This is our foster dog, Sylvi.
She is a beautiful, funny, sweet girl who loves to play ball and tug.
A while back we discovered she did not like loud yelling (our male neighbor across the street).
We made no big deal of it (the yelling) but decided to go in the house rather than keep her exposed to something she didn't care for.
Fast forward a few months to the 4th of July.
Oh. My.
She was hearing things going off that we couldn't even hear inside the house.
Clearly afraid, she began frantically pacing to find a secure spot to hide but was coming up short.
We (My wifeand I) were making no big deal of the noises and were holding calm energy throughout the ordeal. I think that is why she didn't go absolutely crazy in the beginning.
We were sitting on the sofa, not looking at her, not speaking to her, not making eye contact with her, keeping very calm (stuff you'll learn in The 5 Steps of Dog Code), but she just couldn't settle. She came up to be with us, but couldn't sit still and quickly got down to begin pacing again.
What was missing?
Well, I went to sit on the floor.This seemed to make a small difference for her.
She started to come to him a little more for comfort, but still couldn't quite settle.
Ahha! She needs to be on the floor! She needs to feel grounded. Anything up (the sofa) breaks that feeling of being grounded, in other words, security for her.
My wife sat on the floor, with herback against the sofa. I sat a bit away from my wife, leaving a space for Sylvi to come to sit with us if she wanted.
We sat quietly. Not watching her, not calling her to us, not trying to pet her. The booms continued while we watched TV and calmly waited.
Out of the corner of our eyes, we saw her peek around the corner of the hall to watch us.
She ducked back out of view but quickly re-appeared to watch us some more.
Then she decided to come to us, sit between us, then curl up in a ball.
We held that space for her to calmly relax. Still not speaking to her, petting her, or looking at her. Just calm, relaxed, as the booms continued.
She did lift her head a few times in response to some of the louder booms, but soon even those weren't worth her time.
She closed her eyes and relaxed.
All 3 of us on the floor relaxing together.
Perfect.
We were able to give her just what she needed in order to realize the booms were no big deal. She could relax because we modeled that for her and she was in touch with the ground, instead of up in the air.
If you would like to get results like this ==>Click Here<==.
The 5 Steps of Dog Code plus the helpful tips in the intro section will get you results similar to these. The 5 steps work. The intro tips make them even more effective. Help your dog be her best.
In your corner,
Linney
P.S. Have you done anything like this? Let us know how it all worked out in the comments.
