[Canyx]

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?

 

[AsherLove]

My dogs are very used to loud noises from living in the city and coming to my grooming shop, and aren't what I would call sound sensitive, but they all hate the chirping of smoke/carbon monoxide alarms.

 

[Sydneyrocky]

Maybe the pitch is at a point it hurts his hearing, like a dog whistle might. Guess it's a good way too know something is a miss, he is letting you know.

 

[Canyx]

The 7 month old is not bothered by the chirping, and Sor had no issues with a dog whistle in the past (I used one very briefly).

 

[gingerkid]

Snowball, who is easily startled by loud noises but not what I would call sound sensitive, had the exact same reaction to the smoke detector low-battery chirp. Identical. It was heartbreaking. I think I even posted about it here somewhere because it was hard for me to see. The panicky behaviour continued for several hours after the chirping had stopped.

On the other hand, Ida, who was a puppy at the time and has always been somewhat sound sensitive, was not particularly bothered by the chirp. Not as bothered as she appeared to be by Snowball's panic, at any rate.

 

[ForTheLoveOfDogs]

I think even stable dogs have those one or two things they just don't tolerate well. Kai was never sound sensitive (fear wise anyway) for the longest time. At four she occasionally has suddenly got a tiny bit worried about just a couple sounds but she seems to go through phases almost. Right now it is bubble gum popping.

Ember has ignored loud noises and fireworks her entire life. This past year she was shaking at the sound of fireworks. Who knows what she will do next year.

My past family dogs developed random little fears as they got older. Hearing and sight change. Maybe it is just age?

 

[Lillith]

Oooooh, Ralphie hates that thing, too! Funny story, we have a number of smoke detectors kind of in the same general area because our house is a newer and city code requires a smoke detector in each room except the bathroom. So for FOUR HOURS I went around trying to figure out which detector was chirping, changing batteries, dog screaming, calling husband thinking the whole system had gone awry (wired detectors that are on the same system, so they all suddenly start chirping if you hold down a button long enough and create a horrible noise). The dog finally got so used to the chirping and seemed to figure out where it was coming from when I was standing on a chair messing with it. He huffed, then slowly walked away and went to sleep on his bed. As the stupid alarm kept chirping. I screamed at it as the dog slept. So sad. Finally figured out it was coming from a different part of the house. Ugh.

No doubt he'll yell at it again when another one needs batteries, but I thought it was funny. It's probably just that its a strange noise in THEIR house and they don't know where it's coming from, whereas strange noises outside are normal and typically nothing ever comes of them. Some of those loud noises are pretty commonplace, especially in a city environment, but the chirp only happens a couple times a year.

 

[Canyx]

Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone! Dogs are strange... And even as much as I know, look at me still trying to pigeon hole them into little boxes (ie thinking that not being sound sensitive means having NO issues with sound)

I tried to do some CC/DS yesterday. I played a youtube recording of the sound on low. Interestingly, it still bothered Soro! Not to the extent that it did in real life. But tucked tail, refused tossed treats but would eat treats in front of him. I further reduced the volume to barely audible, and he would go after tossed treats after a while. Tail still low and general posture still a little hesitant, but workable.

 

[Wet Beards]

You know how there are some sounds that drive people nuts, like fingernails
on a chalk board? That sound doesn't bother me but, a knife cutting through
a cardboard box and instant goosebumps. Or two pieces of Styrofoam rubbing
together or the worst one, cutting metal with a saw. Just thinking about the
sounds gave me goosebumps.

Maybe the chirping is the sound that drives Soro nuts?

 

[parus]

My big guy, who is one of the least fearful dogs I've ever seen, also loses his mind at the low battery smoke detector chirp. Shivering and drooling and whatnot.

My other dog hated it too, but now she's mostly deaf and she doesn't care, lol.

 

[crysania]

Dogs can develop fears at any point.

The first two years we had my young dog he was a ROCK with noises. We could go out in storms, fireworks, anything. This year? TERRIFIED of fireworks. Like panicked, won't go outside, huddling in corners.

But even when he was a rock? That chirping terrified him. When we first got him, we crated him in the guest bedroom. One day we went out for 4 or 5 hours and came back and he had somehow managed to bend the metal on the crate, pushed the tray out and crawled out of the crate, chewed up the blinds and other things, and there was drool EVERYWHERE. He was obviously in a total panic. When we let him out we were sure he was just being a naughty dog. And then the carbon monoxide alarm chirped (dying battery) and he had another meltdown.

Weirdly enough my very noise sensitive other dog never was bothered by them. The sound of dishes clattering together? Terrifying. A dying fly buzzing by her ear? THE END TIMES. But the alarm never even seemed to affect her.