Berner Dog Dislikes Clapping Behaviour

Hi!
I have a 1 1/2 year old female Berner who shivers with the audience clapping on tv with the football games and the Boston Marathon. This has happend with the Papal Events on TV but also with the Episcopal Church Bishop Seatings where they acclaim and congratulate the bishops and clap. Whenever she hears clapping, she will shake and whimper. She always frowns. Does your Berner dislike clapping? Can you give me any tip? Please help!

First, I would get her checked by a vet. Make sure there is nothing going on with her ears making her sensitive to sounds.

If that checks out, then it would help to have answers to some questions:

How old was she when you got her?

Does she respond similarly to any other sounds or actions?

Does she respond to clapping in person or only on tv?

Is it only crowd applause or does she do it if an individual claps?

Is your household generally vocal towards the tv during games, etc?

Answers to those can help us fine tune why she may have an issues.

But in general, I would start by minimizing the sounds and giving her a positive connection to them. When the next game is on, lower the tv volume till you can just barely hear the applause. Then, whenever there is applause, tell her she is a good girl and give her a treat. Do this throughout the entire game.

The next game, increase the volume by one level and do the same thing. If she doesn't react poorly, increase the volume for the next game. Repeat until the volume is at your normal volume. If at any time, she reacts poorly to the applause, drop the tv volume back down to the prior volume immediately, then try raising it to the next level for the following game.

By dropping the level so low, you give her a better chance to ignore it while getting that positive interaction.

If your household is normally vocal during these events, she may be reacting to the applause because it is usually followed by shouting, etc. In that case, this will be more difficult. Some dogs are very sensitive to people shouting. My own Moose-dog would leave the house if I shouted. If this is her reason, then you have to decide if your household can and is willing to change how they watch the games, etc. It can be near impossible to desensitize a dog to an exuberant household that shouts. Most techniques use aversive methods to shut down the dog's emotional responses and that is not healthy for the dog and potentially dangerous. In this case, her response is telling you that she is upset. If you force her to stop responding, then you no longer get that advance notice that she is upset. Which means nothing is done to calm her down. And that can result in her getting more and more upset to the point she bites someone.

If this is her situation, you may want to give her quite time in another room or have a non-game watching family member or hire a dog walker to take her out for the duration of the games. Basically, you help her avoid the situation rather than shutting her down emotionally.

Also, many people will tell you to never cuddle or comfort a dog in these situations. They believe that you will just reinforce unwanted behavior. This is wrong. What she is doing is reacting to fear. That is not a behavior that is simply being afraid. And when you are afraid, being comforted by someone you trust and love can be of immense help. So go ahead and let her sit with you and cuddle with her during these times if she wants you too. Not every dog wants that cuddling so follow her lead and just give her what she wants in the way of comfort. It may be just petting, it may be getting as close to you as possible.

She was a puppy. She always reacts to some political events with clapping frequently.

She dislikes the whistling.

Does she react if you clap or whistle?

Does your household shout back at the tv during these events? Or do you all sit quietly and just watch?

She reacts when they clap and whistle

Yes, we get that.

We are trying to help you, but need you to answer the other questions so we can try to figure out what is going on.

First, have you taken her to see a vet? If so, what did the vet say? If not, make an appointment to get her checked out.

Then answer us these questions:

1. Does she respond similarly to any other sounds or actions?

2. Does she respond to clapping in person or only on tv?

3. Is it only crowd applause or does she do it if an individual claps?

4. Is your household generally vocal towards the tv during games, etc?

It is congregational clapping. She’s not vocal. She also shivers with the fire drill.

Alright, so she is fearful of other sounds too.

How about answering the other questions above?