Ok, just typing this is making me cringe but a problem has come up and I don't know what, if anything, I should do about it.

True is afraid of the telephone. To be more specific, he's afraid of the handset when someone is holding it to their ear and talking on it.

No, no one beat him with the handset. And no, it was never dropped on his head. This dates back to my daughter wanting to say "Hi" to True over the telephone.

She didn't yell or scream or do anything startling but something freaked him out during the few seconds she spoke to him and ever since then he goes into total avoidance when anyone is on the phone. His recall is excellent...but he will not come when you're on the phone.

I should add that this was not his first experience of hearing a voice over the telephone. Yes, when I've gone out of town I talk to my dog while I'm away That's my "Best in Show" moment.

This is not as big a deal as if he suddenly developed a fear of his crate but the fact he won't listen to me if I'm on the phone bothers me. There have been a few times I've needed him to come next to me and he refuses. And yeah, I admit it bothers me to see him so afraid.

Any suggestions on how I can get him over this?

What about if the phone is just sitting there?

I'd probably work up to it, doing motivational OB near the phone, then with the phone off the cradle but not in my hand, then touching the phone occasionally, etc.

I did this last year with a dog who was very frightened of a motorized wheelchair. We had to start in the room next to the wheelchair room, with the wheelchair in sight but not close, and not turned on. (Bob Scott gave me this advice.)

Then with it turned on but still far away.....

Well, you get the drift.

It worked. Time and patience....

When the phone is sitting on the desk, not in use, he'll freely approach me and the desk. It's only when you have it in your hand that he gets scared.

I've detatched the handset and laid it on the floor and his behavior is really curious. He acts excited/interested/nervous (sort of like his behavior when he catches a gopher in the yard)and will snatch it up. But the minute I touch the handset he tucks tail and backs way off.

I've been trying lots of praise and treats but I guess it needs more time.

Thanks, Connie

Teeny steps.....

Touching the phone with one hand as you give the reward with the other might be a counter-conditioning measure, too.

But desensitizing worked well with the dog last year. When you lay the handset on the floor, you could do OB at a distance where he does not react to the phone, and only gradually move slightly closer.

While working on this, I wouldn't call him while I was on the phone. JMO.

Editing to say that I start at a place where there is no fear reaction.

Good suggestions to try. I like desensitizing. I don't want to make this a battle of wills and I don't want to force him to do something that obviously makes him feel afraid. No one wins like that.

When he was very young he had an irrational fear of fire hydrants (!) and teeny steps got him through that...(sheesh my dog is a nut)

 Quote: Sarah Morris

Good suggestions to try. I like desensitizing.

I have been very fortunate with results of desensitizing. I had to learn (thanks again to Old Earth Dog Bob Scott ) to start where there was no fear at all and to move in tiny increments. And when fear symptoms popped up again, we would simply go back to the last step where they did not.

Marker training would be what I would use for this.

Phone in hand, click, treat....over and over and over until when you pick up the phone the dog comes running.

You may need to experiment to find out what food treats are yummy enough, and you may need to manipulate his hunger (i.e. withhold food for a day or so)

This is no different than a dog that has an aversion to nails being trimmed or is afraid of <insert whatever here>.

Break it down, take your time and turn it into a positive.

I want to try this. So far, I have used almost all desensitizing alone with single-item phobias.

This may be a really stupid question but are these 2 methods so very different?

I've trained everything using markers but there were a few situations where I used desensitizing (but didn't know enough to realize that's what I was doing) but even then I used a verbal marker and treat.