Sensitivity

When I got first got Boone one of his major issues was his sound sensitivity. At any sudden, loud sound he would instantly slink to the floor, hide, or run away. He could not recover in any short length of time, and would need a few hours to forget about it. This used to be anything from a phone ringing, traffic noises, a dropped item, or the bang of the garbage truck...

As with his other issues it has been a slow, but steady progression. He really has improved a lot. He doesn't slink when he's scared, and is more curious about noise now rather then being afraid (largely due to playing the "Look At That" game) He has even gotten much better with his traffic issues...

The storms during our trip were a bit much for him though. He was scared- for sure. BUT- He recovered. And quickly too, within a few minutes of a crack of thunder his ears would come up and he would look out the window. The long storms were hard on him though, and I resorted to putting him in his crate, with a blanket over it. It definitely helped to keep him calm and he was able to stop spinning and pacing.

Thankfully we don't get a lot of storms in our area, and I have never heard such loud thunder before- camping in a trailer, on a hill...well, everything is amplified I guess! So it is not a normal experience for him. But I was very impressed with the fact that he was able to recover, and still have fun and play even with the distant rumbles. He never reached a full panic mode, and was mostly calm (even when he was scared)

I am pretty happy with how much he's improved, and we will continue to work on his noise issues. Oh- and it is a VERY common Pyr Shep problem. So I am especially happy that even after years of practicing scared behavior he has been able to overcome that for the most part.