Help for a dog afraid of flies

[ceiligh1]

We are having a little trouble with our dog. She is an 85 lb. Alaskan malamute. She was abused by a previous owner and my DH took her in from the rescue agency. Among her many issues, my big, lovable dog is afraid of flies. Deathly afraid, she will try to hide behind anything if she even spots a shadow that she thinks might be a fly. After spotting one inside the house the other evening she has become afraid to come into the house at night. We have lived in this house for almost a year and this is the first fly that has found its way inside. We tried to kill it but we have very high ceilings and she spotted it before we got to it. She has always slept inside with us. Even before my DH and I met 8 years ago she slept inside in his room. We don’t know what to do, she has already been on meds for separation anxiety but they didn’t work for that and she was still afraid of the flies. We could leave her outside but she howls and the neighbors wouldn’t like it. She hides inside her dog house so we can’t carry her inside. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[beckmrk04]

Good golly. That is a new one for me!!! I have NO clue what to say. Have you tried to find an animal behaviorist- I know that won't help much right NOW, but maybe for in the future?

Poor thing. I hope things work out!

ETA- Can you coax her out of the dog house and into the house with some yummy special treats? Bacon, peanut butter- something new?

 

[ceiligh1]

We have tried food and she wont budge. This dog refuses to eat at times, my DH has to hand feed her food to get her to eat sometimes. She was severly abused for the first year or so of her life and things seem to be getting worse for her as she gets older.
The only thing that worked to get her to come inside recently was when we let my parents dog who was visiting out for a little bit. Cheyenne came out of the dog house then, maybe she figured the little dog scared away the flies. But my parents and their dog went back home, so now we are trying to get her on our own.
I had not thought of the behaviorist we will have to find one. Thanks.

 

[dolphinrescuegirl]

Why don't you get another dog like your parents had? Maybe just having a friend around might help her.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Have you watched Cesar Milan on the National Geographic Channel? If not start watching.

Basically what you will learn is that dog's do what is required of them. So if you expect him to come in the house you put the leash on and take him in the house. However he needs to be walked to the point of being tired FIRST. Exercise first, then training, then food/affection.
Do positive reinforcement to get him there. He will resist but like with any training you are trying to associate something positive with the leash, the flies, eating, everything. Take it slow and do it daily.

How often do you walk the dog? This is a working dog and he needs lots of exercise. Daily at least an hour on the leash at a heel.
This is a very, very important part of the rehabilitation.
We have a rescue who is so so so much better now. Walking really helps them release all the pent up garbage inside of them. Turns them into a dog again. Dogs bond thru walking with their pack.

We got our pups in July and while he is still "fearful", he trusts us to protect him. It takes awhile but it is so worth it.
Good Luck with your Pup!!!!

 

[Rajah]

I agree, try a behavioralist. And if you have cable, try watching the Dog Whisperer on National Geographic. I've learned a lot about dog's behavior from that show, and he might have some techniques you could try. The biggest one being to take her for walks in such a way that you establish that you are pack leader and there to take care of her.

 

[crazee4mickey]

Our dog is a one year old chocolate lab and he goes absolutely nuts if he thinks/hears the buzzing or if he thinks he sees one!
He doesn't bark but starts tilting his head and looking up at the ceiling, leaping backwards to get away, hides under tables and then he just about jumps on our heads so he can hide behind us!!
When our dog first did this we laughed because we had no idea what was going on but in the summer and fall(a couple of times in the winter even when there are no flies) he is continuously "freaked" out!
I feel so badly for your dog being afraid--can't understand why people abuse animals
We have absolutely no idea why he is like this or how to help him not be afraid--so if you find something that works let us know!

 

[FergieTCat]

I hate to tell you this, but my Diana cat, who is 9 lbs and not the sharpest crayon in the box, took down a fly all by herself! Fergie and I were very impressed!

I feel bad for your doggie, though. Flies can be scary (I guess).

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We have absolutely no idea why he is like this or how to help him not be afraid--so if you find something that works let us know!

You expose the dog to it. Basically you "desensitize" them. You get them to associate the sound, fly, whatever to something good. Do daily training.

It works, trust me. Butters was afraid of EVERYTHING!!!!! I mean everything. It was terrible.
Now he can happily go for a walk and be normal.

 

[DVC Sadie]

We have tried food and she wont budge. This dog refuses to eat at times, my DH has to hand feed her food to get her to eat sometimes. She was severly abused for the first year or so of her life and things seem to be getting worse for her as she gets older.
The only thing that worked to get her to come inside recently was when we let my parents dog who was visiting out for a little bit. Cheyenne came out of the dog house then, maybe she figured the little dog scared away the flies. But my parents and their dog went back home, so now we are trying to get her on our own.
I had not thought of the behaviorist we will have to find one. Thanks.

My mother adopted a severly abused Yellow Lab retriever who hated not only men but stairs. What worked for our dog Shay is this; We asked neighbors to bring their dogs over to "play" and basically teach our dog how to be a dog instead of hiding and running for cover. Believe it or not it WORKS!! In regards to the flies if your dog sees other dogs who are not afraid maybe this will help.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Bless her little doggy heart! I have a dog who's afraid of the wind. Yep, you read it right. If the wind is blowing, she hightails it and runs back inside.

I act like nothing is wrong. Sometimes I'll go out there and stand with her, just to get her to do her business, but I've read numerous times that they react off of how we react.

 

[ceiligh1]

thank you to everyone for your responses. Last night we were just frusturated (sp?) with her. We used to think that the fear of flies was one of her more amusing quirks.
CHeyenne is basicly a normal dog, with the exception of the fear of flies, seperation anxiety and agression to other dogs. Well I guess that list makes her not so normal. My parents dog is very old and for some reason they have never had issues, but chy. can be very agressive and I worry about the other dogs. For the past 8 years she has been ok with being inside ect. it is just recently that the fly issue is getting worse. She always obeys my husband except now when he wants her to come inside at night. We are going to start putting her on a lead when it starts to get dark out and bring her in we are also going to take the lid off the dog house so we can pull her out is she beats us to it.
We exercise her daily but never to the point of her being tired. We run with her but we get tired before she does. She hiked to the top of Middle Sister in Oregon with a 20lb dog pack without getting tired. If that wont do it I dont know what will.
Her first year or so of life was spent chained inside the back of a truck with a truck bed cover. Her owner did not clean out the truck or change her harness when she grew bigger so it had to be cut out later. At one point once she was rescued the vet was not sure she would survive. We are so sad that these issues are starting to get worse for her again.

 

[ceiligh1]

I hate to tell you this, but my Diana cat, who is 9 lbs and not the sharpest crayon in the box, took down a fly all by herself! Fergie and I were very impressed!

Our cat Luna almost got the fly but it got away. Does your cat offer lessons?

 

[TwinTinks]

Why don't you get another dog like your parents had? Maybe just having a friend around might help her.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Her life story sounds so sad. Don't give up on her. It's so obvious you love her.

Seek the help you need to make her better.

As others have mentioned, you need to get help from someone who does this professionally.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We exercise her daily but never to the point of her being tired.

Dogs need to walk 45mins a day at heel (very important to properly walk him), add a dogpack to this dog. Put your waters in the backpack. This will make the walk more efficient and the working dog, will be "working".

Does the dog walk at a heel? Basically you are asking you dog to "work". Eyes forward, following your lead. No running is necessary, a dog can run all day.
Part of the training is mental. When a dog is at a heel they cannot sniff the ground and have to be at your side, following the leader. They get to stop & sniff when YOU SAY, not them. It is a reward.
That gets the dog's mind to realize, THEY are not the leader.
After that you can practice leadership at home. Once the dog "fixates" you give correction before the behavior esculates. That is where a trainer or a behaviorist will help. One session at home will be a blessing for this dog since you say it has had so much trauma. I had professional help with my rescue Butters.

Dog aggression is something I deal with with Butters. What it boils down to is that the dog is VERY INSECURE and unbalanced. Other dogs sense it right away and approach the dog as a threat. The dog becomes a target. So, the insecure dog takes on the attitude, get them before they get me.

The dog has to have total trust and you have to be his alpha if you are going to stop it. Again, this is where the daily walks come in. I can't stress enough how important proper walking is for this dog. It really is a miracle how it helps insecure dogs.

 

[ceiligh1]

Thank you again for the advise. We are going to switch to walking chy. to see if that does make any difference. My husband is the alpha dog to chy since he was with her prior to me, I have tried to work on being one but with a baby that had taken a back burner so to speak. Thank you all for the ideas we will be trying them out to see what works for her.