DTrain Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 I am not sure what has taken place here or why. My oldest dog Mac has always been thunder phobic. He reacts to thunder long before I hear it. For seven years whenever he hears thunder and a number of other load noises he runs to hide. He has learned to open sliding closet doors and whenever there is a storm that is where we will find him. BUT, in the past two days we have had a number of spring storms with the usual thunder and lightning and heavy rain but for some reason Mac has not responded in the usual way. He stops what he is doing but he does not go to hide. After a quick check he goes right back to what he was doing. Yesterday we were playing ball with him and we heard thunder in the distance from an approaching storm. This in the past would have stopped his play and he would head for a closet. You may have read a few things about my dogs and how their life has changed, they have made many adjustments but I have not heard of anything like this before. Any ideas what this might be all about, Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC_Y2K9 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 How old is Mac? Could it be possible his hearing is not what it once was? A friend's dog was extremely reactive to noise. They recently had hunting season take place literally right behind their property and the gunfire prompted no reactions from their dog. The dog is 12 and has started to lose his hearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody & Duchess Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Our sheltie - Jake - who passed away a year ago - went from being very reactive to vacuums, etc - to not bothered at all. Unfortunately - the answer was the same as the above post - his hearing was going due to age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Peep Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Usher dislikes thunder. After the 4th of July, he didn't mind it. He actually sat out and watched all the pretty fire works. I had my heart dog go deaf, which I agree with the others what might be the cause of Mac. Luckily, I worked her in obedience. I've learned some new hand signals, like go potty and others. I use them on the dogs now "just in case". Let us know about Mac. After you see a vet, try hand signals while he still has some hearing left. It will make your lives easier. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTrain Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Mac is now seven. I had not thought of deafness because he shows no other signs. He follows his verbal commands and whistles even at a distance. He has always been good at audible commands and has a large vocabulary. I will check him further. Would he be more likely to stop hearing low or high frequency sounds. I have a very low voice. When I speak Mac will always look right at me. Is there anything else you can think of. My other two dogs are not noise phobic beyond curiosity so he is not getting any signals from them and we try not to respond when we hear a load noise so if Mac is not going deaf what else could it be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Coyote Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Mac is now seven. I had not thought of deafness because he shows no other signs. He follows his verbal commands and whistles even at a distance. He has always been good at audible commands and has a large vocabulary. I will check him further. Would he be more likely to stop hearing low or high frequency sounds. I have a very low voice. When I speak Mac will always look right at me. Is there anything else you can think of. My other two dogs are not noise phobic beyond curiosity so he is not getting any signals from them and we try not to respond when we hear a load noise so if Mac is not going deaf what else could it be. My dogs quit having problems when they quit hearing the storms. Shoot, maybe you should just say "thank you, thank you" and break out the champagne. (or however you spell it) Thuinderphobia is such a pain in the rear. I actually had one of my dogs die in the thunderstorm - heart attack. It was always such a relief when the dogs didn't hear them any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 I think there is a kind of grace for very old dogs who go deaf. There's a restaurant/gift shop not far from here where they used to have this ancient dog. You could go into the gift shop and practically walk on top of this dog, who would lie there, immune to the noise and chaos, napping in the sun. Seven, of course, is too young. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTrain Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 I spent some time working with Mac this afternoon. The next time I am at the Vet I will have him check Mac out but he shows no signs of being deaf. He is responding to the slightest noise even when he is not paying attention or expecting anything. He may be a little less alert to very low frequency noises but if he has a hearing loss it is certainly mirror. I have noticed however that his selective hearing is a least as good as it has always been. I worked with him outside for a while and he was fine until I wanted him back in the house, then of course he could not hear a thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetlander Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Any ideas what this might be all about, Thanks. No idea, really, but my Sheltie has changed her reactions to noises a couple times in her 10 1/2 years. She used to be frightened of fireworks and suddenly one summer, she was instead very stirred up by them, running towards them barking like crazy. That was probably about 6 years ago and she is still wound up by their noise. She also used to be very storm phobic, hiding under the bed or furniture. That slowly changed to where she is now a little restless but not freaked out. We had a series of storms over the weekend and most of the time she ignored them with a bit of pacing now and then. Beats me why, but I'm happy to see her less stressed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 For anyone who has sent DNA and questionnaires in to the Canine Behavioral Genetics Project and seen this change in their dogs, and ruled out hearing loss, please contact K9behavioralgenetics@lppi.ucsf.edu and let us know. This kind of information would be valuable to have. Thanks very much! I can only hope and dream that Solo "wakes up" from his noise phobia someday, but I am not holding my breath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 I can only hope and dream that Solo "wakes up" from his noise phobia someday, but I am not holding my breath. Same with Dean. It would be a dream come true for both of us, but I'm not betting any money on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 I know my old (just turned 13 - yippee!) girl is losing hearing, and mostly doesn't react to sounds that she used to. But a thunderclap when we were out hiking yesterday - she definitely heard that. Only she doesn't "run away" (her reaction) quite as fast as she used to. Sigh. diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy Chittenden Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 My other two dogs are not noise phobic beyond curiosity so he is not getting any signals from them and we try not to respond when we hear a load noise so if Mac is not going deaf what else could it be. I would go with this as a possibility! Dogs definitely pick up their cues for behavior from other dogs. I have a family of ten of our own. Each with their own quirks and issues and a couple without - phew! We foster dogs on a continual basis and I can't tell you how much the newcomers seem to "pick up" on here from the others. Our very first border collie that we adopted was severely thunderphobic. She still doesn't much like it but it no longer sends her into the bathroom behind the toilet pipes as a quivering mass of fear. She has actually chosen to remain out playing ball at times (not that we play ball in thunderstorms, but sometimes we are at the lower end of the field when they start and she no longer bolts for home). It's taken a few years and she is now 11 so perhaps her hearing too isn't what it was. But others have come with SA and noise phobia issues and they are definitely more relaxed after being here for a few months as none of my dogs care if we come or go (or perhaps that is just because they are here) - and ball/frisbee games definitely trump big noises. Wasn't there a study on this a couple of years ago?! Whatever the reason, I'd just enjoy it:) Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixie_Girl Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Cheyenne developed thunderphobia when she was around 8. She is now 13 and I have noticed that her hearing is not all that good. But she still reacts to thunder. She will sometimes react before I hear it. Holly is the same, she is maybe 11(according to owners who dumped her). Don't know if she is hard of hearing or hard headed! Skip is noise phobic, but not thuderphobic. Jackson is fine with all. Stock of any kind or toys. Those are the only things that exists in his world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Our old MacLeod was a bit thunderphobic all his life - until he began losing a bit of hearing with age. He could still hear most things just fine but the (I'm assuming) deeper. lower sounds associated with thunder (and gunshots, maybe?) seemed to be what he lost first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTrain Posted March 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 For anyone who has sent DNA and questionnaires in to the Canine Behavioral Genetics Project and seen this change in their dogs, and ruled out hearing loss, please contact K9behavioralgenetics@lppi.ucsf.edu and let us know. This kind of information would be valuable to have. Thanks very much! I can only hope and dream that Solo "wakes up" from his noise phobia someday, but I am not holding my breath. I sent an email to these folks some months ago but they did not get back to me. I explained I have three dogs. One is from a well known line and he is not thunder or noise phobic nor does it seem is any other dog from his family. I have his son, my youngest dog and he shows no sign of noise phobia. He has the same mother as my oldest dog, the dog in question. But my oldest dog Mac has a different father and he is noise phobic ( or at least he was ) although his mother is not and I am not sure about his father. I am going to rule out hearing loss. I have tested Mac further and he shows no signs and he is only seven. I will have the Vet check him the next time we go but I expect Mac's hearing is just fine and the Vet will find the same. Did I explain this well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTrain Posted March 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 We have ruled out hearing loss. The Vet feels certain that Mac has not lost any of his hearing but something else did come up. We clean Macs ears periodically, we always have. From time to time perhaps every three or four months we will notice that Macs ears can be a little smelly so we clean them with a Vet provided solution and he is fine. The question, could cleaning Macs ears over a long period of time have anything to do with this. The Vet is not certain and since Mac appears to have no hearing loss he thinks it is doubtful. I brought up the the subject of him taking cues from the other dogs who pretty much ignore load noise but the Vet admitted to not having enough experience along this line to provide and answer so, as Cathy has suggested this could be the answer. Any further input, do your dogs pick up cues of this nature from the other pack members. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetlander Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Any further input, do your dogs pick up cues of this nature from the other pack members. I think they do but it doesn't seem as much the case with a strong fear or phobia. If the dog is in the grip of fear, he may only be looking for some way to escape rather than thinking some doggy version of "hmmm, the other dogs seem fine. maybe I don't need to worry." That said, I have been very careful with puppies that everyone is calm around them during events like thunderstorms. I will even give calming signals like yawning during a puppy's first few storms. And I made sure my still fearful at that time Sheltie stayed away from Quinn during storms when he was a puppy. But all that may only be of limited helpfulness and works mainly for puppies who likely wouldn't care anyway. I think the dog's basic temperament is the biggest factor for this sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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