If you are considering building work, or a noisy event, and you are afraid your dog will be scared, you can help it remain calm with a food supplement that decreases the effects of stress and fear. Ideally, you need to anticipate the event by a couple of weeks in order for the effects to be at their peak when the event occurs.
Sometimes dogs are afraid of ordinary noises: crowds, children shouting, bin trucks, or vacuum cleaners. In that case, you should not bring your companion closer to the source of noise as this could reinforce the fear. This technique, called “immersion” is strongly discouraged by specialists.
Instead, it is recommended that you progressively train your dog to ignore these daily life noises by recording with a smartphone the noise in question. Measure the number of decibels on the recording. Then allow your dogs to listen to the recording louder and louder once it is back in a familiar environment in order to reach the same number of decibels as the real noise, or even a handful of decibels above that threshold. Use treats, toys, or attention as positive re-enforcement during this.
You can make this “habituation” easier by giving your companion a food supplement that limits the effects of stress and helps the training process.
