My 7-year-old Yorkie has an extreme fear of beeping sounds, like the sounds a microwave or air conditioner pad makes when you push the buttons to input settings. Even similar sounds on TV will set him off.
He has had this fear for a while, but it’s getting worse. When he hears this sound, he panics, can’t sleep and looks for corners to hide in. His heart rate goes up, and it takes hours or sometimes a whole day for him to calm down. I asked my vet about it, but he just said my dog has emotional problems.
I do not know how to help him. Drugs? Training? It’s to the point now where if I need to turn on the air conditioner, I have to take my dog out and have it turned on by someone else. He’s more afraid now than ever. He spends a lot of time under a bed or in a dark place. Is there a way to help him get over this fear?
–Joey
Hi Joey,
Thank you for writing in with what sounds like a real problem for both you and your dog — but especially for your dog, who isn’t handling day-to-day sounds with normal ease. The first thing that came to mind was a training solution that involves desensitizing your dog to these sounds, but after thinking about it, I believe that your dog has a nervous system issue that’s more medical than emotional.
A sensitive nervous system can be caused by an infection or injury — for example, people who have had head trauma often can’t handle certain sounds, nor can people who have had brain or spinal cord infections. It’s much harder to assess these kinds of issues with dogs because they can’t tell us exactly what’s going on in their bodies. Your dog might not be afraid of the beeping sounds, but instead might actually be hurt by them. Preferring dark places, like you said your dog does, may also indicate a nervous system disease or disorder — he’s trying to stay away from stimuli that hurts him, like lights and sounds.
Most veterinarians aren’t going to be sensitive to this estimation, unfortunately, so you’re going to have to find a vet who is willing to be open to a physical diagnosis for what seems like a psychological issue, and do an extremely thorough work-up for your dog.
Conversely, let’s say there’s nothing physically wrong with your dog and he’s just a “Nervous Nelly.” The “management” solution would be to remove the stressor to eliminate the issue. But, how are you going to remove the beep from your microwave and air conditioner? That may be impossible.
One way to deal with this is to desensitize your dog to the sound. Find something your dog really likes — like bacon, liver or cheese — and sit with him in your lap, on a leash (so you can control him), offering these tidbits while someone else makes the noise happen across the room. Your dog will try to flee, but you will pull him gently back, offering more goodies and praising him for staying with you (even though he’s tethered to you).
The idea is to have him start to associate the sound with something good, like praise and tasty food. You have to do this every day, at least three times a day for about 20 minutes each time, perhaps for weeks. If this is indeed a behavioral issue, you should be able to desensitize your dog to these sounds — if it’s medical, it may be hard to do until you get to the real root of the problem.
– Nikki
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