Barking at the tv. Am I doing the right thing?

[amandanahas]

To cut a very long story short - my 2 year old Frenchie x Pug is extremely reactive to the tv, it started with dogs then other animals and now it’s everything on the tv. He will bark at outside sounds but I can quickly divert his attention and stop him. The tv however is proving to be a challenge as he will not respond to me to the point I do not even want to turn it on most of the time.

I have started to do de-sensitisation training with him. Playing certain adverts and sounds slowly and when he’s quiet for x amount of time and focused on me I’ll say “good boy” and give him a treat (he’s not being rewarded for barking then stopping for example). When he is on the sofa or just lazing around I will give him a treat. I’m fully aware this is not going to be an overnight problem I can fix and I am willing to put the time and effort in to help him. I just really would like some feedback in terms of whether I’m doing this the right way, if anyone has any comments etc. I’m autistic and he was barking so much yesterday I burst into tears so it’s proving to be a real strain for me

We are booked in to see our vets soon as he has severe anxiety. He struggles to sleep during the day and you can really tell it’s not a case of he doesn’t want to, he’s constantly alert so I want to enquire about medication options / advice with their behaviouralist because he’s my little dude and this is really making me sad.

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[obadimu]

@amandanahas That sounds about right. Basically play the tv at a volume/stimulus they can handle without reacting and then heavily reward with treats and praise. Theoretically over time you can increase the difficulty (louder volume, something specifically triggering like a dog on tv), but it will take awhile of being successful at the easier level.

 

[amandanahas]

@obadimu Thank you so much. I feel like I’m doing it the right way but it’s becoming so much of a stressor I want to get it right

 

[shilop]

@amandanahas If you want to do it a bit more passively, you could try giving them some stimulating fun activity while TV plays at a low volume. Example: a tightly knotted towel with treats that they can tear and sniff at. Fundamentally you are trying to get their brain to habituate to the stimulus so it stops being trigger-worthy. So anything positive they can do in the presence of the stimulus can lead to the habituation whether it's the more active treat dispensing or just an activity for them.

 

[amandanahas]

@shilop This is an amazing idea! He goes wild for peanut butter lickmats so I’m going to do that. I didn’t even consider it but I think I’m not looking at the simple things thank you! It’s