Home used to do some, but I can't recall what noises it had on it. But do follow the instructions to the letter!

You could also consier using something calming such as Zylkene, or a DAP collar.

If he doesn't start getting happier quickly, I'd suggest contacting APBC or other reputable behaviourist to help you, because otherwise there is a risk that a dog can get worse very quickly.

Good luck

Wys
x

PS you can also use food instead of or as well as toys, but it must be very high value, exciting, tasty food.

I'm glad you started this thread as I was going to because of Barney. He wasn't noise phobic for the first few years I had him but then a couple of years ago he started to react to fireworks, then guns, & now its bird scarers. We've just had the autumn/winter with random fireworks going off, then the pheasant shooting season & now those bl**dy bird scarers.

Barney's not as bad as some dogs & he doesn't bolt, in fact the very opposite, he becomes very clingy, bouncing at my side & trying to chivy me along. When when he realises we're headed back to the car he goes on ahead, but keeps coming back to "round me up" & try to get me to go faster! He can usually cope with the first bang, but if there's a 2nd, that's it, he starts anticipating & worrying, & after a while he starts to physically shake with fear. Nothing can distract him in the way of games, toys (although he will still take treats, but this doesn't stop his fear).

I've found the only thing I can do is leave the area & walk somewhere else. Once Barney's scared, then I know it's unlikely that he'll calm down for the rest of the walk so it's just miserable for him. But I'm gradually getting to know where & when we'll be safe from bangs. I have a friend with a dog that is much worse than Barney (she bolts, very scary!) so at weekends we often arrange to go to places at times we know there are no bird scarers & it's too early for any shooting. I actually love deserted countryside places at 7.00 a.m. so that's how we deal with it. Plus there are loads of bunnies to chase & you rarely see a soul . Weekdays we are walking at 5.00 pm onwards so there's rarely any shooting or bird scarers.

Funnily enough Barney doesn't react to the noises from the clay pigeon shooting club on the South Downs, but any other gun noise apparently sounds different to him & is far more scary.

So I'm just managing the problem really & trying to find ways to still do nice walks but avoiding any shooting. I'm lucky to have lots of alternative walks near me & I can be very flexible about the time of walks at weekends.

My friend with the very scared dog has actually given her dog diazepam on bonfire night (obviously under veterinary advice) & said that it worked really well, with no side effects other than her dog was a bit sleepy the next morning. I certainly wouldn't recommend drugs in most circumstances & obviously you can only do this when you know there will be bangs, like bonfire night.

As wys says, the problem can quickly escalate & generalise to the extent that a dog can even be scared to leave the house & my friend's dog is very wary of walking in the dark because of the association between fireworks & dark nights. It's a hard one to sort out ~ Barney, for some reason, feels that his "safe" place is on my husband's lap on bonfire night. My husband usually sits in an armchair & 34 kgs of labrador on top of you is not much fun

Ted is like this as well he will only walk one way at night now because if the association with the dark and fireworks.

Forgot to add (Wysiwyg reminded me) that i used the beapher calming collar with Ted for bonfire night and on through the shooting season and it really took the edge off. He was still scared but he got over it quicker and was able to carry on with the walk although we avoided the worst areas so he only heard them in the far distance. Now they have stopped producing the beapher collars i can't afford to keep buying the DAP ones.

Hmmm, i'm kinda glad i'm not the only one with this problem.

Jed isnt toy orientated and i'm not sure treats would work. The wood was alive with pheasants, if you stood still you could hear them all rustling about in the dead bracken and ordinarily this would be heaven for Jed but he wasnt even interested in hunting, he just wanted to go back to the car and that speaks volumes.

I wonder if a clicker would work. Today we heard a bird scarer go off a good distance away and Jed just stood and listened for a moment and carried on unperturbed. I might give it a go and see if we can work on it a little.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Poor Jed! I hope you get it sorted soon, I can't add any more advice - as you have the best clearly

Yes, good luck, you seem to be doing everything right in my book, so I have nothing else to suggest I'm afraid.

It's very interesting for me to read these posts, because my previous shepherd suddenly became just like this about gunfire, then fireworks etc. at around 4 years old, when previously, she had even been in my horse's field with me with guns going off all around here not batting an eyelid! All of a sudden, one day, she heard a gunshot and ran back to the car I was soooooo shocked, and wondered what on earth I had done to make her like this, but it seems it wasn't me after reading all these posts!