When life is too LOUD

Common triggers for noise anxiety are typically sudden or sustained loud noises, such as fireworks, thunderstorms, parties and social occasions, gunfire, engine noises and construction work.

Typical signs of anxiety and fear in dogs include panting, trembling, pacing, seeking people, hiding or trying to escape, refusal to eat, inappropriate urination or defaecation and facial expression and body language indicative of stress. Escape behaviour, including hiding, can result in self-trauma and/or damage to owner property.

Regardless of the triggering stimulus, the perception of fear and anxiety is equally negative for the dog that experiences it and, if it does not have an adequate coping mechanism, its welfare may be compromised.

Anxiety is a reaction to an anticipated danger. Anxiety includes physiological signs (e.g. increased respiratory and heart rates, trembling or paralysis, increased salivation or sweating, gastrointestinal disturbances) and behavioural signs. Behavioural signs may include changes in activity (e.g. immobility, pacing, circling, restlessness); changes in distances to supportive stimuli (e.g. remaining close to a person or conspecific); or changes in appetite, including anorexia.

Fear is an emotional response caused by a specific stimulus (e.g. an object, noise, social situation) that a pet perceives as a threat or danger. In many situations, fear can be a normal self-protecting behaviour.

A phobia is an exaggerated, persistent and irrational fear response disproportionate to the level of danger. Even low levels of triggering stimuli almost always provoke an immediate behavioural response which may take the form of a “panic attack”. Phobias typically lead to avoidance behaviour and it can develop after a single traumatic event or as a result of repetitions of less severe events.

Why certain dogs develop anxiety and fear in response to noise and why some noises become a problem to an individual animal cannot always be determined. Often there are several factors involved in the development of noise sensitivities:

• Some dogs react fearfully to noises already as puppies and some breeds or lines within breeds seem to have a higher incidence of noise anxiety.
• Other dogs begin to react fearfully to noises due to a traumatic noise event.
• Some dogs lack early experiences of complex sound stimuli and may therefore react fearfully to all new sounds.
• In some dogs, noise anxiety gradually appears following several relatively mild noise events and typically worsens with the time.
• Some dog owners report that their dog has learned to be fearful from another dog that was fearful.

Not all sound sensitivities necessarily relate to loudness. In some cases, even the sound of a vacuum cleaner, washing machine or other household appliance may act as triggering stimuli for anxiety and fear. Sometimes fear of such sounds occurs because they are similar to sounds that are a more obvious threat. For example, some dogs frightened of fireworks become fearful of the sound of car doors being closed. Anxiety can be triggered in the presence of stimuli that cause a dog to anticipate a fear eliciting event, such as heavy rain on the windows in the case of dogs frightened of thunderstorms.

Speak to your vet about an innovative, rapid-acting solution tailored to the timing and duration of the noise anxiety experienced by your dog.

Giving puppies and young dogs a chance to be accustomed to a wide variety of sounds in a safe environment at an early age is key to the prevention of fear of noise as well as other anxieties.

Early intervention is the most helpful strategy in dealing with noise related anxieties because the dog otherwise learns from each negative experience, which may result in significant noise related fear and anxiety. Easing anxiety when the pet’s response is minimal (e.g. lip-licking, yawning, scanning of environment) may prevent more serious noise anxiety from developing. Early intervention is also important as there is evidence that a dog suffering from noise anxiety may be susceptible to other types of anxieties, such as separation anxiety and generalised anxiety.

In many cases, owners of younger dogs frightened of specific sounds may be under the false impression that their dog will grow out of it, but without treatment, it is not uncommon for the condition to both worsen and sometimes develop fear responses to other noises as well. In fact, spontaneous recoveries are unusual and when they do occur they are often associated with the onset of deafness much later in life.

• If possible, anxiety triggering sounds should be avoided until the problem has been brought under control.
• Use of “noise masks”: play music, white noise etc. to mask noises the dog is scared of. Some dogs can cope better with classical music.
• During lightning or fireworks, close the curtains, keep the room brightly lit to limit visual stimulation or train the dog to use protective eyewear to blunt visual stimuli.
• Try to encourage the dog to stay in a more “soundproof” area (basements, closets, bathrooms, etc).

Physiological and behavioural reactions may have feedback effects and the dog’s negative emotional state will be increased after each negative experience. Therefore it is important to reduce the intensity of this response in the short term.

Furthermore, reducing arousal is of the upmost importance to enable learning, as arousal beyond the individual’s adaptive level is known to interfere with information processing. For blunting physiological and behavioural responses, one could consider:

• Non-sedating medications
• Food supplements
• Pheromones

• Avoid punishment for house soiling or damage resulting from disorganised behaviour. Punishment as a training method will most likely make the dog more insecure, frightened and distressed. At worst it might cause even deeper noise anxiety or aggressive behaviour.
• Stop inadvertent reinforcement: If the owner tries to reassure their dog, they may inadvertently reinforce the behaviour the dog displays as a way of coping. If the dog tries to cope by desperate clinginess to its owner, for example, reassurance might encourage dependence and the subsequent development of separation problems. The owner should behave as if the sound does not bother them and be prepared to reinforce the same in their dog with some attention. They may try to engage with something that could possibly be interesting to the dog like its favourite toy. The toy should not be directly offered to the dog but the owner should play with it, making it more interesting. If the dog is able to join the play, the negative emotion caused by the noise will be replaced with a more positive emotional state.
• The presence of the owner or a familiar person or companion animal often improves the dog’s capacity to remain in a positive emotional state. As far as is possible, owners should ensure their dog has access to them.

Dogs with noise anxiety can be trained to use a safe haven or den. This is an area which the dog has been trained to recognise as a place of safety. This training must be done when the dog is not scared so it is only associated with positive emotions. Once the stressful situation occurs, the animal can retreat to this area and feel relatively safe.

Systematic desensitisation

Before systematic desensitisation starts, the dog must already be in a positive emotional state. Systematic desensitisation can be started when a positive emotional state occurs naturally or a positive emotional state can be induced, through play, for example. Before exposure, the stimulus the dog is frightened of is decreased to the point where negative emotions are not triggered. The dog should remain relaxed throughout the exposure to the stimulus. Through repetition, the dog learns to ignore the stimulus and the level of stimulation can be increased until higher levels of the stimulus are ignored.

Counter-conditioning

Counter-conditioning involves making the stimulus the dog is fearful of a predictor of a positive emotional state. For example, a dog fearful of sound is exposed to a relevant noise at such a low volume that it remains relaxed. The sound is immediately followed by the arrival of a food treat. When repeating this often enough, the sound becomes the predictor of the food. The stimulus is always at a level of intensity that does not cause anxiety or fear. The level is only increased gradually and at a rate that allows the dog to remain in a positive emotional state throughout. This process, combined with generalisation to different locations and contexts, may take weeks or even months to complete, especially in cases involving phobia.

Examples of how to reduce the level of stimulation during behaviour modification training:

• Increasing distance
• Reducing the level of sound, e.g. reducing the volume if recordings are being used
• Ensuring the behaviour of the stimulus is not challenging