stress

Question
Hi I have a wonderful 8 year old male beagle named Scout.  I recently bought a new house which he seems to have acclimated to perfectly.  However, I purchased a CO alarm that went off when I plugged it in to alert me to put back up batteries in in and Scout understandably freaked out (trembling, scared).  Now the little sound of my pager, which he has heard all of his life with no problem, creates the same response (no ear infection, no history of trauma etc..)I need to have my pager on for my job as a therapist and the vibrate option doesn't work for me...any way to desensitize him?

Answer
Hi Robin, Are you an MFT or a LCSW? I am a therapist also.

I have sort of the same issue with one of my dogs, he has been sensitized by the battery warning beep on the fire alarms. They turn him into a quivering mass of jello for the rest of the day even when we make it stop. Thankfully they only go off a couple times a year.

You can certainly use desensitization techniques however I do not have a real good structure to give you to achieve this. I havent personally done it with a dog. I would think it is somewhat similar to how we do it with humans but of course there are most likely some different nuances. I CAN direct you to Dr. Nicholas Dodson at Tufts University Veterinary School of Medicine who is known for his desensitization techniques with dogs. He has written many books and I know there is some info in at least a few of them but you may be able to contact the school or him and ask for consise info.

I hope that this is helpful and wish you good luck!