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General phobia resulting from shock

Barbara is a Rottweiler. She is three years old, good tempered, very trusting, sociable and friendly. She is calm like a rock and nothing can disturb her, nobody has ever heard her growling. Or rather it was so, according to her Mistress words, till the accident, which radically inverted her personality.

One Sunday they walked together across the foot-center of the town where road works were conducted when suddenly a power drill began to work nearby. Barbara got panic. She plunged away and violently stroked against the fence. She was immediately taken away and ultimately calmed down. However the next day she declined to go into that part of the town and was afraid of any noise outside her house. After several weeks she refused to walk in the park, where the traffic could be heard, though it was far away, beyond the park fence. Then she refused to walk in the park at all. Her status was getting worse. Finally she declined to go outside the yard: she ran out of the house, hastily did her things in the garden and got back home. But even inside the house she didn't feel safe - declined to enter some rooms and was apparently afraid of some pieces of furniture.

The owners decided to consult with the specialist of animal behavior, thinking that if it would go this way, Barbara would soon have settled inside the wardrobe, since she had already feared of everything and had turned into the shadow of what she had been recently.

When Barbara and her owner came to the doctor, they both looked like they had gone through the hell. As to the owner, a cup of tea helped her pull herself together, but as for panting and slobbering Barbara, she couldn't quiet down till the end of reception.

The acousticophobia is quite a wide-spread disease, and the treatment is rather difficult and durational. But when the primary phobia (acousticophobia) converts into a general disorder with a constant nervous reaction the task gets extremely complicated.

Such cases imply that the specialist should determine the strength of cohesion between a dog and his owner. The clearness in relationship helps a sick dog to take his owner as a kind but trustworthy dominant the dog may rely on at crucial moment. Yet one should draw a pronounced line between a support and a hyperdependence. Indeed, Barbara lost her self-confidence partially because her Mistress had been actively patronized and defended her. When the owner (her name is Sally) so much worried about the Barbara's fears, she involuntary accustomed the dog to look for protection with Sally, instead of bearing them as she did before. This leaded Barbara to the condition that is called "acquired helplessness" at which an owner's hyperprotection stimulates the dog's inability to adapt to situation.

Relationship

The first step at correcting this status is to analyze relationship of the dog and the man and to help the owner become the dog's confidant and defender but keeping off encouragement of the dog's hyperdependence. Interestingly, that Sally's husband had more precise relations with the dog, mainly because he spent less time with her. Though Sally sometimes wished to take a rest and leave the dog for a little, she considered staying beside the dog was more important, otherwise, she thought, the dog may have got worse. So as Sally restricted everyday dog's social contacts, David became more and more significant to Barbara and the connection between them grew tighter.

Rehabilitation of the pack leaders

The specialist of animal behavior suggested the owners during the following 2-3 weeks to establish in the house the behavioral system, which is as follows: Barbara should "earn" all the pleasant things she'd like to get - food, caress, a walk - by coming and sitting at a command. Sally and David should not request for contact but insist on approaching. Though at first the dog might be embarrassed, this system will show her the owners have a right to control her and dominate, even if she is at alert. He also advised to make tender contacts shorter but frequent in order to make Barbara keep an eye on her owners hoping to attract attention and get caress.

Safe den within a house

Often a safe shelter inside the house can be an effective method to help dogs that are nervous or prone to fear. It should be an indoor doghouse or specially appointed sleeping place. Barbara had already had such - a corner in the kitchen she shared with another dog. You see, even a faithful friend couldn't help Barbara strengthen herself.

Reducing a sensitivity

When this new system is fixed, the owners may little by little inspire the dog to obtain her self-confidence, i.e. they should not react to her anxiety concerning usual home procedures like working washing machine or some frightful pieces of furniture. Divide her daily portion into several parts and try to feed her beside the fearful objects without any verbal stimulation.

When she becomes quieter, one may try to reconcile her with the outer world. Be a bit sly: let one person lead the dog and another go ahead armed with some dainty and luring the dog farther and farther from the front door. This is like a trick with a carrot, fastened in front of the donkey's nose. If the dog panics the owners should stop and wait till the animal gets easy (no action by the owner).

As a rule, the results of such treatment are delayed: dogs suffering phobias need certain time to get better. One can't be sure about how quickly the recovery will happen. Some get well quickly and completely, others require several months of treatment, and sometimes it may last forever.

Results of treatment

After several weeks of therapy Barbara's condition got noticeably better. The nervous dog felt good near the house and even began to walk in the garden on her own accord. She was still feeling unsure while walking beyond the fence but began to fall for the bait, or rather a carrot, if everything around was quiet. The vet dissuaded the Barbara's owners to administer sedatives along with the desensibilization program (i.e. reducing a sensitivity), since this drug could retard the learning process.

A year later the vet got a letter from Sally where she wrote that Barbara slowly but undoubtedly was getting better. She could unleash the dog at the walks and the dog came at the owner's call despite whether they went home after that or not. Barbara's cohesion with David got stronger and she became less dependent on her mistress, though their mutual affection didn't got worse. When they had acquired another dog, the mixture of rottweiler and German shepherd bloods, Barbara hadn't recognized him, but later on he strengthened Barbara's self-confidence. She even became naughty and playful and behaved herself as a normal dog.

Thus a hard work gave good fruits, though it required a fair input of time, patience and care.

the material prepared by Sophia Yukki
Translated by Tatiana Karpova (Moscow)
(MSU, Biology faculture, Dep. zoology and ecology).