Advise needed

How old is he, whitewave?

8!!! Well 8 in July. We've managed to get him in now but he's very jumpy. We are trying to ignore it and behave as if nothing is wrong.

Has he always been like this from the word go?Is it getting worse?
Police train dogs and horses to cope with yells/ whistles/screams etc by making it a regular occurrence ( and by staying calm and unconcerned themselves.)
Could you be in a room with the dog, while your DH clatters in the kitchen, and you calmly talk and stroke him, and then you go off and clatter whilst your DH calms him.You may need to do this quite a few times.?

No rose he's only got like it as he's got older. We think it started with thunder and of course fireworks, but is now extending to all sudden noises.

Yes will give the clattering around a go. He quivers like a jelly and goes into panic mode. I definately think calm and unconcerned is the way to go though. Cesar Milan calm and assertive

I had a young dog who reacted to big Dogs after a German shepherd terrified him. The fear extended from big dogs to include wheelie bins, small children, men in hats, bycicles and especially, balloons. I'm not sure flooding him with these terrifying things would have helped. It was time consuming, but I worked on exposing him to one horror at a time, I taught him 'watch me' hold a great close to your eye, the dog will focus on the bit of cheese/chicken when the dog is watching it say watch me, good and give the treat. This won't take many repetitions over any days. Once you have it cracked, say watch me, get someone to make a not too scary noise, dog will stay fixed on treat and your eye, watch me, good, treat and praise. I can now walk my dog past terrifying German shepherds and balloons - Huh bring it on.

Will give that a go as well iam64

Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone

Sorry, hold a great close to your eye should of course say 'treat'. What is it with iPads that they have the ability to change words after you checked it! Whitewave, I hope you can help your dog, a friend has a border terrier who developed the kind of behaviour you describe when she was about ten years old. Try google, there are some great sites offering advice. My dog has been a challenge ?

He's quite young for it, but could it be a hearing problem?
ie slow loss of hearing sensations, which makes them confused.
Might be worth having his hearing checked.

Dunc is a Cairn. I will give all the advise a go and if i cant get it to work will get his hearing checked.

It has taken us since about 4pm but he has finally relaxed -on sofa with legs in air.

Another day tomorrow. The last thing to give him the jitters was opening his food foil tray.

Poor wee thing! I wonder if one of those plug in calming things from the vet might help? I can't remember what it's called though.

I agree with Trisher this sounds like a hearing problem. He's being surprised by what he is hearing and surprised when he's heard nothing and something happens.

I think a hearing check would def be the way to go .

Tearing foil was the one thing that made our last cat go berserk.He was nervous generally (most animals don't like loud noises) and although we know what causes the noise ( and whether to be afraid or not) animals don't.But they all stay calmer eventually if you do.Good luck ww with little Dunc.

Feliway? Jane10. I've seen it do wonders for nervous cats.

If it's a hearing problem, in the short term can you try drowning out sounds with a radio in the background - maybe Classical FM?

I was going to suggest Felliway too.

Maybe its only for cats? The name would indicate felines. Maybe there's a dog version. Hope something helps. Its awful to see an animal so upset.

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I too would suspect a hearing problem.
The dog version of Feliway is Adaptil. I am fortunate to have a vet as a next door neighbour, and she once recommended Xylkene capsules for stressed pets. The powder can be emptied into food and is tasteless. Both these products are available on Ebay or Amazon, cheaper than the vet.
I hope you manage to get to the bottom of the problem.

Hello WHITEWAVE. Just reading about Duncan, your terrier and his great fear of sudden noises. I remembered Bach Flower RESCUE remedy available at Boots and Holland & Barratt. This liquid can be placed in his drinking water or simple a few drops into his mouth. I used this on my old labrador when he was starting to go deaf at fourteen years. He had changed from being a docile old dog to a nervous worried one. Bach Flower remedies help humans and animals with a great variety of conditions. Within a week of regular doses of Bach Rescue Remedy, my lovely old dog was once again content and happy. I have sworn by this little helper ever since for any anxious situations. Just hope it helps.

My cat also suddenly turned into a 'scaredy cat'. I suspect a trauma. Possibly a confrontation with the urban foxes that now consider the garden their territory. You can hire a man with a gun, but I fear others would just replace them. For a time he was seriously terrified to leave the house. But this is NOT going to be a 'litter tray' household.

Is there anyone I HAVEN'T offended with that message? :-)

I have used Bach rescue remedy for canines with great success. I agree that it does seem like a hearing problem.

I hope you get to the bottom of it Whitewave but I must admit that men in hats made me smile.
My puss is a right scaredy cat and recoils at the sight of a shopping bag.

In my experience all dogs, except trained gun-dogs, police dogs and dogs for the blind are scared of loud noises.
As far as fireworks go, if one has once left the dog on his own on bonfire night or the like, that's it - there is only one thing to do, stay at home and perhaps get your vet to prescribe a mild sedative for the dog.

Thunder - you should be able to teach both dogs and cats not to worry about a thunderstorm. Make sure the animal is indoors before the thunderstorm starts. If he feels safest in a dark corner, that's fine. However, if you or anyone else in the household are afraid of thunder the dog will pick up on your fear, just like a small child will. Keep calm, stay where the dog can see and hear you. With a little bit of luck and much patience things should get better.

Sudden loud noises: show the dog the ladder or whatever it was that fell. However, if the dog is reacting to the noise of a chain-saw, lawn-mower, car or any thing else that is potentially dangerous, you need to ask yourself whether it is wise to try to train him to accept the noise.

This happened to my jack russell too. We found ourselves in the middle of a carneval procession on holiday and there was a lot of noise and chaos, loud engines etc. I saw she was very frightened and came away but it really seemed to affect her in many ways. She has always been afraid of thunder, fireworks etc but now she was scared of any noise at all. She wouldn't go in the car which she used to love, normal household noises terrified her. Walking around with her tail between her legs and generally looking very unhappy. when I got the lead instead of getting excited as usual she just looked worried.
This went on for about 6 months and slowly, very slowly she seemed to trust things a bit more. The car took a few months but even then if I got out to go to a shop she went under the seat. Now it's two years and she's fine but it was a long slow recovery. I think she's just super sensitive. She's 8 yrs. old.

I used this when my dog developed a fear of loud noises.

Dogs Trust sound therapy for pets

It worked a treat, but took a while and dedication. Worth it. Then a year later he went deaf (nothing to do with that programme.

Yes we are day one of recovery. So at the moment avoiding opening yogurt pots, dog foil cartons and opening fizzy drinks in Duncans hearing. We are keeping our fingers crossed that there are no loud bangs like gun fire on our walks. We are totally calm but confident and hopefully reliable.

So far do good. Yes buddly he has a permanent worried look on his face, but seems more relaxed today, although he was up at 5am -on the Downs with upset tum. Honestly dogs eh!!!!

Thank you for all your posts I am grateful for the advise.