Do you leave the lights and/or TV/radio on for your dog?
- Thread starter irotas
- Start date
At our old house where we were right up against the street (no front yard) and shared a wall with another house, I used to leave the radio on (NPR) in an effort to drown out some of the outside noises.
Where we are now we're not on a loud street and we're further back from the road and the dogs spend the day in the basement, so I am now going for a "dark and quiet" environment so they'll just snooze during the days when we're out. When we go out at night I don't leave lights on because I want them to just sack out.
Where we are now we're not on a loud street and we're further back from the road and the dogs spend the day in the basement, so I am now going for a "dark and quiet" environment so they'll just snooze during the days when we're out. When we go out at night I don't leave lights on because I want them to just sack out.
I have in the past, but I don't much anymore...need to save electricity, plus...I don't think the dogs care. They can see well enough in the dark and they have each other.
If a dog has full blown seperation anxiety, many people leave a TV on when they leave. But contrary to what they hope to achieve, it actually becomes a predictor of that scary time alone. They hear the TV and their owners leave. The TV becomes a conditioned thing that "spells" panic.
So, for dogs with S.A, it is best to condition them to extremely short periods of time alone in another room for like 2 seconds. The TV goes on first and off again when the owner is around. This shows the dog that the TV equals tolerable absenses, nothing too awful. When the owner has to leave for real...for a long time, the TV remains off. Gradually the practice sessions of the short absenses get a little longer and longer, always...the TV is tied to comfortable durations of aloneness.
Anyhow....if a dog doesn't have seperation anxiety, I don't suppose it makes much difference. It just might be entertaining for them.
I love the posts where you guys said that it drowns out the noise and saves your neighbors. ROFLOL.
If a dog has full blown seperation anxiety, many people leave a TV on when they leave. But contrary to what they hope to achieve, it actually becomes a predictor of that scary time alone. They hear the TV and their owners leave. The TV becomes a conditioned thing that "spells" panic.
So, for dogs with S.A, it is best to condition them to extremely short periods of time alone in another room for like 2 seconds. The TV goes on first and off again when the owner is around. This shows the dog that the TV equals tolerable absenses, nothing too awful. When the owner has to leave for real...for a long time, the TV remains off. Gradually the practice sessions of the short absenses get a little longer and longer, always...the TV is tied to comfortable durations of aloneness.
Anyhow....if a dog doesn't have seperation anxiety, I don't suppose it makes much difference. It just might be entertaining for them.
I love the posts where you guys said that it drowns out the noise and saves your neighbors. ROFLOL.
I find this very interesting, because we've also noticed that Manni gets much more jumpy when it's really quiet in the house, seemingly because he hears more of what's going on outside. He barks significantly less when there's house noise than when it's silent. I'm glad to know that others do the same thing.
