I have a 3/4 year old black lab who is afraid of the dark, any suggestions on how to help her?
2006-11-29 01:28:55 · 8 answers · asked by Dawn Marie 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
May I suggest start putting a night light near where your doggy sleeps every night. That way, his/her area won't be completely dark. Use the night light for a few weeks. Whenever you can, go by your dog at night and praise him/her for sleeping in the semi-dark - and give some cookies. After about a month has gone by, cover the nightlight with a light blankey (or anything else) that will make the light less bright, so the room will be somewhat darker and repeat the above praise/cookies routine. After a month of that, remove the night light completely and continue with the praise/cookies routine - you might even want to sleep with your dog for a few nights too. Hopefully after a while, your dog will then associate the dark with good things! :)
(btw - how about also getting cool glow in the dark toys too?)
Hope this helps!
2006-11-29 02:04:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is she nervous in general? Do you react to her fear? Are you afraid of the dark? My suggestion would be to act almost overly confident in the dark, overplay it so she can read you, and most likely she will trust you that there is nothing to be afraid of. The worst thing you can do is comfort her, this reinforces the fear. You might try some exercises on getting her to trust you first. Maybe condition her to it, if she loves to go for a walk take her out closer and closer to dusk.
My black lab/golden was almost phobic of stairs, which I didn't know until we'd moved into a second floor apartment. She had never shown any fear of anything, had never whined, but she would literally shake and scream when she was at the top or bottom of a flight Even my other dog couldn't help her, the stairs didn't bother her in the slightest. Stupidly I tried forcing her at first, but this made it worse and made me feel awful. One day she just snapped out of it, and the only thing I can put it down to is me forgetting her fear as I was in a hurry and taking the stairs like there was no problem. That and perhaps putting her on a retractable leash, so she had an escape route.
If anybody has any suggestions for the opposite problem i'd appreciate it! My dog is pretty much obsessed with reflections, shadows and flashlights, and will spend all day/night chasing them if I let her. She barges into people to get past to chase, jumps up at the walls, and goes selectively deaf.
2006-11-29 05:38:13 · answer #2 · answered by Cara B 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The best thing is to just comfort her... dogs are just like people when it comes to fear...sometimes there's no logical reason for it. She may overcome her fear with time. My parents had an Irish Wolfhound that was afraid of lightning and thunder... she would run and hide (to the best of her ability) until it was over. Whatever you do, don't try to force her to accept her fear, it may make her worse. The night light is a good idea, too.
2006-11-29 01:33:26 · answer #3 · answered by VA Mamma 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Maybe buy a nightlight which will give her the light but won't take up too much electricity or lighten up the whole room...
2006-11-29 01:32:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Night light. Keep lights around. and bring you dog around the "dark" house and let her no there is nothing to be scared of.
2006-11-29 02:12:21 · answer #5 · answered by tdude09 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe have her sleep in your room at night with you and put a night light on.
2006-11-29 02:18:51 · answer #6 · answered by Gentle Giant Canines 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
mabe to put a light out side and c if it helps
2006-11-29 03:35:09 · answer #7 · answered by *baby ducky* 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get a nite light
2006-11-29 01:31:52 · answer #8 · answered by bam 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋