I have a female GSD that gets spooked with reflected light. Any ideas on how to desensitize her? She also gets funny about a flashlight beam but not lazer light. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Dale,
This may sound dumb, but is the dog reacting to it's own shadow? Some dogs get freaked out by that.

Dale, We are currently about to wash out a patrol dog because it cant seem to get over a slick floor issue. We believe it is probably the light reflecting as the dog goes into avoidance as soon as a shiny floor is approached. After being inside for a while the dog relaxes a little but forget about doing any kind of work whatsoever. Everything else this dog does is good, as long as it is outside or on carpet. Ed believes it is a nerve issue. I tend to agree. Its a shame to get rid of this dog but we have tried everything and he has not improved one iota in 6 months. Being as we do a lot of building searches, this problem is unacceptable due to officer safety concerns..Good luck.....Howard

Thanks for the info. Last night I tried giving her a treat on a piece of aluminum foil. She was ok with it after the third time. She also is very good at tracking on hard surfaces and she is ok with reflections outside. I'll keep trying things. She's almost 2yrs old. She is an owner surrender and I think the little girl of the previous owner played mean tricks on her.
Thanks again.

Dale, Your best bet is to socialize her in as many low stress situations as possible. Sounds like you may have damaged goods. Some dogs NEVER get over abuse no matter how hard you try. Had a dachsund for 13 years from one year old. Abused by former owner and was always skittish.

Howard,
Is the dog your training that has a thing with wet surfaces a German Shep.? If he does not make it let me know. I'm the training director for Brightstar German Shepherd Rescue and could find a great home for him.

Our pup had a lot of problems when we brought him home as our home is tiled with shiny, dark tile. With all the windows it reflects like a mirror at various points. Tyr would intially crouch and try and crawl across it. We noticed we had to drag him across the vet floor at 5 mos old (it was white, shiny tile).

Two things occur here. One, the reflection creates something dimensionally that the dog does not understand. Secondly, tile can be slick on wet or dry feet. Tyr took many a tumble.

In order to cure the problem we set up his puppy pen in the middle of the shiny floor. He initially was a bit spooked, but with chew bones, toys, etc. he learned to wander around in his 8 x 10 space very well. He very rarely reacts to shiny surfaces at all now.

Try to let the pup get to know the floor and keep him/her playing on it and having fun. We tell Tyr ,"easy" when we approach slippery surfaces. At nearly 11 mos. he has learned that this commands means he needs to watch his footing. I've not seen him have problems with tile floors any longer.

Dogs take a long time to erase from memory whatever causes them to be spooky about something. Just keep at it and don't reprimand him or act like he should be afraid. Put a beef bone in the center of a slick floor and go about your business. Keep walking by the bone every now and them and telling the dog to go get it.

Who knows, it may work. Then again, with shepherds, it may not.

Good luck.

Dale,
Yes, its a GSD imported from the Czech republic. Its problem is not with wet floors, just shiny, waxed or tile. Found out tonight in training that it looks like the Highway Patrol is going to buy him. They do zero building searches with their dogs.

Sometimes when introducing them to shiny tile floors it helps to put "Tacky" or "Sortqwik" on their pads. Gives the pads a little more grip than normal on slick surfaces.

It's a thick gel in a flat plastic case that secretaries and sorters use on fingertips to handle paper. You can get it at Staples or other office supply places. There is a brand for dogs that I remember seeing in obedience supply catalogs, but the other stuff is easy to get and works fine.

I found I could quit using it pretty fast once they got over the initial fear.

Stephan,
We tried that, and the booties sold by Ray Allen. No go.