What is the difference between phobia and normal fear?

Fear is the emotion that protects us from doing things that might endanger us. Most people, when faced with a tiger, would run away in order to avoid being eaten. Likewise, fear stops us from stepping to close to a ledge on a high building. Some people are more fearless than others but essentially we all have the same type of reaction to danger. The more risky a situation is, the more intensely afraid we feel, but once the threat has passed we recover within a few minutes.

Phobic fear is very different. It is a much more intense and persistent emotion that interferes with our normal behaviour rather than protecting us from harm. For example, a person who is phobic of spiders might feel terrified just looking at a picture in a newspaper. They might hyperventilate, feel dizzy and filled with dread. These feelings would persist long after they had closed the newspaper and the person would probably feel some apprehension when opening the paper the following day. So phobia is overwhelming and disproportionate to the threat.

Dogs tend to be phobic of things they hear, like loud noises. Why would dogs be so sensitive to noises? Being a predator, the dog’s vision is forward facing and designed to detect movement. It is highly tuned for hunting. The dog’s hearing is also very sophisticated, and is able to detect the position of even very quiet noises, regardless of their direction. The dog therefore uses its hearing not only as an aid to hunting but also as an early warning system for detecting potential enemies. So the dog is predisposed to develop fears and phobias that are associated with sound.

How common is sound phobia in the UK?
A 2006 report produced for the RSPCA shows the extent of the phobia problem in dogs in the UK, with around 49% of dogs having a fear of sounds, and 45% reacting to fireworks. The other common phobias are gunshots and thunder.

How serious can phobias become?
Most dogs learn to anticipate when there is going to be a firework or storm event. When they see dark clouds, hear rain or smell smoke on the air they go to their favourite hiding place and wait for the situation to pass. They may stay there for several hours, but we think of this as normal because we don’t see how afraid the dog is. Dogs showing this kind of response are phobic, but they have found a way to cope. 90% or more dogs with a phobia fit into this category.

Unfortunately phobias tend to progress in a number of ways. The commonest is process called “generalisation”. This is simply the term used when dogs gradually start to react to a widening range of sounds that are similar to ones that they are phobic of. Dogs with a firework phobia are likely to generalise to thunder and gunshots. Dogs can also generalise to more common everyday noises such as the sound of a door slamming or heavy footfalls on a wooden staircase. This is a major problem because affected dogs will react to a much larger number of sounds so that their phobia affects their life much more often and perhaps even every day.

Dogs that have learned to anticipate and cope with phobic events will become more severely affected every year, as they have more and more phobic experiences. There can also be more sudden and dramatic progression of phobias when the dog’s coping strategy fails. For example, a dog that cannot get to his hiding place for some reason can become very distressed and disorientated, causing a great deal of damage as he tries to find somewhere to hide. From now on the dog may show far more intense fear and begin to panic because he does not know how to get away from the noises that scare him. Another common situation is when dogs hear unexpected loud noise events, such as when a child detonates a banger in the park during the day. The dog could not anticipate the event so it was not prepared and could not escape. In both of these situations the dog’s existing coping strategy failed and it loses confidence.

Once dogs enter this more severe stage of phobia we find that they start to behave much more bizarrely. They may refuse to go to certain places, or go out after dark. They may become very panicky during a phobic event or try to break out of the room when they are shut in alone. It can even reach the point that dogs will not even go into the garden to go to the toilet after dark, which is a major problem in the winter.

So it is very important to treat and manage phobias while the dog is only moderately afflicted and to use preventative measures in puppies so that they are less likely to have a problem in the first place.

How can we help dogs that suffer from phobias?

For short term help coping with Firework day read the previous FAQ - Short term help for your dog on Firework Day?

The most important aspect of phobia is that it tends to get worse over time. In a study for the RSPCA, dogs were shown to become more likely to have severe phobia signs as they got older, indicating that repeated experience made the problem worse. Phobias do not get better spontaneously with time.

Fortunately we can take advantage of our understanding of the way in which phobias get worse in order to devise a means of treating them. Each bad experience a dog has will add to the sense of dread of fireworks or thunder, the two commonest phobia problems. Imagine the effect if we could provide the dog with neutral or positive experiences that would gradually cancel out these bad memories. Slowly the dog would lose its fear and react less to the noises.

This is precisely the method that we use to treat fears and phobias, using techniques of desensitisation and counter-conditioning.

Desensitisation is a very simple technique in which we expose the dog to the same sounds that it is frightened of, but at a sound level that is below that required to produce fear. As the dog becomes used to a [particular sound level we then gradually increase the volume. This process can take several weeks, but it is very effective if done correctly and using the right kinds of recordings.

Once the dog’s emotional reaction to the sounds has been neutralised we then train the dog to associate these noises with something it likes, such as food or a game. This is done very simply by playing the noise just before and during feeding or play. Dogs make this kind of link very rapidly, which is why so many of them rush over and start salivating every time they hear us opening a packet of biscuits! This second stage is called counter-conditioning, and changes the dog’s reaction from neutral to happy.

The way that we do this kind of treatment is very important, as is the kind of sound recording that we use. Our simple CD known as Sounds Scary, available from www.soundtherapy4pets.com, works well. In a trial Sounds Scary produced significant improvements within 8 weeks.

You may find this long term treatment easier with the help of a proper pet behaviour counsellor.

Does my dog need medication?

Some healthy dogs become so fearful of noises that they start to react to everyday sounds, or won’t go to certain places or won’t go out after dark. Behavioural therapy is essential for these dogs, but they may also need some kind of drug therapy.

Certain illnesses, such as senility and hormonal imbalances, can cause dogs to become more anxious and fearful. Treating these illnesses may resolve a problem without resorting to behavioural therapy at all. So it is important to have your dog checked thoroughly by your vet before starting any kind of treatment, especially if your dog’s problem has become suddenly and inexplicably worse.

There is a licensed drug for treating fears and phobias, which is called Selgian. This drug reduces fear, and can be very helpful for dogs that have become withdrawn, or have multiple phobias. This drug takes 4-8 weeks to become effective, so it is not a quick fix but it can make a big difference to the lives of dogs who have started to suffer as a result of serious phobia problems. For the 90% of dogs who have moderate problems, a drug of this kind is not necessary, and treatment with behavioural methods and DAP is perfectly adequate.