My dog is terrified of flashlights.

If i flash the light on the wall while he is in the room he will run into another room with his ears back and tail between his legs and hide in the closet. The other night he was hiding in my back packing pack in the very bottom. It took me 15 minutes to find him. I only realized he was in there because i saw it shaking.

So, my question is how do I fix this? He is a tough little guy, (minature pincher) who loves to play and likes 3/4ths of everyone he meets. I have no idea how to solve this delema since I cant take him for walks at night with a flashlight because he will cower and then piss himself. It usually takes him about a day to recover from this tramuatizing situation.

Sometimes he will even stare at my desk lamp for a bit and wonder if it will hurt him. He is not afraid of anything else. He will charge a great dane trying to play with it. He is about 15lbs, the great dane was about 6'3 when he stood up on his hind legs (yes we measured).

thanks for any ideas

slater

my girlfriends dog, a jackrussle terrior is afraid of flashlights too. like your dog. but she wont piss herself or hide for a whole day but she does run from it cowrdly into another room.
i cant help you on solving it tho sorry, if you find out how and it works let me know tho lol.

I have the opposite behavior from my dog Diesel....he thinks the flashlight spot is a long lost buddy and gets all excited...will chase it and just sit and stare at it....same for a laser spot....his little stump of a tail gets wobbling so bad he can hardly stand still.

As to your situation and as an attempt to modify his behavior....with dogs it is all about thier food and then consistent repatition.

What I would do is...do it very slow as in patiently and over weeks and use lots of positive reinforcment

Maybe empty a small closet (for a small dark area) even remove the door so they never get closed in or feel trapped....hang a light off the coat rack up high at first and feed them under it and every few days lower it a little bit over thier food and focus the beam a little at a time over thier food...the idea being that eventually they will find themselves eating right next to "spot" the thing they where so scared of but should not be finding it at all threatening...should even associated it with a dogs most pleasurable activity... eating.

But be carefull as once it goes into motion it may be what scares them so once they are comfortable with spot just being there maybe add a little sway to it while they are distracted eating....also just a litlle and then a little more.

Hopefully at some point they would gladly go to the "spot" associating good eats.

If you feed dry and canned...maybe leave the dry in thier normal food area and move the canned to the spot....I know my dog would go for the canned before the dry anytime....remeber the most effective moment for reinforcement of any behavior (positive or negative) is at the very point of the behavior. So in this case as soon as they finish that last lick of food it's time for some good verbal praise and a pat for job well done!

Just how I would attempt it....best of luck...BBTs

Ask Ceasar,
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/dogwhisperer/

Let us know what he says.

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Ron
Freedom isn't Free, it's paid for with the blood and dreams of those that have gone before us.
My imagination is the only limiting factor to my Fiero. Well, there is that money issue.

How about if you quit shining a flash light at him?

quote Originally posted by Falcon Fiero: How about if you quit shining a flash light at him?

haha, I only did that once. After I saw his reactoin I no longer do it. I live in Florida, so I found out while I was going through my hurrican bag. Thanks for the food idea, I was trying to think of a good way to do that.


thanks
slater

In the daytime, put the flashlite on the floor with the beam off. Let him explore it as much as he's willing, don't force him, and when he makes it up to it and sniffs, give him a "Good Boy!" Leave it on the floor, and let him get used to it for a couple of days.

Next, when he's lost his fear of the light with the beam off, during daylight, turn the beam on for a few minutes. You can see where this is going, you want to gently (emphasize gently) and rather gradually desensitize him. Let him work it out in his own good time. Eventually, he'll see that it isn't going to hurt him, that it's isn't really anything to be afraid of. Your role can be to reassure him, and reward him with 'good boys' and an occasional treat.

Most dogs are so easy to train using gentle methods--which is what the Dog Whisperer is all about.

Your dog, I've read, is pretty fragile physically. Small thin bones. Be careful around big dogs that can inadvertently injure him.

My new Std. Poodle puppy discovered her reflection in the full length mirror today. That was pretty hilarious!

BTW, I met a mini pinser a couple of weeks ago. I was very impressed with this little dog. Very friendly and quite calm. Not at all a small dog personality. The one I met would be an incredibly easy dog to obedience and agility train.

[This message has been edited by Brian Lamberts (edited 08-04-2006).]

I had a setter who would chase a flashlight beam all day. She would "dance" with the shadows/light patterns under a tree on a sunny windy day. At the beach, the would follow the shadows of cruising pelicans down the beach until she dropped from exhaustion.
I never tried to break her of it because like children, you pick your battles.
She lived to a ripe old age of 18.
Sorry I don't have any advice, just my two cents worth of bump.

Sonny, my Rottweiler will attack anyone with a flashlight in their hand. Turn the light on him and he goes into full "super crazy Rottweiler from Hell mode." Freaky. Nobody ever hit him with one, he has been a well cared for dog, he just HATES flashlights!