Noise sensitivity

[Maralynn]

I'm starting to think about getting a pup sometime later this year (not before fall most likely). My main focus for training would be SAR work. I'm wondering about the noise sensitivity issue. Does it tend to be genetic? Or due to the environment raised in/socialization? Or does it just depend on the individual?

 

I do realize that there is nothing certain about raising a pup, but I've never started with a pup before and would really like to go that route this time. So I'm trying to figure out what all I'll be needing to look for to have the best chance for success

[1sheepdoggal]

You may also want to check into over vaccinations as a cause for noise sensitivity as well. Not sure how much has been proven up to now, but it has become something that has come to light recently. Perhaps some one else can tell ya more.

[stockdogranch]

Talk to Melanie,

A

[mbc1963]

My neighbor bought a beautiful black malamute pup - looked like a wolf. She worked hard with his early environment, exposing him to all kinds of stimuli, because she wanted to raise him up to be a SAR dog. Alas, by 9 months he proved too skittish with any kind of human chaos around him to make a good SAR dog. So, I vote for at least partially genetic.

 

Good luck! Sounds like a great working life for a dog.

 

Mary

[Janet808]

Well, first, I'm not that sure what SAR is, so you may have to explain that one to me. lol BC's do have a sensitivity to loud noises. I had read about BC's before getting Misty, and the article stated, you should have a quiet place for your dog to go, if it gets scared of a loud noise. A backfire, noise from fire crackers, etc. Misty doesn't even like the sound of the garbage truck. When down at the boat last year for the 4th of July, the owner of the boat yard, has a BC. Nellie was running around barking like a raving maniac during the fireworks display. Now I know why! No other dog was acting this way. BC's have excellent hearing. So I would say BC's have a genetic sensitivity to noise.

[Tranquilis]

Janet808, SAR is Search And Rescue.

 

In general, I've observed pretty much every BC I've known to be noise sensitive to some degree. Most merely alert to noise, and show interest rather than fear, but more than a few flinch, even to common noises like a car engine starting. I'd say that noise sensitvity is pretty much genetic. How the dog reacts to that sensitivity is probably more an issue of nurture.

 

A dog that alerts to noise is probably still going to be trainable to SAR work, though you may have to work a bit harder on 'attention to task.'

[SoloRiver]

As you may know my project is doing a study on the genetics of noise phobia in Border Collies. We have completed our first round of genotyping and are now sorting through the results, with some interesting but very preliminary findings so far that I will elaborate on if they hold up to further scrutiny.

 

The vast majority of owners of noise phobic Border Collies that I have communicated with (and at this point, that's a lot of them) appear to believe that noise phobia is something inherent in the dog: it can be exacerbated by learning and environment, but in general it seems that the propensity for noise phobia is there or it isn't. This, along with patterns of heritability, suggests that there is a genetic component underlying noise phobia. Living with one very noise phobic Border Collie (Solo) and one with no noise sensitivity whatsoever (Fly) I can tell you that the difference between them is stark. The stereotyped nature of noise reactions in Border Collies (all involving some signs of, basically, panic -- dilated pupils, panting, drooling, efforts to hide or escape are the most common) also suggests that there is something genetic going on and that this is not simply a normal learned fear.

 

This is my long way of saying that I believe noise phobia is biological in nature and affected by genetics. I think that for most applications (particularly stock work and sports) most Border Collies that are noise phobic are not noise phobic enough to justify selecting against noise phobia when breeding dogs, and that this is why it persists in the population. For some dogs, noise phobia can be lethal, but most of the time it is not. The exact pattern of inheritance is not clear, so I can't tell you anything like "it's a simple recessive" or "it's dominant so if neither parent has it you're safe" or anything like that. It's probably polygenic in nature.

 

I would not personally hesitate to select a puppy from noise phobic parents as long as they were not extremely noise phobic (recognizing that it usually worsens over time) for my own purposes, BUT for SAR I would be careful to select a puppy from parents and more distant antecedents that I knew NOT to be noise phobic. This may not be an easy thing to do. Personally, if I were selecting a dog that I knew I would be using for SAR work, I would select an adult over three or four years of age raised in an environment with the normal problematic noises (thunder, gunshots, fireworks) because then I would be more certain (not 100% but more certain) that noises were not going to be an issue for that dog.

 

If you're going to get a puppy, be prepared for the possibility that s/he may grow up to be unusable for SAR in certain circumstances that involve problematic noises. There's no way to guarantee it won't happen, and noise phobia is common enough in Border Collies that it would be a concern for me.

[Pearse]

Melanie,

 

There's something about this issue that I'm curious about. It seems to me that there could be two ways noise phobia could arise in dogs.

 

One would be a hypersensitivity to sound. In other words, one dog perceives a given sound as more intense than another. Not necessarily better hearing but hypersensitivity especially to loud noises or noises in a given frequency range. So, the intense sound produces a painful experience as if the dog was being shocked with a shock collar.

 

The other would be an irrational response to a given sound that produces anxiety, so two dogs perceive the sound the same way. One freaks out and the other notices it but doesn't react.

 

Any indication which is more likely to be at the root of noise phobia or is it neither?

 

Pearse

[JohnLloydJones]

Senneca is definitely noise sensitive. Only days after we got her, she was completely traumatised by someone's "power-can" (soda can full of small stones). She was terrified of thunder. The good news is that she is improving. She can still jump at a strange noise, but she no longer gets totally flipped out. In agility, she has overcome the fear of the teeter. At home, she will come to us for comfort during thunder storms, but if we are out in it she gives me a quick glance to see my reaction and then just carries on. In other words, regardless of the origin of noise-phobia, it may be possible to toughen up your dog.

[Maralynn]

Thanks so much for response, Melanie.

 

I've weighed the pup vs. dog issue many times, and while I'd probably take an adult if the perfect one came along, I know I really want a pup. Even though I'm probably being a bit irrational in that respect. But it is something that I'm going into with my eyes wide open and I am prepared to do the leg work to find one that seems to be well suited for the job.

 

While my two dogs have some slight issues with noise, it is quite managable, and seems to get better little by little as I expose them more and more. And their drive to do something often overides the apprehention of the noise. I suspect that their issues stem mostly from a lack of early socialization, but I'll never really know of course.

[SoloRiver]

I don't think noise phobia has anything to do with lack of socialization, training, or management, and in Border Collies at least it is often totally divorced from any other anxiety issues in the dog. Too many good dogs owned by really great owners are noise phobic for me to blame their phobias on training, socialization, or owners. Another thing to keep in mind that attempting to desensitize a dog to noises usually backfires if the dog has a true phobia -- instead of becoming desensitized, they become sensitized (i.e., worse). For evidence merely witness the emotional state of a dog at the beginning and at the end of storm season.

 

Good luck whatever you decide.

[njnovice]

I don't know what causes noise sensitivity, but I'm glad that Mick isn't too sensitive, since we're a pretty loud house. We have his pedigree, but we adopted him at 6 months, so we don't know what his previous home was like.

 

However, he gets sensitive about weird things, such as his slight fear of aluminum foil. Another perfect example of Mick's quirks was on New Year's Eve. It was a little after midnight, and I had him out in the yard. There's shotguns going off at one end of the road, fireworks at the other, and sirens on the nearby highway. Does any of this phase him? No. What does he start barking at, when things calm down? Water dripping off of the roof.

[Root Beer]

Oddly, Speedy, who is "fearful" overall, has no issues with noise.

 

Dean, who is "stable" overall, is noise sensitive.

 

Melanie, due to the possibility of sensitization in a dog that truly has a noise phobia, what course of action do you recommend that one take with a noise phobic Border Collie in the early stages of evidence of the phobia to try to avoid mass-escalation of the problem later in life?

[Liz P]

These are the categories of dogs I know of through personal experience, both dogs I have raised and those owned by close friends.

 

1) Always noise sensitive, generally get progressively worse.

 

2) Very noise aware as pups and young dogs, get excited by the noises but are not at all afraid of them. One bad experience with a loud noise or a drop in thyroid levels and they often become phobic when middle aged or older.

 

3) Don't care about or react to noises as pups and are the same as adults.