The Education of Ben

[Beekissed]

Curious- did Ben act this way before he was neutered? When did this behavior start?

No, he didn't at all. The first time happened when the boys had set off some tannerite at the back of our land...it sounds a lot like dynamite. VERY loud. But we had had thunderstorms since Ben was neutered and he never reacted to it, nor did he react to gunfire during hunting season....just started with that much louder noise of tannerite and now thunder, even a single distant .22 shot, will make him anxious but he only crosses his boundary if I'm not around when he experiences the anxiety.

Studies show that males after neuter seem to develop fear of thunderstorms. What was interesting is that it didn't seem to matter at what age the dog was neutered and they did not see the same results with spayed females.

One of our Pyr pups was fine- the new owners neutered him at around 2ish.... now he is terrified of the storms.... he gets out of his field and runs to the house, after the storm he goes back to his field.
They knew the stats and the risk but opted to neuter anyway.

I have noticed over the years many pyrs (intact) develop issues with storms. However there is no known cause of why a seemingly stable dog suddenly develops this. The magic age seems to be between 3-4.

Very interesting! I'd never heard that before. Is that just with these LGD breeds then? I've had neutered males of other breeds that never had a problem.

That's just a strange thing. If I had known that I might not have gotten him neutered.

 

[Southern by choice]

No, not just LGD's. I find it interesting as well.

Years ago we had something happen that was really bizarre- supposedly it was dynamite being used on stumps.
Funny thing is no one knew anyone blowing up stumps.
There were explosions 2x in the evening for several days- same time... all I can say is the whole family thought a bomb had gone off or had been dropped.
These explosions shook the whole house, it was actually pretty freaky.
My DH id former military and he even said Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Years ago we lived by a base that did lots of artillery practice and still nothing like this sound.

All the dogs and goats and well every animal and humans were pretty freaked out.
Truly a sound I've never heard.
Still a mystery.
When they started up weeks later D did go over the fence and we had to lock him up. All my dogs bark at stuff like that but not this sound.

The dogs don't panic and are use to gunshots but when someone is shooting their AR (I think it is the AR) D gets ancy... I do wonder though if it has more to do with when we had a gale-nado (not official tornado) and when it ripped through the entire roof was ripped off the Kikos shelter and came crashing down on them. The goats nor Callie or D would sleep in the shelter for a long time. They eventually got over it.

Our friends had loggers come in (they didn't know loggers were coming in) and literally right next to their fenceline they logged. Their dogs freaked out. Have you seen those massive machines?
Eventually the dogs got over it but they were real sensitive to LOUD noises after that.

I do think circumstances can cause some issues but given time it works out - some people coddle the animal though and it gets worse.

Association is pretty powerful in dogs.

Many moons ago there was a dog that was a great little dog ( I groomed the dog in show coat) this dog however if it got out would go for tires. One time it slipped past it's owner and well - I guess you can imagine- when it was rush to the hospital it was in shock.... we all knew this little guy and fought for him... he did eventually come around but he associated the trauma NOT with the car but the Hospital.
It was so bad that eventually we all agreed it would be better to try another AH. He did fine.
Yet same scenario with another dog and the dog eventually came round.

 

[Beekissed]

Had an unexpected thunderstorm yesterday and when the thunder rolled, Ben just laid there...glanced in the direction of the thunder, but showed no anxiety whatsoever. That's a positive change! No pacing, no anxious panting, nada.

Hallelujah! Still have yet to test the Th-shirt under gunfire but will have to apply it for the 4th, for sure.

 

[Beekissed]

Ben wore his shirt during the 4th, while we were away from home that day. Today we are having thunderstorms and he's acting quite calm, lying calmly and relaxed...and he's NOT wearing the shirt. I think that thundershirt is working!

Have yet to test it on close gunfire, but will do so soon.

 

[Bruce]

 

[Beekissed]

Right now we are having a thunderstorm, thunder rolling, wind blowing and off and on torrential rains....and Ben is lying up there on his side, sleeping through it, right along side Jake. Mom said she was out there earlier and heard several gunshots...could have been fireworks...but said Ben just lay there and slept through them.

And NOT wearing his thundershirt!!!!!

I praise God for all of that, as I had prayed for Ben and his fear, on how to keep him contained here and safe, etc. I think God is answering prayer right now. It was the Holy Spirit Who had put the idea of the thundershirt in my mind in the first place, so all glory to God as Ben gets over his fears.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Great news!

 

[goatgurl]

i'm so happy for you and ben. truly wonderful that the shirt is working. and yes bee, God is good but you knew that already.

 

[Beekissed]

Yes, I surely did!

Just got to see why I added Ben to the workforce, once again. Rarely do these dogs bark in the day time...I can pretty much count on one hand the times I've heard it. Ben let out an aggressive bark and streaked for the back of their boundary...Jake was across the yard but ran to catch up as hard as he could.

Of course, I was thinking it was some big predator and I was going to finally see what they were worth and what they were up against. Couldn't see a THING up there. But, Ben was standing on alert, then rose to his hind legs, wheeled about on those two legs and ran down the hill barking up into the air!!!! I briefly saw a brown form flying in front of him but they went behind the shed and I couldn't see anything else. All the chickens were on alert but had not run for cover, nor had the rooster put out an alarm.

Ben got cut by that owl last fall, so it could very well have created a good thing there. Could make him more aggressive towards aerial preds. I'm LOVING this!!!!

Thanking the Lord for this good dog He brought to me!

Thanking the Lord for helping Ben get over his fears too....I watched him lay quietly as several shots echoed over the land a day or so ago. Couldn't tell if those were shots or fireworks, but it sounded like gunfire enough that he should have gotten anxious. Nothing...just relaxed!

In the back of my mind I've been dreading that part of fall after what happened last year~lost a good few cockerels and a few hens had to be killed after some predation from a pair of Great Horned Owls that were hunting our clearing for a period of time~ but this year I've resolved to let God handle it all and not get fearful or stressed about danger to the flock. God's will be done, not mine. Could be that things will be much different this fall...especially with a dog that now hates aerial predators.

 

[Beekissed]

Another good reason to train your LGD on excessive barking: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/31/court-oregon-couple-must-have-their-dogs-vocal-cords-cut.html