MichiH
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I am with you on the cat! Same Pepper will run after it play bow, bark, and run zoomies. Once it’s off she sniffs it and again tries to initiate haha.
What's YOUR dog afraid of?
- Thread starter MyBuddy
- Start date
Fear & Startle are two different things though. Any animal may startle at a sudden noise but if they recover from the startle it isn't true fear. In the WAE tests, startle at gunfire is totally acceptable! Recovery and acceptance - "OMG WHAT WAS THAT! , oh, another snow crash. OK. I'm good." That (to me) is not fear at all.
Katyusharocket
Notable member
I bought a hula hoop recently for a hoop to jump through for a possible trick for Katy to earn her TKN with. She fears it, and goes upstairs to my bed if it is moving around. But it isn't like a startle. For now, i have it laid out on the ground and make sure it is still, and place her meals right in the center of it, to desensitize her. She steps over the edge and into the ring and eats her meal no problem. Going back to one time at the farm store, some metal shelving fell and made a crash(neither of us could see it but we sure heard it), and she ran straight towards the sound, to the end of her leash. No apprehension at all. I have been thinking about these reactions in this way, fear vs. startle. She is better with startle than fear. I'll keep working on that hula hoop tho. Just want her to get to where she can "touch it" even though she feared it the first day she saw it. I do think we will get there.
A portion of a bees' or wasps' nest was laying on the sidewalk. Zeph is strongly repelled by / scared of these!
A nearby house had a tarp on the roof due to being re-roofed. The wind was blowing it. He had a strong reaction to put distance between him and that!
Just tonight I learned the name for these: Tube Man. Zephyr saw one across the street and down a bit and had a little freak out. You try to get him to walk anywhere but where he is pulling (away from it) and he leans back, yanks and jerks his head side to side. Remember this was across the street and down a bit.
A nearby house had a tarp on the roof due to being re-roofed. The wind was blowing it. He had a strong reaction to put distance between him and that!
Just tonight I learned the name for these: Tube Man. Zephyr saw one across the street and down a bit and had a little freak out. You try to get him to walk anywhere but where he is pulling (away from it) and he leans back, yanks and jerks his head side to side. Remember this was across the street and down a bit.
A Tube Man is about the scariest thing in the world to most horses, like a suicide mission to try to ride by one. I've seen some in town at some business promotions and often wondered what my dog would think but I've never actually made an effort to walk her by one. I do believe that they are so odd, it would be a legitimate thing for a freak out moment, especially a pup.
Kswoodssue
Hot Topics Subscriber
We have a four foot tall plastic gnome that was an old unfortunate holiday decoration. That gnome has appeared in showers, my kid’s beds and has been found peering, lit, from upstairs windows. My husband decided Sasha should meet the gnome. Gnomie stood at the top of the stairs when poor Sasha headed up after my husband to bed. She did not bark or yip. She just did an immediate 180 and went back downstairs. She had no fear that my husband was in danger, as he was rolling on the floor laughing. Gnomie has recently been seen walking down hallways toward her, and her expression can only be described as annoyed tolerance. Husband also plays wild games of surprise with her, popping around corners and startling her. She loves it and goes all zoomie. I would not recommend startling one’s dog, but their relationship is special. I love them both…remember he is a Dobe in human form. 
Oh man! Suicide mission for sure! I wouldn't even attempt that!
Rits
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If folks ever get the chance, I highly encourage taking your pups to Lowes during those inflatable decorations seasons like Halloween and Christmas! Great training opportunity!
Rits
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Exactly. And same goes for suspicion! Which often includes a little startle. Here's Ripley, both at young ages (pre 1 yr old and barely 1), being suspicious of two "odd" objects. One a winterized drinking fountain
and another a "dog" not acting right. The difference is (and exactly what I want to see in a doberman) is even though she is unsure of the thing, she is willing to inspect it. I like to see even when they startle, she recovers and comes back...or better, stands her ground...or even better, moves forward to address the "scary" thing. 
Like the WAE and the scary aggressor. Strange man appears: stand ground on full alert, Strange man make noises: alert bark, Strange man now becomes a threat and charges at you: possible startle but immediate return and bark.
âï¸ Ripley aggressor WAE
23 seconds · Clipped by RipnRev · Original video "Ripley WAE - DPCM & DPCD" by RipnRev
youtube.com
None of these examples are fearful. All suspicion which dobes typically have a high amount of.
Exactly! Everyone can startle at a sudden noise. (Even humans.) Or be suspicious of something that doesn't look right (like a winterized water fountain!)
But the difference would be if the dog (and I think any breed) looks at it and runs for the Hills.... or startles, barks at it, and inches forward to inspect it. Even better if he/she touches it and inspects it to be nothing. That's pretty much a win in my book.
That's not fear, that's caution and smart.
Kaiser2016
Well-Known Member
Years ago I bought a hula hoop for Kaiser too and it had some sand inside it to make noise as you used it. Well he did not like that thing because of the noise it made. He had no problem walking through it when I held it there or if it was laying on the ground, but not if I moved it lol. Keep at it, she’ll get the hang of it. The food bowl is a great idea.
Zephyr is spooked by concrete lawn statues, and I think metal ones as well.
Inflatable Halloween and Christmas decorations? Yep.
Have we all seen those Halloween black cats with a big pumpkin? The cats' heads turn side to side every 8 seconds or so. Woo hoo! Add in movement and the sound of the motor! Zeph's spooked on one of those the next street over. I can go up to it and tap on it and touch it, but he just wants away from it. He is a primitive-blooded dog. That's my excuse. But yeah, picture a wolf or coyote's reaction to a lawn statue or a tube man. Doesn't mean that canine won't tear you to shreds if the situation calls for it.
Oji encountered no fewer than eight of those large black cat with pumpkin decorations in two rows on the expansive front lawn of a luxury house we walked by. As Oji was wont to do, he lit up in aggressive barking. A couple ladies drove by in a convertible BMW and were chuckling.
Inflatable Halloween and Christmas decorations? Yep.
Have we all seen those Halloween black cats with a big pumpkin? The cats' heads turn side to side every 8 seconds or so. Woo hoo! Add in movement and the sound of the motor! Zeph's spooked on one of those the next street over. I can go up to it and tap on it and touch it, but he just wants away from it. He is a primitive-blooded dog. That's my excuse. But yeah, picture a wolf or coyote's reaction to a lawn statue or a tube man. Doesn't mean that canine won't tear you to shreds if the situation calls for it.
Oji encountered no fewer than eight of those large black cat with pumpkin decorations in two rows on the expansive front lawn of a luxury house we walked by. As Oji was wont to do, he lit up in aggressive barking. A couple ladies drove by in a convertible BMW and were chuckling.
MichiH
Hot Topics Subscriber
Ah good idea!!! We love to go anyways and now we will take Pepper!
She saw a ballon in a tree on our walk yesterday…that didn’t go well. I had to go pet the ballon. lol
MichiH
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Pepper heard thunder for the first time today. It was a massive BOOM, she was asleep in her crate at the time…
I said to my oldest son, after the
BOOM, Pepper has never heard thunder (anticipating the barking to begin)…
Shortly, after we hear her sound the alarm haha
I said to my oldest son, after the
BOOM, Pepper has never heard thunder (anticipating the barking to begin)…Shortly, after we hear her sound the alarm haha
I thought of this too!
Katyusharocket
Notable member
Katyusha eating in the ring 
its a small win. I will start moving it slightly while she eats, more and more.
its a small win. I will start moving it slightly while she eats, more and more.
Cferg
Notable member
Not gunfire! I mean seriously, most upland dogs I have been around have more of a reaction to gunfire than Stassi.
My wife came out with me to shoot today and I was able to observe Stassi. Usually I’m worried about my own shooting when me and the dog are alone. I know Stassi doesn’t freak out but I couldn’t totally watch her reactions the whole time. Like I did today.
She will hold a down or the through position while someone is shooting no problem. No head or ear twitching at all, brass falling the whole time. She isn’t relaxed laying on her side but she isn’t loading up at all either just kinda there. As excitable as she is about most things I would’ve never guessed she would be like this about gunfire.
My wife came out with me to shoot today and I was able to observe Stassi. Usually I’m worried about my own shooting when me and the dog are alone. I know Stassi doesn’t freak out but I couldn’t totally watch her reactions the whole time. Like I did today.
She will hold a down or the through position while someone is shooting no problem. No head or ear twitching at all, brass falling the whole time. She isn’t relaxed laying on her side but she isn’t loading up at all either just kinda there. As excitable as she is about most things I would’ve never guessed she would be like this about gunfire.
That's how Asha is with loud noises - the chainsaw, the gas log splitter, she just trots around like nothings going on. Gunfire she startles and faces the direction, but recovers in about 3 seconds, but she's never been around continuous gunfire like a shooting range, so it's always a "surprise" sound. When hunting season is going on we can occasionally hear a shot or two from the house, and also people target shoot in the forest around us. That far away she alerts to it, but doesn't startle.
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