Wouldn't you know it. Using a spray bottle has long been used an a deterent and correction for cats and dogs. So, that my pup does not like them is no surprize. However, I have to use some sort of flea treatment on him or he would be miserable with itching and scratching (We have been there!) I got the neem oil spray and the first time I used it he tucked his tail and tucked his head and tried to crawl under anything to get away. The neem oil works for fleas when I get it on him and he IS less freaked out the more I use it. Has anyone else dealt with this? Should I just keep making him let me spray him? I give him praise and a treat when we are done and this seems to cheer him up. The tail is less tucked lately but he would still run away if I didn't keep my foot on the leash. Any suggestions? Another funny thing- although he is a golden retriever, we hates being wet.

Maybe do a spray, reward, another spray, reward, etc.. Or back it up further and marker train him with the bottle. Encourage him to smell it, then mark and reward. He'll catch on pretty quickly that this isn't something to be scared of.

On a side note, I stopped using a spray bottle years ago. I just snap now combined with either a growl or a hiss, depending on the creature.

Just be careful that you're rewarding CALM in the face of the spray, vs marking and rewarding spazziness.

You're not trying to overcome the fear of THAT particular spray bottle while still using another for corrections, right?

Kristi,
You're using water spray as a negative correction?
This is at the same time you're using a similar method for application of a topical?
Poor dog, I don't wonder the pup is frightened, you're tying him up with no escape, he has to stand and be punished. He can't understand. It must be absolute torture for him.

First I'd stop with the water bottle as a correction device for the dogs.
Then I'd desert the spray bottle for applying the topical, and find some other way to get it on the dog. Perhaps a soaked cloth and wiped on?

Randy

Let me clarify. I personally do not use spray bottles for corrections. I never really got into that. But when I tried to research fear of spray bottle mostly what i came up with was using the spray bottle for correcrtions. That is when I realized that technically I an using something on my dog that is obviously noxious enough to many animals that it can even be used as a correction.
So, the thing is that i must control the fleas and my dog has pretty sensitive skin and I don't want to use the frontline type flea meds. I am thinking of adding garlic to his diet but I am not sure that is enough. Many of the less toxic treatments are sprays. (I have used diatomaceous earth but it didn't seem to help and dried his skin). I don't really want to bather him too frequently so that limits the use of flea shampoos.
I use Neem oil spray and it seems to do the best as long as I am diligent. Sometimes I use Halo flea and tick stuff mixed with water in a spray bottle but he absolutely hates the smell. The smell shuts him down for sure.
I try to be very matter of fact when I have to spray him. I do not do try to placate him. I do not scold him. I am just firm. I try not reward his fear with petting but I do rub the oil in. I think that maybe I need to do some sort of desensitizing work with him.
I don't use a cloth but I do rub the neem oil on his head area after spraying it on my hand.
Breaking it down, like I said, he hates having wet stuff on his fur. I don't know if it is because he has so much itchiness in his life and the tickliness of wet stuff just reminds him of that or if it is just him. I think that he may have early on associated the sound of the spray bottle with wet fur. He is getting to the point now where he will come up to me and sniff the spray bottle but at the sound of the first spray he starts going into avoidance.
I could pour the Neem oil onto a cloth and wipe him down. That could solve the flea issue and may stop the avoidance (unless the neem oil in general has now become integrated into his fear). It doen't solve the spray bottle fear the importance of which may not be very high as long as I don't use them. I wonder...

He is fairly soft dog (unless in drive). He understands my voice corrections and does a beautiful job of responding. I rarely even have to raise my voice. I have never been a position to think of using a water bottle correction.

 Quote: Kristi Salinas

Let me clarify. I personally do not use spray bottles for corrections. I never really got into that. But when I tried to research fear of spray bottle mostly what i came up with was using the spray bottle for correcrtions. That is when I realized that technically I an using something on my dog that is obviously noxious enough to many animals that it can even be used as a correction.

OHHHH!!! I gotcha'.

I'll leave suggestions on how to deal with this to the more experienced folk, but at least wanted to acknowledge my misunderstanding.

Oops.....Sorry 'bout that.

What is your life style like with this dog? By this I mean, are you always outdoors and in flea infested area, or are you looking to remove the fleas from your home primarily?

I ask because one flea removal program I am administering is Sentinel heart-worm/flea tabs. They do work well over the long haul, and sterilize all adult fleas. All dogs and cats in the home have to be on it (cats on program). But you need to be aware that it will not kill any fleas; it just prevents them from reproducing and will eventually kill off the population. If you do this, You will still have to spray him to repel outdoor fleas, So that does not help you here, but it may make life easier while at home.

The way you are handling it now is the way I would proceed, but I would also try using a paper towel to wipe it on. I would also think about making your own premoistened towelettes. Get a box of baby wipes and let them mostly dry out by opening the top and leaving it open for a couple of days in the sun (get the moisturizing kind ). Then pour a bottle of the spray into the container so that all of the wipes suck up the spray and there is still some left pooled at the bottom. Keep the container closed and pull out a wipe as you need them.

I have found Frontline to be less effective over the years, and Quinn gets a BAD hotspot if bitten, so we have to be very careful with him.

Sorry for jumping the gun on the bottle spray used as a correction device Kristi.
If the dog doesn't have a previous bad association then I've got no ideas inless he just doesn't like the smell of the stuff. After all, dogs aren't born disliking spray bottles.
Are you actually soaking him down? Have you tried a pump bottle as opposed to a tiggered spray bottle? They sound distinctly different.

And related to what Jessica is saying, where in the world are all the fleas coming from?

Randy

Oh, the fleas have probably moved into the house by now. We all (3 kids, 2 adults, 2 dogs, 3 cats) go in and out all the time. They may have originally come from our yard or we could have picked them up on any number of hikes and visits to the parks, etc. My mom definitely has fleas (warm, moist, sandy area) and we visited her a couple of weeks ago. I brush him a lot and find them regularly despite neem. This weekend I will DE the carpets And I hope that will help. I DE'd part of the back yard but we have a half acre. That is no small task. It is frustrating. I haven't been able to get ahead of the little buggers.
As far as the spray bottle, literally the first time I sprayed him he freaked out. Pump or trigger, it doesn't matter. It was strange. He has typical puppy fears about other things (big trashcans on the side of the road, etc.) but he gets over those pretty quickly. He is a pretty happy go lucky kind of guy, just a goofy golden. I have never seem him show this kind of fear, not even with toads, the other thing that consistently freaks him out (But that fear makes some sense. I discourage him responding to his prey drive when toads hop around. I do not want him eating them.)
I am defintely going to switch to wipes for his flea protection and look into the sentinel.