# Fear of Reflections!



## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

Hi,
My pup is 7 months old and for the past couple of weeks he has been driving me crazy with his fear/distraction with reflections in the windows.
He will see these reflections and start barking or doing his little woofs. I am not sure at all how to handle this. I have tried re-directing his attention to me, and will stop his all out barking with little woofs. Sometimes I get to the point where I will just draw the shades so that he will not see anything, but I don't want this to manifest into something else. I feel that he is becoming fearful and I don't know how to address this. He had been in OB classes since he was 12 weeks old and we haven't been back to training for about a month. I intend to go back and also contact his trainer for mabybe private lessons, but I would love any input on this behavior and how I should be handling it. :help:


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

Have you played any games with laser lights with him?


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## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

No, I know that can be very harmful to a dog. He had been very interested in shadows for a while, but he doesn't seem as fixated as he is with the reflections.
It just seems to be escalating and I really would like to be able to get some sort of handle on it.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

I have only seen a "fear" reaction to mirrors when the pup first realizes the reflection. It's actually been a sort of game for us. I will catch the dog looking in the mirror at me so I will look back at my dog in the mirror. The training facility I go to has mirrors all around, my dogs never were bothered by it. Maybe you could just expose him more to them.


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## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

I have tried using "touch" with him on it, but it only agitates him. I have a big floor length mirror in my bathroom and he doesn't really react to it all the time. I think he understands the mirror, but the refections from the windows are different for him. I do know that sometimes he see's the neighbor in the house in back of us and he will bark. I just sense that he is going through some sort of fear thing and I just don't know where it is coming from. Yesterday morning I took him for his potty and he was fine and then all of a sudden he started barking and there was nothing there (I think?) Is this just a phase or is something else going on with him that I should be looking for?


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## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

Any suggestions...anyone? How can I desensitize him to this behaviour? Any thoughts or suggestions would greatly be appreciated.


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## jakes mom (Feb 29, 2012)

When we had our dog Jake he was five years old and it soon became clear to us that he had OCD from chasing lights, shadows and reflections. 
Unfortunately the previous owners thought was a good idea to exercise him using a laser light. Initially it seemed amusing - soon found out it was anything but. 

We used to have to make sure we closed the curtains at dusk to eliminate the reflections. We often had to close them during the day as well if the sun was shining. 

Walks can be a nightmare in the sunshine as he lunges at the shadows of birds flying overhead and even shadows of flies. 

You are doing the right thing by redirecting him and closing the shades. Also be very careful with watches and belt buckles - they can give of reflections in the sun. It may have been something like that he barked at when you took him to potty. Dogs eyes are so sharp they sees things that we don't. 

This may be worth trying - stand a mirror by your window or glass door - as he seems ok with mirrors. You can then move your arms around or walk so your reflection moves from the mirror to the glass and vice versa. We have found out that if we can get Jake to understand what causes these things he's ok with it. 

The chance are that your pup just doesn't understand what the reflections and shadows are, and it's scaring him. 

Hopefully if you can remove his opportunities to react to them or try and get him to understand what they are, he'll lose interest. 

Make sure he gets enough physical and mental exercise to keep his mind occupied, so he doesn't end up obsessed with things from boredom.

I'd be a bit more concerned if he started to exhibit other strange behaviour, but as long as it's only the relections and shadows, I doubt if it's anything to be concerned about as these are fairly common problems. 
_________
Sue


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## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

Sue,
Thanks for the suggestions. I will work with him in front of the mirror and then try moving him to the windows and try waving my arms to get him to understand where the reflections are coming from. He is completely fine with shadows during the day (except when they come from the door opening...we're working on that!)
He is not over the top on this, but I just didn't know if it was a fear thing going on and I wanted to nip it in the bud before anything else crops up! 
Thanks for your help!


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