My poor baby is so traumatized after a flashlight shined on her.

[Angelia88]

My 1 year old sweet girl, Fluffi, was in the living room and my son was playing with a flash light. He was playing and shined it up at the ceiling and then at Fluffi. She has been traumatized since I am so worried. She is now terrified to be in the living room and if there is any flashing on the tv or anything she is shaking and panting. Please help me know how to help her?

[MandiesMom]

Originally Posted by Angelia88

My 1 year old sweet girl, Fluffi, was in the living room and my son was playing with a flash light. He was playing and shined it up at the ceiling and then at Fluffi. She has been traumatized since I am so worried. She is now terrified to be in the living room and if there is any flashing on the tv or anything she is shaking and panting. Please help me know how to help her?

Oh my goodness. That is so odd. Did it blind her for a second? I mean, was the light put directly towards her eyes? (like when we get a flash of light, you know how we see spots?) I could imagine that could scare an animal into thinking that flashing lights will take their sight away. Poor Fluffi!!

I don't have any advice except to just keep comforting her. Try to undo what was done. If she is associating the living room and the tv flashing to sudden eye sight loss, then help her associate it with good stuff instead. This will take consistency and time. Think of you being afraid of something and how long it would take you to face that fear.

Give her a treat and praise every time she enters the living room. Start with just a step in and step out. Do that several times a day for a few days and then gradually expand the length of time you stay in there with her.

I'm not sure what to do about the tv thing, though.

We have a lady named, Jeanie here (her screen name is yorkietalkjilly). Hopefully she will see this and post. She is very very good with understanding animal behavior and helping the owner work with the pup on those behaviors.

[Summerbummer]

Take her out a walk round the block?
Something quite frightening happened to my pom, Cora. And it really helped her. If you act like nothing is wrong, she will maybe pick up on your energy, she is safe?

Oh sorry *I didn't realise this happened a while ago*

Yes I agree with above mandiesmom, deff a good step in the right direction.

[MandiesMom]

Originally Posted by Summerbummer

Take her out a walk round the block?
Something quite frightening happened to my pom, Cora. And it really helped her. If you act like nothing is wrong, she will maybe pick up on your energy, she is safe?

Oh sorry *I didn't realise this happened a while ago*

Yes I agree with above mandiesmom, deff a good step in the right direction.

It sounds like it just happened. And, to be honest...I agree with what you just said. Try to act like nothing is wrong for sure. That walk outside is a pretty darn good idea

[Amazing Yorkies]

A while back I was bored one night and feeling silly. I started singing and dancing and playing tag with some of the dogs. I had an older puppy that wasn't used to my stupid antics and she started barking at me, and I laughed and started talking to her like "what you barking at" and she bolted out of the room. For several days she would lay on my lap, but if I talked she bolted. I felt terrible. She acted terrified. I started talking to myself (I'm a widow and live alone) in different rooms in a quiet soothing voice so she could hear me but not be close. After a week or so, all was well again.
When grooming the pups that are scared of the shears, we let them see it, smell it, look at it without it on, then while holding them we turn it on and let them see it while we are talking to them softly. Once they realize it's not going to "kill" them they settle down.
I think new things scare some that are a little sensitive.

[Summerbummer]

It's amazing how good their memories are. Jasper hates walking in a particular street, because I left him out the shop once in that street. And I always have to walk down that street to get to my mums house. So I have to coax him and say stuff like, who are you going to see? Are we gonna see mummy? and he does eventually start bolting it and pulling on the lead like his usual self. I may actually start bringing treats with me to change the negative he sees into a positive.

Deff try and associate the living room, with something extra positive. Like this is the room 'we play' 'relax' 'eat a nice bone' etc

[misslissa]

Is there something she really really loves you can put just inside the living room door?
When my dog Jettie was a puppy my sister dropped a box on top of her crate while she was in it and terrified her.
she would not go back into it for all the treats in the house.
but after 2 days with out her stuffed squeaky cow she went in to get it.
I just kept putting the cow in the crate at she slowly got use to it again.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Dogs can be frightened by almost anything. Sometimes it is a combination of things that happen that create the fear. Perhaps at the time of the flashlight incident, there was a persistent noise on TV, coming from outside(such as someone blowing an ultrasonic dog whistle), a police siren or tension among the people in the room or she was having gas pains concurrently. Sometimes it is a combination of things that happen together that leaves the dog being frightened of a routine thing that was going on at the same time. Right now your your girl's scare is related to flashing light and you've really gotten excellent advice here of how to start to get her past this fear. Any technique will work that will give your baby a new association with flashing lights and slowly change her fear to that of acceptance.

The key is to do short, desensitization exercises with her that for very, very short periods of time that expose her to the thing that causes her fear while at the same time she is shown how to have a different reaction with that thing.

I'd probably start out with some highly desirable treat - really, really special - such as warm, boiled chicken that just smells entirely wonderful. Take a piece of chicken and lure her into the living room with it in your fist as you keep it right in front of her nose and get her to follow you in there. If she will, walk her into the room a couple of steps and give her the treat. If she's go scared she refuses the treat, walk back out of the room and as soon as she follows you out, then treat her. If she will take the treat in the living room where she's fearful, that's wonderful and shows her fear is not going to be too hard to deal with. But either way, luring her into the living room with one and then either treating her when she walks in a few steps or as soon as she follows you back out, will slowly begin to show her that the living room is not so scary after all and, besides, she now gets treats when she walks in for a few seconds or as soon as she walks in, stays for a bit and walks out. Keep repeating that and slowly begin to lure her further into the living room with the chicken and rewarding her for going in there, either while still in the room or once she comes back out. Eventually, when you do this enough, she will want to do this exercise and will likely go in there on her own to encourage you to treat her. In time, this should result in her having established a new association with going into the living room - a good place that gets her treats and a happy mommie.

If she is so terrified she will not accept treats at all in or near the living room, see if you can get her all excited playing with a ball or toy, amping her up to an excited level and then throw her ball or favorite toy into the living room and see if she will go after it. If she won't at first, you might run in there after it and start playing with it, laughing and having fun, and see if she will come on in. If she will go in on her on, because you go in and play with the toy or whatever - as long as she goes in and get its and then comes back out with it or without it, give her praise and a treat. Keep repeating that and throw the toy in further and further over time. Make it so darn fun she is just dying to get in there and get that toy! Even rubbing some chicken or peanut butter on the toy is necessary with some dogs fearful of going on a room. Other dogs will chase a treat or chewie thrown into a "scary" room. Try everything you can think of to get her to go in there on her own and then she gets treats, a play session with the toy, etc., as her reward.

If she won't readily go into the living room using food or a toy, take her into the living room in your arms or in a carrier. Do not talk to her during these sessions if she is acting fearful or terribly alerted, looking around nervously. Sweet-talking or just talking to a dog during times of fear can act as a reinforcement of that fear - making them think that reaction is approved of by you. If she will take a chicken treat while in there, that is excellent. Just keep taking her in for brief periods of time and treat her as soon as she gets in. Slowly begin to extend the time - until she starts to go in on her on.

If she is too scared to take a treat while in the living room, try this. Take her in in your arms or in a carrier and sit down. Playing a CD of dog-laughing or happily panting, playing dogs during the time she is in there can really relax her. Just look up dog-laughing CD on Google and read about it. After 20 or so seconds, take her back out of the living room. Treat her or toss a toy, play tugowar, give her a chewie, when she comes out as a reward. Wait a little bit - about 5 minutes doing something else with her, happily playing or scratching her tummy, etc., and go back in for another 20 seconds or so, using a treat reward as soon as you go in there or have that CD playing. Out again, treat her w/food or play, wait another 5 minutes, the play, scratch, etc., and then take her back in. And that's enough. Go on with your day and again that night, try another 3 sessions for just those few seconds each visit in the room. And the next few days just keep taking her in there for the briefest of visits and then back out for treats/toys/playing/scratching or even treat chasing - anything fun between sessions and then back into the living room for a short stay and out.

If you will do that and stay very upbeat, matter-of-fact and calm during her short trips into that "scary" room, she will start to realize that it is not that scary and she is only in there for a short time and then right out again, after which she gets played with, scratched or treats offered. She'll be developing a new association with that room during each session and once you can get her to stay in the room without starting to pant or shake or alert, you should be able to start working with her using treats or a toy to lure her in. Once you can get her to associate that room with a special toy game or luscious treats, you are almost there!

Just keep working on that final part of the desensitization session with the treats or toys luring her in and rewarding her with a treat or play-session with the toy in the living room and letting her leave the room again after a little while, which you increase slowly over time.

Once each desensitization session is over, always let your dog outside to play or take her out on the porch, for a short, fast walk - anything to allow her to run off the tension built up by the short bouts of exposure to the thing that she fears. She needs that total break and a natural way to de-stress her body and little mind afterward.

Once you see her going into the living room on her own to get rewards and she can stay in there without alerting, panting or shaking and just acts normally again, REWARD YOURSELF!!!!! You have done a huge thing - you have taught a dog how to handle fear and deal with it little bit at a time until it is no longer powerful over her. You are quite the trainer now and your dog will love you for helping her not become a fearful, nervous dog.

Use the same techniques with a flashlight or any flashing light source - get treats or a toy, turn the light on very briefly, treat her or squeak a toy instantly - the moment that light goes on, stick that treat right in her mouth, flop around a flossy tugowar or toss a ball or chewie or something to distract her from the light for a few seconds as it is on or flashing and then turn the light right off. Treat her again. Try not to talk to her during these sessions as it can reinforce the fear inside from the light. Repeat that for about 4 or 5 times and then enough. Take her outside for a good de-stress, fun time.

Keep having little short sessions like that around flashing lights or TV shows on TV with flashing lights and in time, she will have slowly formed a new association with flashing lights - that of delish treats or a fun, wild toy-playing session and then a run outside.

It is so important to keep the desensitization sessions extremely short at first and to stay upbeat and relaxed during them. She will come to see that however bad her fear is, you are very calm and in control during the training, she doesn't have to endure her fear for very long at all, other nice things do happen during it and she gets a nice reward afterward. Slowly all of that works to take the power from the thing that she fears and begin to associate it with all of the good things that come from being around that once-so-scary thing.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Continued from above:

This kind of thing can take a long time to work out of some dogs and others not as long - it just depends on your dog, how they deal with fear, how intense the initial fear episode was to her, how often and briefly you repeat the sessions and effectively interest her in the treats/toy/play/relaxation during the exposure to it, and whether or not you can successfully remove any anxiety you have over her anxiety during the sessions. The calmer/cooler you are during those sessions, the more you can help her. Just think of yourself as a nurse or trainer during those times and don't even think of yourself as her mom. But, once she is accepting of the light and isn't scared anymore, once again, REWARD YOURSELF, as you have once again helped your dog deal with her awful fear and kept her life from being always plagued by flashing lights.

Sorry this is so long but it just covers a few of the things you need to know about how to work with a dog to desensitize it to fear using good associations for short periods of time and what to do if one thing doesn't work well. Together with all of the good advice you've already gotten, hopefully you have some ideas about how to help her. There are still more ways to help this kind of fear but one of these methods listed here should be able to help her if you will stay committed and persistent and infinitely patient and loving with her during the desensitization training. Good luck to you! Hope that little one is doing better in another few weeks. And by the way, should she totally get past all of this but one day lights or something else starts her back acting fearful, just start over and do the same thing with whatever her fear source is.