Not sure where to put this :)

Bramble is 14 + ish. Up to last winter he loved nothing better than lying in front of a fire or being on the sofa while the (wood) fire is burning. He started becoming frightened of the crackling and now won't even stay in the room :( He isn't bothered by noises usually. It's a bit upsetting as he loves nothing better than being snuggled up on the sofa with my OH - he now spends the evening in the kitchen by himself. We can't not light the fire :( Is it to do with his hearing failing a little ? We've tried to keep him on the sofa with a very cheerful voice which works for a while, then he gets that wild look in his eyes and flees :(
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Any suggestions ?

Is it possible that a spark landed on him and he now associates the 'bang' with being burnt? I had an elderly dog that was going deaf and the noise from the fire never bothered her, she couldn't hear it ;-)

> Is it possible that a spark landed on him and he now associates the 'bang' with being burnt

No - we have a Jetmaster fire which has a fixed guard in front of it and it is almost impossible for sparks to get out. He is usually on the sofa anyway, so nowhere near the fire. We had thought that after a summer without fires he would have forgotten about being scared of the fire - but no :( He is very happy when we have a bonfire in the garden - not frightened of that at all.

>He is very happy when we have a bonfire in the garden - not frightened of that at all.

That makes me think that perhaps something else - a loud noise on TV, someone dropping something in the room, anything like that - startled him while he was near or looking at the fire, and he's made the wrong association.

> and he's made the wrong association

Sounds possble :( I don't know who is more upset, Bramble or OH :(

Any suggestions how we can desensitize him ?? He is quite happy to be on the sofa if the fire isn't on, so doesn't associate the sofa with the noise.

It could actually be his eyes that's the problem.  they become very sensitive as they get older.  sometimes if you put your hand close they really jump away and fall backwards and they also don't like the flash from a camera either.

I had a collie who was very sound sensitive with shooting, fireworks thunder etc. Once she got older and her hearing deteriorated she was no longer scared of outside noises as she couldn't hear them but inside noises scared her. Any slight noise even something like a knife on a plate scared her and I spent the whole time saying sorry to her. She would go straight out the dog flap into the garden and I used to have to keep it shut if it was raining or cold outside. She was always a stressy dog and didn't really enjoy life especially once this problem got so bad.

My old collie boy struggled with his hearing as he got older, he would "hear" me call and set off the wrong way as he could not place the sound.  If your lad is experiencing something similar I would think the noise of the fire would be very disorienting for him.  As he is an old boy is there any other way you can heat the room?

>  As he is an old boy is there any other way you can heat the room?

We have underfloor heating and so don't 'need' to heat the room - but, we have a huge amount of wood for burning, spent a lot of money putting an open fire in and having a fire is not only our backup in case of power cuts (we are out in the sticks), but also a cost cutting measure as we have a large house. As Bramble is very fit for his age he could easily live another 2/3 years so we really don't want to NOT light the fire. That is why I am trying to investigate ways of making him more secure when the fire is on. He isn't showing any other signs of distress etc and can hear me perfectly well when I call 'walkies etc' :) :) although his hearing is not as sharp as it once was.

> Any slight noise even something like a knife on a plate scared her and I spent the whole time saying sorry to her

Hmm - Bramble only appears to have a problem with the fire, nothing else :( It would seem, as Jeangenie suggested, that it is just that he has been 'spooked' by the fire at some point and is now frightened of it :(

He's very food orientated - would it be OK to try to reward him with treats if he stays on the sofa when the fire crackles ?? What is so frustrating is that the fire is quiet most of the time :(

> It could actually be his eyes that's the problem

He doesn't seem to have any problem with his eyes. I haven't noticed anything such as you suggest. He's still very able to catch a piece of carrot if it's thrown to him ... :) :) :)

Kong maybe or a really good chew that he will want to settle down with. 

> Kong maybe or a really good chew that he will want to settle down with.

Will try this tonight, although I'll have to instruct OH to only reward when the fire crackles otherwise we'll run out of treats :)

Lol - I would ignore the fire crackling and just get something like an antler or bully stick etc (less mess than a bone) to keep him occupied on the sofa.  If he wants to get off and go sit in the kitchen that is fine but he has to leave his scrummies behind!

My dogs were still able to catch things like that too, even down to catching dust particles.  An eye specialist told me that as they get older they can't act in a strange way as their eyesight starts to fail.