Reptile & Amphibian Forums

the problem:
this just began in the past couple of months and it is getting worse.....Our Westie (year and a half) barks and whines and stresses watching the tv..........we can not possibly watch anything that has an animal on it, she goes bonkers,,,(just for some background, Bailiegh does not have any dogs she plays with or sees, she was in puppy social class about a year ago...but did not play, in fact she was aloof to the other dogs.......
now out our window if she sees a dog walk by, ..she barks and whines and looks at the tv....and the same thing happens if the dog is on the tv, she looks out the window like the dog on tv should be outside and vice versa...........(she does this with any animal on tv)

we've tried the gentle leader and made her sit by us....but she still goes nuts trying to get away and paw at the tv and whines and cries..............I don't want her to stress at all and though the gentle leader may get her to stop pawing and climbing the tv....you can still tell she is stressed.....is there anything else to try?
.................would getting her in doggy day care so she is around dogs more, help? or make it worse..............this is becoming a real problem.....please advise.

we don't have a huge house where we could put her in the other room and we don't want to...she is a big part of our life....but
this is where we sit and play and relax with her...........she is the love of our lives.............
I did get one of the "comfort zone" plug in, it has made little to no difference....and I don't want to medicate her, unless it is something that is perfectly harmless....and will keep her from having a heart attack...
We have tried talking soothing to her....
she looks behind the tv, jumps up on the tv and the speakers, like that animal should come out and play(or maybe she wants to bite it, I don't know)
please any advice would be welcome............I hate to see her stress out, and we don't want to stop watching tv.....that is our "evening ritual"...
I thought most dogs were relaxed by watching the tv...........
any help? advice?

>>the problem:
>> this just began in the past couple of months and it is getting worse.....Our Westie (year and a half) barks and whines and stresses watching the tv

I had a rottie that was nuts about the tv in my bedroom. (its eye level... she doesn't care so much about the one in entertainment center in living room). One night I woke up in terror to voices... she had learned to turn the tv on with her nose and was watching "Love Connection" (she couldn't change chanels and at 3 am that was what was on, lol). I had to shut my bedroom door. One day she heard an animal on the tv and tried to OPEN THE DOOR KNOB. She wasn't stressed tho, she LOVED IT, drooled all over the floor.

But when any behavior becomes a problem, its obsessive. Its going to take steady training to get her out of it. Obedience, not playing with other pups, is really the root of retraining. Continuing to prevent her from going to the tv, doing obedience, GROOMING while tv is on, iow occupying her with other activities so that she is getting attention, enjoyment, etc but NOT continuing with the tv. Hopefully Kathy will respond with more specifics.
-----
Debra
ebraDownSth@aol.com" target="_blank">DebraDownSth@aol.com
Blessed Are The Flexible For They
Shall Not Be Bent Out of Shape.]

>>>>the problem:
>>>> this just began in the past couple of months and it is getting worse.....Our Westie (year and a half) barks and whines and stresses watching the tv
>>
>>I had a rottie that was nuts about the tv in my bedroom. (its eye level... she doesn't care so much about the one in entertainment center in living room). One night I woke up in terror to voices... she had learned to turn the tv on with her nose and was watching "Love Connection" (she couldn't change chanels and at 3 am that was what was on, lol). I had to shut my bedroom door. One day she heard an animal on the tv and tried to OPEN THE DOOR KNOB. She wasn't stressed tho, she LOVED IT, drooled all over the floor.
>>
>>But when any behavior becomes a problem, its obsessive. Its going to take steady training to get her out of it. Obedience, not playing with other pups, is really the root of retraining. Continuing to prevent her from going to the tv, doing obedience, GROOMING while tv is on, iow occupying her with other activities so that she is getting attention, enjoyment, etc but NOT continuing with the tv. Hopefully Kathy will respond with more specifics.
>>-----
>>Debra
>>DebraDownSth@aol.com
>>Blessed Are The Flexible For They
>>Shall Not Be Bent Out of Shape.]

>>>>>>>.

I have a TV-watching Belgian Tervuren, and it was getting out of hand. A few things worked and it's no longer a problem. Playing ball with him while watching animals on TV worked. That was the first thing I did. Turning the TV off when I'm not in the room to monitor things was important. Anyway, remember what your parents always said about not wasting electricity! If I want it on and won't be in there, I look for an "animal free" channel, though admittedly commercials can be a problem.

And the number one thing that has worked--change the channel! Dog starts to overreact, click, you change the channel. This really does work. If it's something you want to see, occupy her. Lay her in your lap on her back and rub her tummy, or toss her toy, or settle her out of eyeshot of the TV with a toy that has a treat inside.

Terriers can become obsessive about something to the point that it's an illness, in which case they may need medication. I would not put a dog at the risk of liver damage or other complications from long-term medication over TV watching, though. This is something you can control by virtue of the fact that the TV can be turned off. When a dog chases lights and shadows nonstop, you can't control that stimulus. So you're lucky there!

Teach her a LOT of things, so that whenever she starts to get too interested in one thing, you can get her doing another. This is one of the most important reasons to train our dogs. It benefits them.
-----
Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com