My four month (almost five month) old catahoula, has developed a fear of plastic bags.
I don't know why, but when she hears me rustling a plastic bag she runs from the room with her tail tucked. It take a LOT of coaxing to get her to come back to the room. I can understand a little if I'm shaking a bag to get it to open up as that can make a loud noise.. But if I even pick up a grocery bag to clean out the ferret cage she goes running. I've been trying to desensitize her to the noise by feeding her high value treats with one hand while gently crinkling a plastic bag with another and she looks wary while eating the treats but sticks around, but as soon as the treats are gone so is she.
I don't want her to be afraid of anything, but she only seems to be getting worse about it and I'm worried that this may develop into other fears later on. Should I just keep trying to desensitize her and be patient, or is there something else I should be doing to help her get past this?
I don't know why, but when she hears me rustling a plastic bag she runs from the room with her tail tucked. It take a LOT of coaxing to get her to come back to the room. I can understand a little if I'm shaking a bag to get it to open up as that can make a loud noise.. But if I even pick up a grocery bag to clean out the ferret cage she goes running. I've been trying to desensitize her to the noise by feeding her high value treats with one hand while gently crinkling a plastic bag with another and she looks wary while eating the treats but sticks around, but as soon as the treats are gone so is she.
I don't want her to be afraid of anything, but she only seems to be getting worse about it and I'm worried that this may develop into other fears later on. Should I just keep trying to desensitize her and be patient, or is there something else I should be doing to help her get past this?