# Anyone else have a Nervous Nelly?



## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

No, but I once did. VERY frustrating.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

You need to ignore them when they are acting scared. Don't comfort them, it only encourages the fear. Jasmine, my lab/golden, is afraid of the vacuum and with our ignoring her when she is acting fearful, she has gotten almost totally over it. This also works well with thunderphobia.


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## gold'nchocolate (May 31, 2005)

*How old is Murph?*



SolidGold said:


> I was just wondering if *anyone else* has a golden who is nervous? My Murph hates loud sounds and will actually jump and shake if he is scared. He also runs from the vacuum or anything that makes a sound like that. Any tips on how to make one golden less of a 'nervous nelly?'


Yup, I do :wavey:!!! Jack is my 'scaredy cat' dog. He will run for his life if anything falls to the floor, any type of kitchen noises such as putting away the pots and pans, noisy grocery bags, you get the idea. He is 2-1/2 yrs old and ignoring him has never really done anything towards helping him with his problem...he's been this way since he was first here. He is also a loveable goofball. His newest fear is walking around the kitchen table to get to the back door. It seems that he must have slid on the slippery floor when all the dogs were rushing out the door one day so now he acts as if there is a monster waiting to pop out at him from under the table. He tries to sneak by it but if he rushes at all, he slides a little and that just re-enforces to him the fact that walking around the table makes you slip  :uhoh: .


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## Bailey & Bentley (Feb 25, 2007)

Both my boys would sleep through a tornado, lol. I do have one that hates the vacuum and will run and hide though and the other who will chase it as I vacuum and stand in front of it.


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## MurphyDawg (Jan 27, 2007)

*I have a bit of a chicken too*

Hello:wavey:

I also have a golden called Murphy 

Our Murph is also a bit of a chicken. He hates the vacuum and will jump up in my lap if Dh is vacuuming. I just push him off and tell him to go to his mat. Now that he is older he will just leave the area. His fears seemed to decrease as he aged, how old is your Murphy?

My goldie's biggest issue was the car. He developed a terror of riding in the car and we had no idea why. He would refuse to get in, try to fight his way out and sit shaking when we did get him in then pant the whole way there. We tried everything and the car was almost always associated with "fun" like beach trips, walks etc. We had discussions with the vet, breeder and a trainer, ruled out car sickness and had resigned ourselves to just accepting him as he was. One trainer wanted us to use a shock collar on him and knowing Murphy we thought it would just make him more anxious.

We stumbled across a solution by accident. We moved to a new neighborhood and I was having a tough time with arthritis...I wasn't able to walk Murphy as much as we needed so we found a local dog walking service run by a lady who is also a trainer. She started working with him once or twice a week, desensitizing him to her van so he could go out on the off leash "adventures" with the other dogs. Over time she stated that he was getting in the car, staying calm in the car and gradually relaxing. One of her dogs, a beautiful Samoyed would physically lay on top of Murphy when he started to get panicked. She reported that the pack seemed to help him see that there was nothing to fear, plus he loved the outings and I guess something just clicked!

One day we went to put him in the car expecting a big struggle and he jumped into his crate and layed down like he never had an issue at all:lol: Now he goes with us most places and I have no trouble handling him. He still pants on longish trips but has learned to control a lot of his anxiety.

I don't know if it was maturity, desensitization, the other dogs or a combination of the above but we didn't think we'd ever get him to overcome his anxiety but he did! 

I don't know if this helped at all, I just wanted you to know we have dealt with a nervous doggie and we know what it is like to deal with fears and trying to understand why Murphy feels scared. It can be frustrating and I wish at times I could speak "dog".

Good Luck with your Murphy!

Jen


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## goldensmum (Oct 23, 2007)

As fostermum says - do not make a big deal of Murph's fear. If he runs away ignore him. Would it be possible for someone to play with him whilst the vacuum motor is running, make it a very over the top play time. I know there are cd's available in the uk with different noises on which you play very quietly at first and then gradually increase the volume. When we first got Ralph he was 6 years old and terrified of fireworks, so when they first started to be let off in October (There weren't many), i used to take him and the other two (who were not bothered at all) and we would play football in the garden - Ralphs' favourite game. I'm sure the neighbours thought i was mad, but gradually his fear lessened and by the time November 5th came around he wasn't bothered at all. Good Luck


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## Carsonsdaddy (Nov 1, 2006)

Carson is a scaredy cat...or dog I guess. 

He hates the vacuum, but is getting better with it....sometimes he wants to play with it when we're vacuuming.... :doh: If we move furniture, or bring new things in he gets very worried and will bark, and tuck his tail and just generally look worried. Once he works up the courage to "check it out" he's usually ok, but that can take a while sometimes. We never know what he'll be scared of and what will be ok.... it's a toss up! 

We don't comfort him and/or make a big deal of it when he's scared of stuff.... it doesn't seem to be getting better, but hopefully it will one of these days.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Carsonsdaddy, you just about described my kayCee when it comes to things bing out of place or new. She will always leave the room when i bring out the vacuum, tho. But with new or movied things, she bides her time and then adjusts.


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## Carsonsdaddy (Nov 1, 2006)

yeah.... His newest thing lately is new PEOPLE. He get's really scared of them, and will bark, and back off. It's weird cuz he has no reason to do it.... He's better with women than men but still a little hesitant with women. I'm hoping he will grow out of it....cuz it's kinda embarrassing.


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## sydney (Jan 22, 2008)

I just joined this forum, as we are having the same problem with our golden baby. She is 4 years old and it seems she is getting worse. She is afraid of the vaccuum, but will just leave the room. My biggest problem is, I am 7 months pregnant and she can be sleeping on the floor and just by walking into the room, she is startled and gets up and runs to get out of the room and almost knocks me down. This behaviour not only drives me nuts, but she could end up hurting me, as I have lost my balance numerous times. I don't understand why she is behaving like this. We love her very much, but I have been contemplating finding her a new home, as I don't know what will happen when baby #3 comes along. This breaks my heart.


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## r1dgeline (Mar 10, 2008)

Hello All 

I registered after reading just this one thread. I , well We our family have a 1 yr old goldie named Dora (yes I have a 3 yr old too who named her) and she is scared of a lot of things as well. Things that when no one is around she will try to get into ie: garbage bags. When someone is carrying one her way she bolts, same with just regular plastic bags and boxes. We have had her since 8 weeks and got her from a reputable breeder. The vacuum must be the worst ever. I have tried to vacuum with her leashed around my waist and that kinda helped at that point but still the same. One thing I have been doing is trying to comfort her. Any loud sudden noise gets her moving.
I feel we have been nothing but loving to her. She plays with sticks and hockey with my son but as soon as she sees or hears a bag or box of some sort she trembles and runs.


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

I dont hafe one that hates sounds but you can't take her anywhere with you she hates new places. That tail goes in between her legs and it takes her 30 minutes to get out from between your legs.


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## r1dgeline (Mar 10, 2008)

another thing is she can sometimes get very sad.. especially after a fun day at the dog park which will be prob once a week. sometimes it's just for no reason she gets sad. we picked her our if the litter because she was the saddest looking of the bunch just didn't think it was a behavioral issue

EDIT I would call it more an anxiety/depression issue


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## Coopermama (Feb 27, 2008)

Well, unfortunately no tips here but wanted to tell you you're not alone. Cooper is scared of his and my shadow when we go outside for the last potty trip of the day. Apparently the "shadow" is gonna get me first because he cowers under my feet as if to say...he can have you!


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## gold'nchocolate (May 31, 2005)

r1dgeline said:


> another thing is she can sometimes get very sad.. especially after a fun day at the dog park which will be prob once a week. sometimes it's just for no reason she gets sad. we picked her our if the litter because she was the saddest looking of the bunch just didn't think it was a behavioral issue
> 
> EDIT I would call it more an anxiety/depression issue


My elderly lab is the QUEEN of the sad faces, she has never been the life of the party, even as a pup, so I just came to accept that it was nothing that I was doing or not doing--it was just the way she was. She was also afraid of loud noises, kids crying, thunder, etc. Now that she is mostly deaf she can't hear all of those horrible  noises anymore.

My 2 yr old Jack is afraid of lots of noises, not neccesarily loud noises. He's afraid of rustling bags, pots and pans, dishes being rattled, anything that is moving that might make a noise such as the baby gate being opened....he runs for his life as if these things are going to kill him or something. For the past year he has been taking 6 mg of a good quality Melatonin two times a day for his thunder phobia and it does help somewhat because if I try to wean him off of it I can see that his problem increases but even with the melatonin he is still afraid of the noises.

His newest thing is that he has a problem walking through the kitchen to get to the back door....he tip toes through acting as if the boogey-man is going to pop out from under the table :uhoh: and as he gets closer to the door he makes a run for it . I hate that he's afraid of such normal things. The problem with his technique is that when he "makes a run for it" he usually skids and knocks into something so he is creating a _noise_ by his behavior.  

Since I don't coddle him at all, in his fears, and these are basic household noises that he is afraid of I started researching 'noise sensitivity' and everything is pointing to a possible magnesium deficiency. Some people (and also animals) need more magnesium and the lack of it causes lots of problems including 'noise sensitivity'. I am going to try this next to see how it works. Here are a couple of links about it:

http://www.ctds.info/noise-sensitivity.html

http://special-needs.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/noise-sensitivity-what-causes-it

It's odd but both magnesium and melatonin help with epilepsy:

http://www.mgwater.com/rod07.shtml

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/melatonin.htm


This is the magnesium supplement that I'm going to try:

http://www.luckyvitamin.com/183405000018.html


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## lovealways_jami (Apr 17, 2007)

Diesel is scares of baby gates and doors (I think its from when he was a baby) ... He will back 20 FT away from the door before you open and close it. When I put the baby gate up, he backs up like its a darn bomb.


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## SolidGold (Dec 29, 2007)

MurphyDawg said:


> Hello:wavey:
> 
> I also have a golden called Murphy
> 
> ...


Murphy turned two in December. He seems to have gotten a little bit better with the vacuum. I am trying to get him to come near it while it is off and he has been. He still runs in the other direction though when it is on... LoL 
Murphy also hates it when DH and I fight. He gets so anxious and protective. I guess that is normal though. Thanks for all your suggestions. I think what has helped him the most is getting another dog in the house. He seems a little bit better with his nervous issues now that Bella is here! The only thing Bella hates is Thunderstorms. Murphy could care less about the sound of those. So go figure! Its strange how one thing sets one off and not the other. Sometimes I wonder what is going on in their mind!


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

My old golden was afraid of fireworks, but not other loud noises. He was terrified of the car wash. Went once with him, never again. Flashlights and laser pointers inside but not outside. He loved the vac, though. He wanted me to vac. him. Plastic rustling bags made him think I was getting food for him He loved that. I hope your baby's anxiety calms down. Good luck


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## twogoldenboys (Mar 3, 2008)

My Alex is afraid of the vacuum and won't step over the cord if the vacuum is in another room. He is afraid of thunder, plastic bags, the garage if the door is closed and street grates. I'm sure there are other things that bother him, but those are top on the list. He is getting better about the street grates and vacuum cleaner, but it's taken 11 yrs.


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