Barney'spal

I've just realized that Barney, who I thought was afraid of nothing, is terrified of the washing machine. When I do laundry, he goes outside to the end of the yard (large fenced in, 200 feet) and hides in the bushes without moving..just sits there and won't move, even for treats. It never occurred to me that it was the washer...just thought he was spooky. It's way too cold now for him to be out there without moving around so am going to lock the dog door when I'm washing but don't want to make this harder for him then necessary....anybody have any ideas?

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Properly trained, a man can be a dog's best friend.

paisleysmom

Hmm... thats a new one! Wonder why? Maybe it makes a high pitched sound that only he can hear! Maybe put on some music or tv a little louder than usual to help block out the sound ... or maybe move his bed to the furthest room and give him a good "new" treat to chew on ..... washing means good treat! Good Luck!

MollyMcFrecklesMom

How old is Barney again? Forgive me for forgetting. Could it be part of a fear period? I treated fear periods as a time to expose them to scary things (humanely) as a way to teach them to not be scared. Winston was terrified of the vacuum. I'd run it briefly and let him get used to. After enough times, he got past it and now he gets excited when I use it.

Using food/treats is a good place to start. It's tough when they are afraid of something that is a common occurrence in the household. Good luck. And be brave, Barney!

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Michelle - proudly owned by Molly (21 mos) and Winston (14 months).

Molly McFreckles' World:
The adventures of a Basset Hound living with Addison's Disease and a baby brother named Winston

Barney'spal

Barney just turned 10 months....believe that's the new fear age so guess I'm not too surprised. What is strange, and Mikey has advised of this, there is no "flight or fight" response....just a total shutdown. Never had a dog do this...is it just Bassets or is it not breed related....really is spooky though.

__________________
Properly trained, a man can be a dog's best friend.

Lightning&Stomps

Lightning was very afraid of my washer too. Time seemed to fix things. About 13 years, to be exact. I think his hearing is bad enough now that he doesn't even know when it's running. Seriously, though, with something that common, it should be fairly easy to desensitize him over the winter. Give him a safe place to go, but ignore him while the washer is running.

MollyMcFrecklesMom

I believe there's a fear period at 11 months or so. Maybe that's part of it.

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Michelle - proudly owned by Molly (21 mos) and Winston (14 months).

Molly McFreckles' World:
The adventures of a Basset Hound living with Addison's Disease and a baby brother named Winston

miss.abbey.road

I put my youngest kid in the washer with the lid up and started the washer filling up with water whilke she was shut in the luandry room with us. She got over it after that

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Fetch? Sit? Stay? Those are some weird names for a treat... Can I just have it already?

Mikey T

[quote]I've just realized that Barney, who I thought was afraid of nothing, is terrified of the washing machine. When I do laundry, he goes outside to the end of the yard (large fenced in, 200 feet) and hides in the bushes without moving

Mikey has advised of this, there is no "flight or fight" response....]/quote]


running as far away as he can go is a flight responce the problem is he is restricted and then shuts down.. He he could get far enough away he wou;d likely calm


so as for densitiving exactly when does he go outside when doing laundry? when you start getting ready gathering up clothes etc , when the washer starts.

Is it possible two do laundry and tewo people are in the house on to do the laundry and one to take barney farther away than where he hides in the back yard.?


Counter conditioning and desenitivation requires being able to get the dog far enouth from what it is fearful of it no longer reacts. The idea is to change the dog emotional response to the events.

For example f the dog runs outside when the washer starts you could for example dot the following while one person does the ordinary percursor that haoppen wen doing laundry gather cothes stripping beds etc the other can take barney out of the house on lead and star giving him tiny treats, Remember the treats are not for acting calm or anything this is classical conditioning ie pavlove dog bell rings super comes. people get ready to do laundry I go for walk and get treats. the person with the dog must find a safe distance he nolonger reacts to the washer when outside. and make a note. Start of with the dog this far awau from the washt or a bit more and again with the treats. Over time you can start moving the dog closer and closer to the house. final inside etc/ You want to avoid cause the dog stress. If you do not know the signs of stress in dogs I suggest "calming Signals" available in both book or dvd form. the reason for this is even though you are attempting to change the dogs emotional reaction to the noise sound and smell of laundry you still have to be careful that the dog is on perecieving the treats are coming based on its behavior. That is act scared by shivering i get treats. Instead of I get treat when 500 ft from the washer when it is running. by avoiding behavior you do not want to unitional reward thing go much smoother.


give the lack of oppurtunity to reward because of limited washing and that the temperures and duration outside. there are some other option that can work. such as recording the washing machine if you think it is the noise that he is afraid of. Then you can play the recording a a much lower volume and hopefully have the dog remain calm will still in the house reward as above. you can either bring the dog closer to the sould or raise the volume slowly over time You really want to avoid further reinforcing the fight/fear response when by doing laundry when he is near by you need to consider how to avoid this ingf laundry at a neighbor laundrymat moving the dog farther away putting himj in the car/garage for additional sound deadning etc. Having the dog sitll getting scared of the washer when you are trying to desenitize basical undoes all the good the counter conditioning is doing

Desensitization and Counterconditioning

Counter conditioning and desensitization

that the problem with the developmental stages called fear periods it reall does not work that way.
The Unfortunate Popularity of Fear
[quote]

Sensory, Emotional and social development of a young dog

Am Worried About My Weimaraner Reaching Adolescence and What to Expect?

Midge n Hazley

You WHAT???

Jnfr

Yikes!