Dog freaks out over ice/ice maker (border collie, clean, spaniel)
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My dog Mollie has a problem with hearing ice cubes. When I have my ice maker off, the world is good. But if I dare open the freezer and turn on the ice maker to make new ice, she does an about face and goes crazy. Normally, in the past, she has run into my bedroom and peed on the bed. That's bad enough, but today she went over the top. She was in her crate yet, where she always is when I'm out. She actually likes her crate and goes in there on her own in the evening as I leave the door open. When I'm home she is free in my apt. and even sleeps on my bed with me.
Ok, back to today. I came home, went to the freezer, pulled out the bin the ice is in, and took a few cubes to put in a glass. I pulled the arm down on the ice maker to make more ice. That action did not create a sound whatsoever, but Mollie started shaking when she heard the ice I'd put in my glass. While she was still in her crate I came over near her with my cranberry orange juice and sat on the sofa. What did Mollie do? She peed in her crate. That was bad enough, she then started to lap it up! I went over to the crate with paper towels, dried off the bottom of the crate, cleaned it (and her paws) and then wiped it out with Windex.
Then I took Mollie for a walk, came back home and with some soapy water I wiped off her paws. I'm sitting on the sofa typing this post, and Mollie's on the sofa next to me. The ice maker just dropped some cubes in the bin. Her ears went up but she's not shaking right now. I patted her on the back so she's ok.
Why this odd behavior, particularly lapping up her own urine?
Well for one your the problem Not the ice maker! You teaching her it OK to be afraid! How?? By petting her & telling her its ok! Best to just IGNORE her!
Is she food motivated? If so, give her high value treats whenever you turn on the ice maker or get ice. Soon she will associate ice with treats and food.
I should know better than to post here. Once before there was a person who blamed me for my dog's behavior. Apparently for some people one must give each and every detail to qualify/defend themselves because there is always someone who wants to be critical!
I ALWAYS pet my dog on my sofa and I will always continue to pet her on the sofa, no matter what the circumstances. Dog owners pet their dogs when they are sitting next to them. Perfectly normal behavior.
My dog Mollie has a problem with hearing ice cubes. >snip<
Ok, back to today. I came home, went to the freezer, pulled out the bin the ice is in, and took a few cubes to put in a glass. I pulled the arm down on the ice maker to make more ice. That action did not create a sound whatsoever, but Mollie started shaking when she heard the ice I'd put in my glass. While she was still in her crate I came over near her with my cranberry orange juice and sat on the sofa. What did Mollie do? She peed in her crate. That was bad enough, she then started to lap it up! I went over to the crate with paper towels, dried off the bottom of the crate, cleaned it (and her paws) and then wiped it out with Windex.
Then I took Mollie for a walk, came back home and with some soapy water I wiped off her paws. I'm sitting on the sofa typing this post, and Mollie's on the sofa next to me. The ice maker just dropped some cubes in the bin. Her ears went up but she's not shaking right now. I patted her on the back so she's ok.
Why this odd behavior, particularly lapping up her own urine?
What kind of dog is Molly? Border collies particularly are sound/noise sensitive.
Get another person to help you. Get an assortment of small high value favorite treats. Do this exercise before Molly eats her meal so she is hungry. Take Molly into a room that is away from the kitchen to muffle the sound of ice maker. Have your helper pull the arm down and immediately scatter treats on the floor for her. Repeat 2-3 times. Does she take the treats? If so, good; if not, then move another room away from the kitchen to muffle the sound even more. Repeat exercise. As she becomes acclimated to hearing the ice maker from a room or two away, start moving her closer to the kitchen.
Always make it fun- don't set it up- make it a natural thing that she hears the ice maker, she immediately sees treats. You are helping her connect the treats with the ice maker. It may take time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katie1
Well for one your the problem Not the ice maker! You teaching her it OK to be afraid! How?? By petting her & telling her its ok! Best to just IGNORE her!
Sorry, but no- for whatever reason, the dog is afraid of the noise the ice machine makes. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that comforting a pet reinforces the fear.
Here is a blog article by Patricia McConnell- a reputable behaviorist- discussing fears and the effect of comforting.
Here is an excerpt: "The bottom line is you could indeed cause problems by inadvertently reinforcing behavior in certain contexts. There are two things that are important to remember here: one is that fear is an emotion, and “reinforcement” refers to something that increases a behavior. You can’t, technically, reinforce an emotion, but you can increase the frequency of a particular behavior. In the case of thunder phobic dogs I don’t think there is ever a problem, because you are trying to decrease the emotion, which would indirectly decrease the problem behavior. Besides, if you sit beside your dog and stroke him while it thunders, and he stops pacing in circles but sits beside you, then if you are reinforcing anything it is him sitting beside you and not pacing."
Thanks twelvepaw! Mollie is a collie mix, but not border collie. I got her at the SPCA, so I'm limited on knowing her background. She is tricolor, has spots on her nose and on her front legs, maybe some spaniel in her also. She actually is edgy when there are certain noises, like a school bus for instance. She has suffered from separation anxiety since I got her. I give her treats when I'm leaving so she focuses on them and is less fearful. She has a very large crate and she actually goes to it when I'm leaving, so she's gotten much better in the six years I've had her.
I live alone so I can't do the technique of having someone else turn on the ice maker. I can try the treat idea though and also can try to put on the ice maker and then take her somewhere so the ice will be made while we're out, I guess.
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When I had an automatic ice maker (and when I had a dog), he was afraid of the sound too. He'd bark at it. He got used to it, though. I wonder if it would help if you always left it on. They're regulated so that that they only make ice when the reservoir runs low. What happened with Artie is that it would kick in whenever it sensed the low reservoir, and he stopped being afraid of it.
Artie was anxious about everything, not just the ice, so if *he* could get over the ice issue, I'm thinking that Molly can too. I'm wondering if she's associating the bad sound with something that you are doing (which you are -- you're pulling down the lever). So I'm thinking that if the machine is left to its own devices and is unrelated to you doing anything, she'll acclimate to the noise. Just a thought...
Thanks, Dawn! Great idea. I will try that. She's afraid of a lot of noises too, like your Artie. I'll bet he was afraid of vacuum cleaners too. In Mollie's case, she runs when the vacuum cleaner is on, first jumping on the bed so the vacuum cleaner won't get her, and then under the dining room table.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by miamian in nc
Thanks, Dawn! Great idea. I will try that. She's afraid of a lot of noises too, like your Artie. I'll bet he was afraid of vacuum cleaners too. In Mollie's case, she runs when the vacuum cleaner is on, first jumping on the bed so the vacuum cleaner won't get her, and then under the dining room table.
First of all, I'm sorry for spelling Mollie's name as Molly! Don't show her!
Artie was definitely afraid of the vacuum but, in his case, he was fear-aggressive (about everything), so no matter which way I'd turn, he'd jump in FRONT of the vacuum, stick his nose right at it, and bark his face off. I'd stop the vacuum, he'd be fine. Start is again, the cycle continued. Towards the end of each vacuum session, he'd get better because I'd tell him "no, go away." But the next time I'd vacuum, it was the same story.
He also got over the sound of a drill when my (now ex) husband used it. He hated it at first -- bark, bark, bark -- but then he acclimated, just like with the ice maker (but never with the vacuum).
Interestingly enough, he loved the hair dryer. He loved when he'd come in out of the rain and I'd blow dry him. Whenever I'd dry my own hair, he'd come running over -- dry as dirt -- to get HIS spa treatment. It's odd that many sounds ticked him off, but the hair dryer never bothered him.
How funny! I loved the part about the hair dryer and Artie running to get his treatment when you dried your hair. That is really comical and ironic, like your saying that the hair dryer didn't bother him. Maybe it was because it was warm?
I never even noticed that you spelled Mollie's name wrong, but Mollie says it's ok!
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