Paz's fear of skateboards

[charlotte bednarsh]

We live in Battery Park City (Lower Manhattan), so Paz is really accustomed to loud noises, traffic jams, construction sounds, bicycles and so forth. Unfortunately, about 6 months ago, two kids on skateboards nearly knocked us over, and since then, whenever Paz hears a skateboard, he barks at the board (not the person).  Our trainer, has been working with us to desensitize Paz; she says it's a gradual process of letting him get as close as he can without a reaction, telling him to leave it and rewarding him for tolerating the sound.  If he starts to bark, we remove him without a reward, and start the process again; unfortunately, we can't control when a kid on a skateboard comes charging out of nowhere, but the process is still the same.  I've been working on this for about 3 months, and yesterday, for the first time, several skateboarders passed us, I said "leave it" and Paz looked at me, and I literally gave him handfulls of treats.  This happened several times and we were fine.  Unfortunately, my luck ran out when a kid with the noisiest skateboard came charging by, and Paz got really scared and began to bark.  I felt so badly because we had been doing so well.  I know this is going to take a lot of time; Paz is barking at the skateboard, not the person and even though his bark is loud, he has figured out that if he barks the skateboard leaves.  Fortunately Paz is totally non-aggressive, and he has no intention of biting the skateboarder, so that's not my concern.  Just wondering if anyone else has some experience with this.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

I live in downtown Chicago and we had the same problem initially.  Not just skateboards, but anything that rolled by - bikes, roller skates, luggage, baby strollers, etc.  Somewhere on here I wrote a post about how we fixed it.  Basically what I did was I started with bikes.  I went to places where people had bikes, and I would ask them if I could ride their bike for a bit.  (It helps if they have dogs, too, or at least have expressed a liking to your dog - otherwise they might think you are crazy).  I would hold Lola's leash and just kind of slowly peddle around.  Then they would get back on the bike no problems.  Then repeat somewhere else.  After about 3 or 4 times in different locations and with different people and bikes, she got it.  Then I did the same thing with skateboards.  By that time she luckily generalized to roller skates and all the rest, which was lucky.  I was not looking forward to having to ask people to borrow their stroller with baby!

[charlotte bednarsh]

I stood outside a skateboard park this morning, and rewarded him whenever the noise got close.  Fortunately they just opened up a beautiful new dog "water park" on the Hudson, which is right past the skate park; I think it helps because Paz is now associating walking past the skateboard park where he gets treats, to go to the dog water park which he absolutely loves.  This morning he did very well, but I know it is going to take time and patience.

[Dawn Ross]

Great idea! Skateboards = treats + squeaky ball + a water park. :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Sounds perfect....

[Dawn Ross]

Sounds like you're doing everything right and you've definitely made some headway. Pierson doesn't like skateboards either but we don't see kids on them in our neighborhood often enough for me to work with him on it. I have noticed something that helps him in other fearful situations. If he sees me happy and carefree, he generally is too. I don't just distract him with treats, but with playful laughter too. Pierson has long since learned that laughter means something fun. Does Paz have a favorite toy to distract him with? A squeaky toy also gets Pierson's undivided attention.

[charlotte bednarsh]

Great suggestion.  I usually carry his squeaky ball with me, so that might help.  We actually stood outside a skateboard park this morning, and whenever he heard the noise, I rewarded him and that seemed to work.  It's so interesting that he can tell the difference between a skateboard and everything else on wheels which don't seem to bother him.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

I think skateboards might be the worst because they really grumble along.  The one thing I would say though, is be careful about how you time those rewards.  You don't want him to think you are rewarding him for barking - you have to be sure he knows he is being rewarded for NOT barking.   If he hears the noise and doesn't bark for even one second, reward him.  But if he starts barking, take the treat away behind your back and say no.  Although chances are that once he's off and barking he might not be so interested in the treat anyway.

[charlotte bednarsh]

You are right.  Timing is everything.  If he starts to bark, hte doesn't get a treat at all.  I usually say a firm "no" and wait for him to calm down, however no treat is given.  He only gets a treat I say "leave it (meaning leave the skateboard alone)" and he looks at me without barking at the skateboard; I've tried to keep my voice firm, and the reward quick if he obeys the command.  It's getting better.  It's just that some of the skateboarders come roaring down the street and the noise is awful;  Paz is not the only dog barking, but I want him to understand it is unacceptable.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It sounds like you're doing all the right things and making great progress.  We did have a problem with Murph barking and lunging at things that moved fast (joggers, skateboarders, rollerbladers, bikes).  I think part of the reaction was because he was startled and part was prey drive.  I think the only answer is the training you're already doing.  Practicing how you want him to handle these situations, correcting when he makes a mistake, and rewarding when he gets it right is how he'll learn.  We had our trainer actually roller blade with Murph which I think also helped him to get the idea that things that "move fast" are still okay.  I also try to be vigilant when I'm walking him so that I can spot the skate boarder (or biker, jogger, etc) before he does.  Whenever possible I put him in a "sit" and we practice being calm as they pass.  I talk to him softly and pet his head....then treat the second they have passed.  If it looks like there might be a reaction I verbally correct and go right back to trying to calm him.

[charlotte bednarsh]

I'm pretty much doing what you did.  It is getting better; fortunately, he only has this reaction to skateboards, and pretty much ignores everything else.