You'd think after a decade I would know everything about Soro...
But I just discovered that he is very afraid of a smoke detector chirp. Not the full on blare if there is real smoke, but the tiny chirp that tells you the device is low on battery. It's so quiet that I didn't even hear it over the sink for the first few minutes I came home and started doing dishes. So I had no idea why Soro was such a mess until I noticed the sound.
Sor grew up in the NYC area, and he has never had any sensitivities to sounds. Blaring ambulances and motorcycles going by, no issues. We've camped and hiked in severe thunderstorms, like feel-the-ground-shake thunder. No issues. He's been to 4th of July parties where fireworks were being set off all around him. No issues. The only time I've seen him recoil at a sound was once, during a race, someone fired off a shotgun to signal the start and this was within 30 ft of us. Sor startled but immediately recovered as we started running.
Actually, the only other time I saw him afraid of sound was last year, the CO detector was low on battery and was chirping. This was a much louder, piercing chirp and it clearly bothered him. It was not associated with anything negative though, and it still boggles me that the sound would phase him at all when so many other sounds have no effect. Still, maybe he was sensitized to it for some odd reason.
I would not describe him as a fearful dog, AT ALL, in general. So to me it is pretty extreme to see him stress panting and full-body shaking, tucked tail, clinging to me, refusing food (WOW!), hunch bodied, or trying to exit the house.... at a tiny smoke detector chirp.
Any thoughts? Old age?
But I just discovered that he is very afraid of a smoke detector chirp. Not the full on blare if there is real smoke, but the tiny chirp that tells you the device is low on battery. It's so quiet that I didn't even hear it over the sink for the first few minutes I came home and started doing dishes. So I had no idea why Soro was such a mess until I noticed the sound.
Sor grew up in the NYC area, and he has never had any sensitivities to sounds. Blaring ambulances and motorcycles going by, no issues. We've camped and hiked in severe thunderstorms, like feel-the-ground-shake thunder. No issues. He's been to 4th of July parties where fireworks were being set off all around him. No issues. The only time I've seen him recoil at a sound was once, during a race, someone fired off a shotgun to signal the start and this was within 30 ft of us. Sor startled but immediately recovered as we started running.
Actually, the only other time I saw him afraid of sound was last year, the CO detector was low on battery and was chirping. This was a much louder, piercing chirp and it clearly bothered him. It was not associated with anything negative though, and it still boggles me that the sound would phase him at all when so many other sounds have no effect. Still, maybe he was sensitized to it for some odd reason.
I would not describe him as a fearful dog, AT ALL, in general. So to me it is pretty extreme to see him stress panting and full-body shaking, tucked tail, clinging to me, refusing food (WOW!), hunch bodied, or trying to exit the house.... at a tiny smoke detector chirp.
Any thoughts? Old age?