Daft Dog

[Shirley]

As some of you know Cooper is not the most outgoing dog you'll ever meet.  Takes him a while to get used to people and until then he'll bark his little head off trying to scare them away      Anyway he's got a lot better over the past few months and is now fine with all our regular visitors - new ones are given a gravybone at the door to bribe him with  

Earlier this evening my brother came to visit.  He's one of Cooper's favourite people.  Steven can't move without Cooper trying to climb on him but tonight when he came in he stood by the livingroom door and Cooper started barking and backing away.  We were all confused and he was very disappointed to have gone from favourite uncle to this in just a few days of not seeing him.  Took me a few minutes of watching and puzzling over this change in behaviour before I realised that my brother was standing right beside the Hoover - the most feared and detested object in the house as far as Cooper is concerned       Once he moved away from it, he was once again the favourite uncle!!!     What a strange dog I have!!  

He's never been hurt by the hoover so I can't understand why he's afraid of it.  Maybe it's a sign that I don't use the hoover enough     Mind you, I use the hairdryer every day and he still barks at that, too   .

Please tell me I'm not alone - other people must have dogs who display irrational behaviour.

[Pipers Mummy]

Ahhhh, Shirley, all these little things just add to Cooper's character  

To be honest, Piper doesn't bark very often - with the exception of 'For Sale' signs that have recently been erected on our walks    She loves the hairdryer - in fact she drives me mad 'cos I'm trying to dry my hair and she's pestering me to blow the hairdryer on her     She stayed at her nanny and grandads recently and my mum commented on the fact that each time she dried her hair Piper insisted on sitting on her knee - Nanny didn't understand that Piper wanted a blowdry too  

They're funny little things our Cockers aren't they?

[*Jay*]

Oh I can't wait for Dallas and Cooper to meet  

Dallas is also terrified of the hoover and the hairdryer.....and the ironing board  He just runs and hides under something till the v scary object is away ::

Just thought of another thing he is terrified of. One of Vegas' favourite games is Hide The Monkey. Every now and again I put the monkey on my head and wander about the house, while Vegas desperately tries to get to him. He practically pees himself with excitment but if Dallas see me with the monkey on my head, he'll bark while trying to hide

Oh and he hates funny noises. When we were kids we loved to make raspberry noises using our mouth and the back of our hand. If I do that, he totally freaks. He tries to dig himself a hidey hole to get away from it.

Actually come to think of it, he's scared of most things  

[Mary]

When I was trying to decide on a new hoover I borrowed my neighbours upright Dyson (only had cylinder hhovers in the house up to that point).  Well, I walked into the room with it and Lottie seemed to go into shock and then legged in   After a couple of mins she poked her head round the lounge door, spotted it again and disappeared   Hence we bought a Miele Cat'n'Dog

Lottie rarely barks at anything, not even visitors.  We did bring a lovely big pebble back from Cornwall this year though and put it on the patio.  It completely spooked her   She ran straight back indoors when she saw it then slowly approached it again and got within about 6ft of it and started barking, front legs down, bum in the air  

[Allison]

Just had to tell you this one about Sally, I have just recently brought down the Christmas Decs from the loft, as I was up there I had a nosey at the junk I store and came across a stepper excercise machine. Having got it down from the loft I started to have a little go, the next minute Sally came hurtling round and round jumping in front of me on all fours and barking loudly.  Sally only ever barks if the door bell goes at night so this was real funny for Neil and I to watch, Neil had a go and she was just the same bark bark bark. Dogs are soooooooo funny.  

[Colin]

When he was younger Jimmy was always barking at things/people in the park that spooked him - then without me even noticing he just stopped, so maybe there's hope for Cooper and Dallas yet.  He still does it occassionally though, a couple of months ago we were crossing a bridge over the lake - we must have been over it at least 100 times before - but this time he noticed these large concrete spheres on the pillars at the end and went mental, with Misty joining in oblivious to what she was barking at. Also when a Sainsburys bag flew out the sky and landed on his head, he was huffing and puffing indignantly for ages until Misty killed it for him

There's still two things that terrify him though - my nephew doing his Chewbacca impression, a kind of low gurgly grunty noise  ( he calls Jimmy , Chewbacca) and the hoover . I don't even have to get the hoover out for Jimmy to leg it to the sanctuary of the bedroom, as soon as he see me clearing the floor of dog toys he knows whats about to happen. Misty pretends to be scared because Jimmy is and runs back and forwards between him hiding and me hoovering, thinking it's some kind of a game.    

[Jessica's Mum]

Jessica is also v. frightened of the hoover and the ironing board.

She 'chooses' to leave the room in disgust whenever the hairdryer is in use.

Funny Pup  

[jilly]

Ronnie doesn't mind the Hairdryer but hates the hoover (oh and our broom, but that doesn't make a noise?), it's the only time he barks!  (it scares him silly)

[suki1964]

Jessica is also v. frightened of the hoover and the ironing board.

My husband says the same about  me      

[kookie]

Cleo doesnt trust our settee.
Last year we had a new leather tan 3 seater recliner delivered. It is huge! One of the blokes was a little nervous of dogs, so we put them all upstairs. When it'd all been put together and the chaps had gone, we let the dogs back downstairs. They came racing down at 100 miles an hour, as they do! Cleo stopped in her tracks when she clocked the settee, and her face was a picture. It was just the complete look of surprise on her face.
She was doing the long necked stretch, trying to sniff it, but staying as far away as possible, and I was just trying out the recliner switch. Because it was new, it was a bit stiff and I suddenly found myself  horizontal in a split second, and it almost catapulted Cleo into the telly. Within 2 seconds, she was upstairs and hiding under the bed!
When we recline it now, she scarpers and slinks back in about 5 minutes.

I think Livvy and Alfie would recline it themselves if they could, they love it.

[suzysu]

Jessica is also v. frightened of the hoover and the ironing board.

My husband says the same about  me    

     

[Colin]

Shirley and Gill - have you ever thought of trying Serene-UMs for Cooper and Dallas ? I tried them briefly on Jimmy ages ago but to no effect - I'm not sure I gave them long enough to work though. I started giving them to him again about a month ago and it could just be a coincidence but I'm sure they are having a beneficial effect as he's been an angel for the last couple of weeks.   His anxiety doesn't rear it's head as much as when he was younger apart from a tendancy to get a bit intense in situations outside his daily routine, nothing really bad but he would sit and stare at me anxiously in the hope we'd go home again, or sit guarding a toy/ball as a kind of comforter. I'm hoping that a few months of these and him being a bit more "chilled" will become a learnt behaviour. They aren't a miracle product but I'm sure they have taken a slight edge of him and he seems happier in unfamiliar situations.

You can get the small packets at Pets At Home or order larger packs here....

http://www.crosskeysbooks.com/product_info...products_id=310

They are an all natural remedy - no nasty laboratory concocted ingredients.  

[*Jay*]

I haven't tried the Serene-Um. I did try him on the Scullcap and Valerian tabs that Vegas is on(as part of my magic concoction ) but don't think I gave him them for long enough to have an effect I had actually been thinking about trying him on something as i do think he's getting more anxious - if thats possible  At training class, he has somehow managed to go right back to square one  He won't do a stay now - as soon as I leave, he gets up. Regardless of whether its a couple of steps away or the entire length of the hall. One of the trainers held for me the other week so that he would stay and he could see that I wasn't going anywhere, but he started licking his lips and looking really anxious. I'm not sure whether stopping training for a while would be the way to go or just persevere But I'll tell you one thing - he won't be getting any awards at the christmas party next week   Think I've just talked myself into getting a box...or three  

[Shirley]

Have never tried them but would definitely be worth a go.  If it's herbal then it can't do any harm anyway, eh?

Morgan went to puppy training classes for 8 weeks when he was 8 months old but nobody has run any courses since then - think they only did it to shut me up as I'd been phoning enquiring for about them constantly.  That was two years ago and there haven't been any since then, so Cooper has never had the chance - out of the two of them, he's the one who really needed something like that   .

Had to laugh at you walking round the house with the monkey on your head, Gill!     Eric does that with toys, too       He also pretends to faint on the floor and then rolls around as if he's in agony nd the boys go to 'rescue' him.  I keep telling him that one day he will have something wrong with him and I'll just ignore him thinking he's just fooling around with the dogs    

Colin, Cooper and Morgan suffer from contagious barking too.  Morgan will start shouting, knowing exactly what he's barking at and Cooper will join in just for the hell of it - you can tell he hasn't a clue what's going on but figures it must be something worth barking at if Morgan has started it off!!  Cooper also growls at reflections of himself in windows and the fire surround  

Mary, I think it must be something about Dysons - that's what I've got!

Found it very reassuring to hear all these stories      

[Shirley]

Have just ordered a pack of 100 tabs.  Hopefully there will be some improvement and he'll be a new man in the New Year      Is it just one a day, Colin?