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Published in the Ithaca Journal on Tuesday, March 16, 2004
What causes canine's sudden noise phobia?
Spotlight on Pet Behavior
By MICHELLE BAMBERGER
Special to the Journal
Question:I have a spayed female German Shepherd named Hilda who is one year old. Over the last few months, she seems to have become sensitive to sounds, such as the movement of a chair across the floor, the dropping of a book, and the loud rustling of a newspaper. She responds by tucking her tail, crouching down low and retreating to her crate. I decided to break her of this habit by taking her to a construction site. She was very anxious at first, but after two hours, began to calm down. However, the problem remains the same at home, and if anything seems to be intensifying. Will she outgrow this behavior, and what can I do in the meantime?Answer: From your description, it seems that Hilda has developed a phobia, or fear, to certain noises in your home. Noise phobias may develop to many different types of sounds both within the home, such as a vacuum cleaner or electric broom, and outside of the home, such as fireworks or thunder. You also state that Hilda appears anxious when you leave; keep in mind that many dogs with noise phobias also develop separation anxiety.
Hilda will most likely not outgrow this behavior. In fact, several studies have shown that fear disorders, including noise phobias, have a strong likelihood of heritability in German Shepherds. Fears and phobias can develop at any age, but in dogs, the majority of cases usually begin between one and five years of age.
Behavioral management of noise phobias begins with changing your behavior (and in so doing, changing Hilda’s). For example, you should not reassure her when she is anxious, but should reward her when she is calm and relaxed. Counterconditioning and desensitization exercises are also commonly used. In counterconditioning, one response (Hilda’s fearful behavior) is replaced with another (having Hilda sit/down/stay or chase a toy when she becomes anxious). In desensitization, the noises that you describe in your home are replicated and taped, and then gradually increased while Hilda is conditioned to respond without fear. Another technique, more often used with humans, is flooding. In this process, a person is forced to confront the fearful situation and remain in it until he/she is calm and no longer responds with fear (similar to what you attempted at the construction site). A drawback of this technique is that there is a fair chance of increasing (causing sensitization), not lessening the fear.
Many dogs with noise phobias will attempt to escape the house (or destroy it in the process) when confronted with the offending noise; these dogs must be taught to go to a ‘safe’ place in the home. You mention that Hilda retreats to her crate when afraid. This is an excellent response on her part, but in order to keep the crate as a ‘safe’ place for her, it is extremely important that you never use the crate for punishment of any sort.
In addition to behavior modification, medication is often administered and is a necessary part of the treatment plan. More than one type of medication may be used, depending upon the individual case and the dog’s progress. Before medication can be considered, Hilda should have a thorough examination and laboratory tests done to rule out metabolic causes of her behavior as well as to have a premedication health screen. Dogs are usually on medication for four to six months before weaning is attempted.
Michelle Bamberger is a veterinarian and owner of Vet Behavior Consults (www.vetbehaviorconsults.com), a practice based in Ithaca and devoted exclusively to solving behavioral problems in small, large and exotic animals. Send questions for her column to mjb57@cornell.edu, mail them Care of Jessica Keltz to The Ithaca Journal, 123 West State St., Ithaca, NY, 14850, or fax them to 277-6845.