Having said in the last post that my pup is a terrorist.....he is also a scaredy dog. I have a noise C.D of everyday sounds and things like fireworks and storms which I play quite loud and to which he will go to sleep. But if he sees the hoover (not even running), the lawnmower, even a pushchair or a lorry drives past he puts his tail down and runs off to hide. The added noise makes him worse. Workmen down the road I tried to walk him past started a machine and he was petrified.
Any ideas on helping him through this?
Should be interesting now as a thunderstorm is approaching and it is the first one he has been exposed to!

Your puppy should have been habituated to every day household noises while with the breeder :(  Noise CDs are all fine and well for less common sounds such as fireworks, gunshot, thunder etc but TBH as far as other every day noises are concerned you will need to put in a lot of time and effort liberally saturated in patience to get your puppy to overcome phobias with normal sounds.

For outside noises such as traffic find a bench or low wall a safe and considerable distance from a road way and simply while away the time with him - be relaxed and happy go lucky in your own attitude as you don't want to pass anxiety onto him - equally do not molly coddle him if he's spooky.   If he can't handle it from say 15 metres away, go 20m / 30m /50m away - find his personal *comfort zone* and work very gradually from there.

Re vacuum cleaner - don't put it on or leave it lying around in a room he's in.  Enlist the help of a family member to vacuum a room some distance away (upstairs for eg) while you are playing with him/feeding him elsewhere.  Let him become very gradually used to the sight, noise and vibrations from a distance and move slowly on from there.

Re lawnmowers, don't expose him to your own - sit in the garden and play with him and give him treats when distant gardens are being spruced up ;)  Over time he will become less and less disturbed by the noise - but be patient and don't try to force any issues with him.

Re pushchairs et al - if I were you I'd take the puppy to a small village or pedestrian precinct and let him get used to all sorts of weird and wonderful (to him at any rate) sights, sounds and smells.   Again find a place to sit and don't be too close to anything that's likely to really worry him.  Don't encourage strangers to interact with him - let him set the pace for what he can and can't handle.  If he freaks at the sight of someone passing with a push chair, wheel chair, shopping trolley, walking sticks, rucksack - ignore! 

As you already know he's frightened of the workmen and machinery down the road from you I'd avoid it - it is probably too much and too close for him to be able to deal with.   Concentrate on getting him used to *life* - confident and happy in his own home regardless of the appliances being used - and ditto with normal day to day routine sights and sounds which will be a regular part of having a walk :)

It's obviously easier to overcome these issues (or not have them at all) if a puppy has been correctly socialised by his breeder - unfortunately your puppy doesn't seem to have had the benefit of this :(     Given time, patience and lots of intensive work on your part you will get him through this stage.

Good luck, Teri :)

Fabulous answer Teri, full of great advice :)

Now I wonder...if I tell my family one of my dogs is scared of the hoover, show them your post, then get them to hoover all the bedrooms when they come to visit, while I play with the dogs :D :D

LOL - I only wish it had worked that way for me!   When I had my litter I had to do the carpets when everyone else played with the puppies :rolleyes: :(    Funnily enough I don't think they ever did get used to the sight of ironing board :D :D  :D

lol...ironing board??? :D  :D  :D  :D

My boy hates the ironing board too, but only if I or my husband uses it! As we get it out or put it away he runs from wherevever he is in the house barking and growling like a Rottie on acid.
HOWEVER...
When the cleaner gets it out each week not a flicker. Why??????????????
He loves her a lot and she house sits him if we go away...I can't understand it. Any suggestions.

We had a miniature poodle for almost 14 years, and for all that time, she had the same groomer who she loved - she would never, from being a puppy, let us brush her, but he could ! :)

I wish our SP puppy hated the hoover - she tries to kill it every time I use it! :d

Further to the great answer from Teri, another fab place for socialising a puppy is the local supermarket.

I took my RR pup there and sat just outside the main entrance, he got to see cars, bikes (motor and push), buses, the odd delivery lorry, loads of adults, lots of children (happy and otherwise), pushchairs, a few other dogs, etc.  He also got used to the crashing of the trolleys, a Bob the Builder and a Fimbles ride (always useful in every day life!)....!

Of course, he also got lots and lots of positive attention from the people coming and going.

HTH,
Helen

Totally agree Helen about what a good place it is to socialise a puppy :)  We took our litter from around 5 weeks onwards in pairs twice daily to the local supermarkets, garden centres, DIY stores - it was tremendous socialisation for strange sights, sounds and smells plus they got lots of folks up looking for a cuddle and it also got them used to regular short car journies!  

However I'm not sure that for this particular puppy whether such places might be too much - he could be completely overwhelmed by the busy atmosphere and volume of people / traffic etc. and at his age he'd not be in arms but on the end of a lead probably thrashing about in fear  :( :( :(

Clearly you did the best things with your puppy but then doubtless yours was correctly socialised to normal life events before leaving his breeder - unlike this little chap .....

regards, Teri :)

True, it might be a bit of an overload at this point in his 'career'!

Hope he's making some steps to improvement.....

I would not like to blame the breeder as it was their first litter.
I did laugh a bit about the breeders exposing the pups to the hoover as I recollect a couple of breeders we visited whose houses looked like they had never seem a hoover!! And one whose pups were in kennels outside.

We did take our pup out to a local lake where lots of people were out on bikes or had kids with pushchairs.  It was not crowded so he coped really well as he loves his walks and there was lots of other distractions. We did keep him on his long lead. And I have taken him to a walk starting along a road side. He is a bit unsure of white vans but he is getting better. I ignore him then encourage him on after the van has passed.
This morning he walked past the hoover, not in use,  closer than usual as I had left it out at the bottom of the stairs to go up and he wanted to get upstairs with me.

Slowly but surely.

Hey have you been to my house then   I have killed several Hoovers yet there is dog hair aplenty :rolleyes:

Ah!  Who knows??????????:rolleyes:

>Slowly but surely.

Got it in one Lyn ;)  

Any progress is a huge positive and not to be measured against a set back - your pup is on a giant learning curve and he's got a mum that's ready, willing and able to guide him through :) 

i think the important thing is not to make too much of the various (and often quite unpredictably scary) things that young pups take issue with. that's not to say you ignore things that bother them but equally, don't transmit your concern to the pup. at this age there are all sorts of things that they react to differently but a generally laid back attitude and a confident "don't be daft, it's only the ....." is often as effective as a more sophisticated psychological approach.

in the 11 months since he was born, my dog has variously disliked the hoover, the fast spin cycle on the washing machine (this particular dislike lasting all of 24 hours), raindrops suddenly landing in puddles, trains crossing level crossings when he was in the car (they needed to be "seen-off") and his greatest challenge our large mower which he has now seen off with such ferocity that it's afraid to come out of the garage (according to the mowing half of this household) ;)

however, each and every one of these previously spooky items are now treated with casual disinterest so provided you carry on socialising your pup as much as possible and don't worry too much, i'm sure he'll get over his temporary dislikes soon enough too.

We took him to Tescos yesterday and we waited outside whist my partner did the shopping....he irons, and cooks too by the by! Pup was really good. There were all the usual sights and sounds etc and he sat with me right near the entrance and watched it all go by enjoying the occassional fuss from people.
He does seem to get "bothered" by different things that did not affect him before and stops being fussed about things that made him shy away. Chops and changes from day to day.
I try to reassure him without enforcing his negative behaviour a bit like you said roz, by talking to him in a kind but firm voice..."You stupid animal"  ...perhaps putting my hand near him or just touching him but not stopping to cuddle him.