Relief for NYC dog parents with city and noise phobic dogs
Is your dog afraid of thunder or the world outside your home? The big city can be too much for some dogs—all the hustle, bustle, traffic, noise, people, other dogs. It’s a lot to take.
If you’re living with a fearful dog, and all the stress that entails, we’d love to help boost your dog’s confidence and get you out exploring NYC together.
Do you struggle with a dog who…
- Balks at leaving your apartment
- Stalls out on the sidewalk, refusing to move
- Drags you back home at top speed
- Startles at loud noises
- Can’t potty outside
- Is afraid of thunder
Imagine instead a dog who…
- Is excited to head out for adventure
- Walks calmly alongside you
- Is actually bummed to head home
- Ignores all the noise of the big city
- Goes potty outside and is completely house-trained
- Relaxes calmly during storms
No matter how fearful your dog is—even fear that renders your dog housebound—we’re here to help.
We truly understand what you’re going through, and we want to see you and your best friend enjoying the big city together.
Let’s Get Started: 2 Steps to Make Change
Step 1: Your Initial Behavior Assessment Consult
We’d love to bring you relief. If you’re ready, the first step is your initial consult.
Depending on your case and preference, you’ll meet with one of our behavior vets for a Behavior Vet Consult or one of our behavior consultants for a Head Start Appointment. You can come to our office, or we’ll come to your home for maximum convenience. (Not sure which team member you should meet with? Don’t worry; we’ll make sure you’re in the right hands for your needs!)
We’ll take a history, meet your dog, and listen to your behavior training goals. If you meet with a behavior vet, your visit will also include a physical exam, medical diagnosis, and the prescription of diet, supplements, and/or medication if needed. Then we’ll formulate a personalized behavior modification plan and schedule your training. We’ll also begin some foundation exercises, answer your pressing questions, and put a management plan in place for immediate relief.
Step 2: Your Customized Behavior Modification Program
Your personalized training program will be just that: personalized. We’ll create a plan specific to your goals and your busy lifestyle. For more serious cases, much like a psychiatrist supporting talk therapy, a consult with our behavior vets can support the behavior modification process with medications when warranted.
You’ll also have the choice of whether to Take the Leash (we’ll coach you to carry out your behavior modification training) or Hand Over the Leash (your dedicated behavior consultant will train your dog for you).
Ready for relief for you and your dog
The first step is easy: Just reach out to schedule your initial consult. We’re here for you.
Why so scared?
Noise phobia is a common source of suffering for animals and the people who love them. Genetics, early experience, frightening exposures to noises, pain, and other medical problems can contribute to symptoms. Dogs and other species also hear different frequencies than humans, causing panic in response to sounds we can’t even hear.
Noises can be quite frightening even to “normal” animals. The difference between “normal” and those “disordered” with noise phobia is the animal’s ability to recover. Mentally healthy animals recover and return to normal behavior patterns shortly after the noise is over. Animals with noise phobias experience prolonged recoveries (from half an hour to days) after a noise event.
These patients often generalize or “collect triggers.” For example, a dog might start with a fear of thunder, but then become fearful of things indicating a storm might arrive, such as dark skies, rain, or wind. They may respond to noises that aren’t thunder or rain, such as people walking in the apartment above, doors closing, or drawers rattling. They may experience intense physiological symptoms of panic, including panting, restlessness, destruction, vomiting/diarrhea, hiding, and escape behaviors (even jumping out of windows). They may even injure themselves during these events and need veterinary care as a result. (Some of our noise phobia patients come to us only after extended hospital stays due to such injuries.) Many severely phobic dogs refuse to leave their homes and may not even be willing to go to the bathroom outside.
Here’s the good news: Phobias are treatable. For example, research shows that dogs afraid of thunder who are successfully treated during storm season often suffer less the next storm season, even without restarting medications. Whatever panics your dog, we have a variety of treatment options at Behavior Vets to ease your dog’s mind—and yours.