oven alerts & smoke alarm stress

Question
Over thanksgiving the turkey spilled over and set off the smoke alarm, several times until we got it cleaned up. It really stressed out my 7-yr old boxer mix dog. Now, whenever he hears the oven turn on, or alert when it's up to temperature, he gets very nervous and pants heavily and shakes. We started to jokingly call it PTSD, post-thanksgiving-stress disorder, but it's still continuing and everytime the oven is on he starts to panic. Other than that, he's a good dog with no health or behavorial issues.

Answer
Michael, you might try clicker training to help him overcome his fears. Start by 'charging' the clicker, by simply clicking and giving him a treat at least 10 times in a row, several times a day, until he understands that when he hears the click, it means a treat is coming. When you are through with each 'click session,' give him a cue word or phrase that tells him that you're done, such as "All finished," and walk away from him.

Do this for a couple of days. When you can click the clicker from across the room, and he comes straight to you for his treat, then you are ready to begin his actual training. In the meantime, try not to let him become anxious over the oven, by either putting him in another room of the house, or outside, whenever you need to cook. The more times he's able to 'get away with' the behavior, the more difficult a habit it's going to be to break.

When you're ready to begin, don't feed him for 24 hours beforehand, so he's good and hungry for the treats. You might also consider using a 'high value' treat that he goes ga-ga over, rather than just his regular treats. Perhaps some boneless boiled chicken breast cut into marble-sized pieces, or pieces of cooked bacon or liver (just be careful not to give too much of this because it may give him loose stools).

Begin just by standing in the kitchen and clicking and treating a few times, just like you've been doing for the past couple or few days throughout the house. Then, walk over in front of the oven and do it a few times there. If he becomes anxious, do NOT click and treat; move away from the stove and wait for his anxiety level to go down, and then click and treat. Ideally, though, you will be working so quickly that he does not have time to even think about becoming anxious because you're shoving treats in his mouth.

Then, reach towards and take ahold of the oven knob and click treat click treat click treat several times. Then, turn it on and click treat click treat click treat several more times. Then turn it off and click treat several times, then move away from the oven and click treat several more times, and you're done for that session.

Repeat several times (even stretching it out over the course of a few days if necessary), and then you can start leaving the oven on to preheat, and clicking and treating when the 'ready' tone goes off.

It may take a week or two, but he should start to come to look forward to the oven being turned on because it means he gets treats! Eventually, you will no longer need to even use the clicker and/or treats because his anxiety should go away altogether.