# Noise Phobia



## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Does anyone else have a dog that suffers from Noise Phobia.


Esther, our new (old) rescue dog has it. We knew that, in her old home, she often refused to leave the house and would see her dragging her owner home from a walk. They would tell us that she had heard a bang.


Since being with us we have discovered that she is frightened of bird scarers, fireworks, shotgun fire, nail guns and rain on the roof (thunder due?).


Because she is in such pain with her arthritic spine the noise phobia, I have found, is linked to pain. She tenses when she hears a noise and this sets off her pain. She has, therefore, linked noises with pain too. This can work backwards in that a painful episode might be linked in her mind to fear of noises as they often happen together.


Esther's reaction to noise is to go and find a small space to hide in. She will refuse to leave it until she deems it safe and this can take many hours.


We have been following the general treatment protocol of allowing her to retreat to her "safe space", deadening/masking the noises as much as we can (difficult while we are living in the fifth wheeler) and being as up beat as we can without adding to her anxiety by paying too much attention to her.


I spoke to a senior behaviourist friend who recommended various calming protocols including products containing L Theanine a room diffuser and a special diet to lift her general mood. After a slight improvement he decided that, in Esther's case, because pain was involved in the equation, we medicate with an anti anxiety medication from the vet. This we have done and while waiting for it to take effect (about 3 weeks!) the behaviourist researched some ear defenders, made for dogs, that we also bought.


Well, I am happy to report a huge improvement in Esther's well being  She is not cured but she is now non reactive to the bird scarers that go off at regular intervals all through the daylight hours here. This means that a) she will go out for a walk and b) not try to drag us home when she hears them!
Other, irregular, noises she deals with less well but is not completely distraught when she hears them. In these instances we use the ear defenders (Mutt Muffs) until they have gone away. We had fireworks last night and she was better and recovered more quickly due to the medication and the use of Mutt Muffs.


Hope this helps anyone dealing with a dog suffering from this, very distressing, condition.


Any puppy I get in the future will be exposed to all sorts of sounds while still in the litter to help prevent problems in the future.


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