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Advice please re nervous dog

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We have a 15 month old staffy cross. We have had him from 8 weeks old.

He has been very well socialised, loves other dogs and great with people.

He is taken on 2 good walks a day.

 

Around 3 months ago he started to become very nervous of certain things e.g

Sirens, ice cream van jingles, motorbike noise - to the point that if he is out on a walk he sits and refuses to move, or hides in bushes and won't come out.

He heard a gun shot yesterday and fled the local field and ran home.

One of his favourite walks is accessed by a road which he now refuses point blank to walk down.

 

He is still eager to go out on his walks and we have tried taking him in the car to reach places but as soon as he hears any ot the noises mentioned he's terrified.

 

Any suggestions what we can do to correct this or what could have triggered it?

(He hasn't had any bad experiences as far as we are aware)

 

Thanks in advance

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I would definitely go to the vet with your concerns and rule out a health issue before going down the long road of behavioural help and desensitisation.

 

If the vet gives his health the all clear I would start with a gundog trainer who will be used to desensitising dogs to gun shots as a lot of fun dogs can be gun shy.

 

Then if that was successful I'd work down the list of things that unnerve him and desensitisation him to each one slowly and positively.

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I would definitely go to the vet with your concerns and rule out a health issue before going down the long road of behavioural help and desensitisation.

 

If the vet gives his health the all clear I would start with a gundog trainer who will be used to desensitising dogs to gun shots as a lot of fun dogs can be gun shy.

 

Then if that was successful I'd work down the list of things that unnerve him and desensitisation him to each one slowly and positively.

 

Can you recommend a gundog trainer as Cassie is terrified of anything that sounds like a gunshot (she doesn't even like the sounds of motorbikes now as there was one near us that backfired a lot so now expects it). It is not too bad near us as not many things sound like gunshots but she spends a lot of time in Thorpe Hesley with my in-laws and has to be kept on the lead when the scarecrow guns (don't know what else to call them) are turned on.

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Interesting,I keep hearing things like this previously happy dogs suddenly upset by noises. I started to take notice recently as we sometimes have our sons dog to stay and he started sitting down on walks and refusing to go foreword. The only way he would go was back here,as soon as he's in he's fine again. We've been walking him round here on and off for 7 years so it's not like he's nervous of new surroundings.

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Can you recommend a gundog trainer as Cassie is terrified of anything that sounds like a gunshot (she doesn't even like the sounds of motorbikes now as there was one near us that backfired a lot so now expects it). It is not too bad near us as not many things sound like gunshots but she spends a lot of time in Thorpe Hesley with my in-laws and has to be kept on the lead when the scarecrow guns (don't know what else to call them) are turned on.

 

A good friend of mine, who we bought our working cocker from, did gundog training with us but unfortunately she no longer offers training as she is fully booked with walking and grooming. However, before she was self employed she worked at park farm dog training in barlborough who offer gundog training and I believe they have a firearms licence.

 

http://m.parkfarmdogtraining.co.uk/

 

Steve, who is based at green scene , offers gundog training but I'm not sure that he has a firearms licence and I don't really know him or his methods.

 

You need to ask if the trainer has access to firearms so they can provide the noise at a distance your dog cam start with but they will be able to advise on that.

 

Also, it's really important to ask for positive reinforcement methods, especially with desensitisation.

 

Hope this helps!

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A good friend of mine, who we bought our working cocker from, did gundog training with us but unfortunately she no longer offers training as she is fully booked with walking and grooming. However, before she was self employed she worked at park farm dog training in barlborough who offer gundog training and I believe they have a firearms licence.

 

http://m.parkfarmdogtraining.co.uk/

 

Steve, who is based at green scene , offers gundog training but I'm not sure that he has a firearms licence and I don't really know him or his methods.

 

You need to ask if the trainer has access to firearms so they can provide the noise at a distance your dog cam start with but they will be able to advise on that.

 

Also, it's really important to ask for positive reinforcement methods, especially with desensitisation.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks that's really useful. I will look into it.

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A good friend of mine, who we bought our working cocker from, did gundog training with us but unfortunately she no longer offers training as she is fully booked with walking and grooming. However, before she was self employed she worked at park farm dog training in barlborough who offer gundog training and I believe they have a firearms licence.

 

http://m.parkfarmdogtraining.co.uk/

 

Steve, who is based at green scene , offers gundog training but I'm not sure that he has a firearms licence and I don't really know him or his methods.

 

You need to ask if the trainer has access to firearms so they can provide the noise at a distance your dog cam start with but they will be able to advise on that.

 

Also, it's really important to ask for positive reinforcement methods, especially with desensitisation.

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

 

Thank you for your advice. I have booked an appointment with our vet.

He has become much worse in the last couple of days.

This problem came out of nowhere and it's so upsetting for him and us - he loves (loved! ) his walks

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I hope that your vet finds something that helps. It must be very upsetting seeing him in fear and not being able to help him with.

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If your vet prescribes sedative medication I would think very carefully about that.

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You're welcome ksms. The vet would be my first port of call. Keep us updated :)

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