An unusual problem for a TG Alumni
This is a problem that I am not sure of how to solve - does anyone here have any ideas??
Hi Yvette, Dave and Stan;
We have been keeping all of you in our thoughts and we believe that all is well. I am writing about Merlin the blue, eyed gift.
(Merlin is a catahoula and a Burns Lake Pound pup so we have no history on him - this picture is when he arrived at TG)
He has been a wonderful addition to our family and we love him dearly. He is on his way to being two and I think that he is developmentally appropriate and maturing very nicely. He will not leave the yard without a family member; deer, cats, neighbors all can not entice him to leave without permission. He only barks if something out of the ordinary occurs (which is once a month) and he acts like a brother to our cat who is also two and a male.
There is one issue that we can not seem to train (relax) Merlin over. He is obsessed with cyling-fans. If he sees one that is not spinning he will look up every 10 seconds to make sure it doesn’t start. In our own house we have three and they are needed all year long, we have decided that we need to work through this with him. Now is the time. If the fan is turning, Merlin will cower and inch his way through or around the room until he can make it safely downstairs to hide on his bed. If he is outside, he will run into his dog house. We have tried several tactics…
1) Ignore the behavior and introduce Merlin to the fan being no big deal and not staring at it the entire time it moves.
2) Accountability, if Merlin is asked to come and he doesn’t, one of us will walk to him and while holding is collar comfortably, walk him to where he was supposed to go and talk positively while he is doing what was requested.
3) Rewarding with treats– he is only somewhat interested, the fan fear is bigger that the idea of a treat.
4) Play while in a area that the fan is to take his mind off of the distraction. We use barriers so that he has to stay in the main room of the house and I try to correct Merlin’s obsession of looking at the fan before he has the chance or the detract him once he spies it.
Merlin is very healthy. He gets lots of exercise, adequate diet and has dog duties that he seems proud of. When the fan is off, he seems like a well adjusted, great natured guy. When the fan is on he is as neurotic as they come.
It doesn’t seem to matter if the fan is at the 8 foot level or not. The main room in our house has a fan 20′ up and this is the fan that seems to cause the most fear in Merlin. I have run out of ideas and the winter is fan season for us- it is an integral part of our heating system. We are interested in any thoughts that you may have.
Thanks,
Paula and Dennis Graham
©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.
wow there is an interesting question. I believe he needs some conditioning. For example start with floor model ones set a few out on the floor put him on a leash and treat them as an obstacle course he needs to pass and do not feed into his fear only reward him when he does what is asked and when he is relaxed and when he has becomes calm around the fans when they are off start turning them on… start low and work your way up.
I believe alot of people feed into their dogs irrational fears by babying them and this just tells their dogs that there really is something to fear instead of ignoring the behavior and making them move past this fear/behavior, after all if you the leader are not scared of fans neither should he be scared. Remember when working with him you must remain calm and confident as he will pick up on your frusteration or agitation.
There is some good books out there by the dog wisperer Ceasar Milan and also a Tv program on the natural geographic channel. I love this show and I used to have a dog who used to watch it with me (it was so cute). I haven’t bought his book yet but it is on my wish list.
I don’t know if this sugestion is helpful you may have already tried this.
Good luck with this problem and I hope you and Merlin work through this fear he deserves it and so do you. He sounds like a great easy going dog who deserves to relax without worrying about those pesky fans.
Take care
Comment by Laurel — August 26, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
I have also got a TG dog and for the longest time she was also very anxious, fearful of the ceiling fans…disappeared from the house or into the basement if the fan was on wouldn’t come anywhere near it. After 4 years she has finally decided that they are a good thing and actually lay on the bed underneath the fan for a cooling breeze this summer. She will still check it to see if it is still okay if I change the speed or turn it off or on but I think time and exposure to it was her only desensitizing. However having said that I did change the ceiling fan in the bedroom so maybe she likes this one more or it isn’t making a noise that I couldn’t hear but she could. Anyhow it took lots of time and patience for her to gain the confidence that the fan wasn’t going to cause her any harm maybe that is all that Merlin needs.
Good Luck
Theresa
Comment by Theresa — August 26, 2008 @ 3:21 pm
Poor Merlin! I am definitely no expert, but I’d be inclined to leave all the fans on, all the time, if you can. Even though it would be stressful for him, it wold be consistent, and he wouldn’t have to wonder if one was suddenly going to turn on.
Then I’d spend as much time as I could, sitting on the floor and holding and cuddling him within sound of the fan but as far from it as possible, then gradually - over days, not hours-doing the cuddling within sight of the fan, still distant, but gradually getting closer, and hope that he could understand that he is safe in your arms, even from the fan. Eventually he might learn that the fan can’t hurt him.
Poor guy- I wonder what happened in his past to scare him so badly.
Good luck. Hope someone comes up with a better idea!
Comment by Barb — August 26, 2008 @ 4:13 pm
My first assumption is that in his past he has had a scary encounter with a fan or with blowing air, but second thought makes me wonder if you have seen any evidence of visual impairment? A fan could create a confusing motion of light and dark for a visually impaired individual (much like strobe lights drive me to distraction because of the motion and flashes of light!).
Barring a visual or possible hearing impairment which is bothered by the motion and sound of fans, I would look to making “fan on” a really pleasant experience. Whenever you are in a room where a fan is off, the dog is basically a piece of furniture - no toy, no play, no pats, no treats, no attention. When the fan is on, dog gets HIGH VALUE treats (liver treats, for example, are usually a winner), playtime, favourite toy, people talking to him. One caveat: the talk is not “reassurance” or “coaxing” which may only exacerbate the problem, but playful, high pitched happy voice interaction. In other words, the only time the dog has “fun” is when the fans are running.
Are these primarily ceiling fans? If not, you could try desensitizing him to the sight and sound of fans by putting a large barrier around the fan for the first few introductions - something like a room divider or a very large cardboard barrier between the fan and the room. The fan is ON while you interact playfully with the dog, but he can’t see or feel it. He will, however, sense it but it should be less threatening. If you were using heavy cardboard (ask your appliance dealer for a refigerator box!), you could then gradually cut a larger and larger hole in the centre so first there is a little flow of air, then more, then it is visible. I hope that makes sense.
Comment by Jean — August 26, 2008 @ 4:59 pm
Merlin and the fans:
I had a similar problem with one of my dogs and a ceiling fan fixed to my vaulted ceiling, approx 14 ft high. I could not hear any unusual noise from the fan when it was running but it seems Hollie did and would move out of the room.
Then I had to clean all the ceiling fixtures after a reno, (drywall dust), took the ceiling fan apart, cleaned inside the mechanism, lubed moving parts (because of dust) and cleaned outer casing and blades, turned it back on, and surprise Hollie was not bother by it.
Possible Merlin is hearing high pitch noises from your fans.
Comment by Barbara — August 26, 2008 @ 5:00 pm
Dave and I were talking and we figure that he may have been attacked by an eagle - there are hundreds of eagles on the salmon bearing rivers that these dogs come from - Merlin from the Babine River, Phebie from Francois Lake. Eagles are eating the carcasses of thousands of dead salmon and they will dive bomb people and animals. That may explain the why they are afraid but not how to help them overcome. We have a ceiling fan in our common room but Merlin arrived just before renovations started and we moved to the Blue House. I know time and patience will overcome all obstacles - fear as well. Maybe peppermint oil on his feet may calm him when the fans come on?
Comment by yvette — August 26, 2008 @ 5:56 pm
Um… mint is a stimulant which wouldn’t be a calming agent. If you must put something on the pads of his feet, make it liverwurst!
Fans move… dogs notice. Fans blow air… dogs are tactile and feel the wind. Allow him to leave the area when he is fearful… he will respect you for that. Be patient and live normally… he will seek you out when he’s ready. At 2 years of age, this wouldn’t be a new reaction unless you were having your roof fixed and he noticed the fan moving when there were loud noises that startled him.
Best of luck.
Comment by Donna — August 26, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
i have had quite a few dogs come in that are afraid of the ceiling fans…. with upwards of 28 dogs in the house, the fans run all day and all night so whoever is scared of them can just get over it. i ignore the fact that they don’t like them and i am not turning them off… none of them even think twice about them anymore, to them the fans are now just windy white noise.
Comment by carol — August 26, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
How ironic that you would mention Phebie in this discussion. (I am guessing that ours is probably the only Phebie spelled that way…) She isn’t afraid of fans but IS TERRIFIED OF BIG BIRDS! We actually had to change vets because our vet had birds and she was terrified anytime I would take her there. She always ended up shaking in my arms bear hugging my neck. New vet, no more fear…
Comment by Melissa — August 27, 2008 @ 4:25 pm
We were visiting a rescue last year and it was a different situation. This dog literally threw herself up in the air trying to attack the fan. She was obsessed with getting it. The poor rescuers tried everything to get her to stop…it didn’t matter if it was on or off once she knew it was there. They would put her outside in the common area and try to keep her out there but all the dogs in this rescue are in at night and as soon as she would get in she would start tossing herself at it. I was so amazed when I saw her doing this…they had never had a dog do this altho they had ones that were fearful of the fans..so I guess it is how they percieve these monsters above them obviously to them it is something that scares them . Best of luck working with this issue…
Comment by Cheryl — August 28, 2008 @ 6:38 am
My dog is Phife, and when ever she was afraid of something that is safe for her I lead her to it first fast then slowly as she becomes aware of the object or situation. This is how she learned to swim, meet the neighbors horse, realized bicycles and skateboards aren’t all that scary and… got over the ceiling fan. I watched her a few times, and realized it was the sound of the fan, not the motion at first that would get her going. She started by barking at it and running away. If she was in the other room I could see her ears pop up and then she would come close to see what it was then hide. She only did this for a day, before I put a halti on her and lead her to the spot where it was. No pets no comfort, no treats, and no whining! Quiet! Be stern, but not mean. If you comfort her she thinks it is ok to be all upset. The longer the dog has developed the “fear” the harder it might be to break it. Start in baby steps and do it everyday. We’re working on fireworks and thunder, since there are rare, I put on online videos to get the noise, starting quiet and working my way up. So far the fireworks are the hardest.. We just got to keep it up. Best of luck let me know how it goes!
Comment by Sarah — September 2, 2008 @ 1:05 pm