Expert: Jody Epstein, APDT - 1/29/2012

Question
Hi,

We have a dog (that we got from a rescue a couple of years ago), she is about 2 years old now) that is extremely fearful of something coming from the sky when she is outside.  This behavior consists of looking up in the sky and then cowering and walking over to a place underneath a tree where she usually lays down.

This behavior is not always prevalent since she will play with our other dog at time (as if she forgets about whatever is up in the sky) but then goes back to her usual self and cowers and runs back underneath a tree.  

She also does something similar when she is inside the house,  she looks up at the ceiling often as well.

Other behaviors we see that are similar are very sensitive to loud noises and unknown things where she is tends to flee and find a safe spot to lay down.

At this point we are more concerned on her behavior outside and how we can address this.  Would love to receive feedback about this.

Thank you,

Brad

Answer
Do you know her history prior to coming to your home? Where/how was she housed? Did she ever leave her housing space to socialize in the world?

Is this behavior (looking up at the sky/ceiling) truly random or are there specific things that trigger her. Triggers might include planes, helicopters, birds, clouds, rain, ceiling fans, passing shadows or light glimmers, etc.

If you can determine what prompts the behavior it will be much easier to address. If it is truly random, then there may be a medical/neurological reason for the behavior. I'd recommend a complete physical including full blood panels, and possibly a consultation with a veterinary behaviorist. A veterinary behaviorist is a veterinarian who went on to complete a residency in behavior. They are highly trained to be familiar with all of the various medical conditions that can manifest with unusual behaviors. They are more attuned to behavior as part of a medical workup than the typical general veterinarian. Think of the vet behaviorist as the psychiatrist of the vet world. They will not replace your regular vet, rather they will work with your regular vet to diagnose or rule out medical conditions and then they can prescribe appropriate behavior modification protocols to help remedy the behavior issue (depending on the diagnosis, this may be just training or it may include treating a medical problem as well).

In the meantime, you can try a couple of things to see if there is any improvement.
The first is a Thunder Shirt. This is an anxiety wrap. It's roughly 85% effective in reducing anxiety. That means that roughly 85 out of 100 dogs will feel less anxious while wearing the shirt. In my personal experience so far, it's been quite effective. It works on the same premise as weighted vests used with autistic people. It creates a subtle, constant stimulation around the dog's core and somehow (I don't fully understand the neurology of it), this helps the part of the brain that processes external stimuli do so without becoming so overwhelmed. In my experience the effect lasts from 1-3 hours with each wearing. The reason for that is that the brain eventually tunes out that constant stimulation as not relevant to the body. Leaving the shirt on for longer than a couple hours won't hurt the dog, it just loses its effectiveness for that round. Once the shirt has been off for a few hours, the effectiveness will be renewed. I've left the shirt on for as long as 8 hours in a given day because I had to leave the house, but I generally try to take it off after 3-4 hours.

What's more, I have found that for many dogs, wearing the shirt for 2 or 3 hours every day, begins to create a lingering effect even after the shirt is off. If I'm correct in my hypothesis on this, what's happening is that while the shirt is on, the dog is less anxious and so there is less adrenalin and cortisol running through the body. This lowers the dog's "base line" of anxiety. When we lower that baseline day after day, we end up lowering it more permanently so even when the dog is not wearing the shirt, she feels calmer and less anxious.

You can read about my personal experience - and link to the ThunderShirt website here:
http://thegooddogblog.gooddog-dogtraining.com/2010/11/24/chewies-new-thundershir
The shirts are now available at both PetSmart and PetCo.

The other thing you may try is classical conditioning. This is the process of pairing some really awesome thing with the scary thing so that the scary thing isn't so scary anymore. This will work better if you know what's triggering her fear. For example, if it's planes flying overhead, then have some hotdog or chicken breast or whatever her favorite human food is near you and ready to go. When she sees a plane and begins to cower, you should rain hot dog on her head. Just drop bite after bite after bite in front of her and around her until the plane is gone. In the beginning, she may not be able to even acknowledge the food until the plane is long gone (if she's really terrified she will refuse treats). But once she regains herself, she'll eat the hot dog. If you do this EVERY SINGLE TIME a plane goes over head (that means that she must be supervised every time she's out), then after awhile, you'll see that she'll start to eat the food more readily. Eventually, instead of cowering, she'll see the plane and start looking for the food (either on the ground where it usually lands or to you as if to say "well??? I saw a plane. Now where's the steak?!?!" That's what you're aiming for. You want her to see the plane and instead of being frightened of it, she gets all happy and excited because plane = steak (or hotdog or string cheese or whatever it is she likes).

As I said, the classical conditioning works best if you know what the trigger is so that you can make the pairing. So be a detective when you're with her and you see her get nervous. Talk a look around, listen, smell, feel the air, etc. Did something just change or move through the space or make a noise? Make a list of all the things you think might be triggering her. Then, pick the one you are most sure is a trigger and begin to pair her exposure to that thing with the food.

Good luck. Please feel free to write again if I can be of further assistance.

Jody, APDT
Los Angeles Behaviorist
http://gooddog-dogtraining.com