Frstrating object fear

First off, is this the old doggie door forums? I used to love them and then found out a while back that the site was no longer operating. If this is the same forums I am so thrilled to have them back?

Now to my problem. This one has been really frustrating me ever since we adopted our now-4-year old Rhodesian Ridgeback/Lab mix, Ginger, and I just don't know what to do about it. Ginger came to us with many, many fears and major anxiety issues. Through advice I received on the doggiedoor forums I learned about NILIF and about the mistakes we were making in giving attention when she was displaying the fearful behavior. I would say that, over the past 2 years we've had her, about 85% of the fears have gone away. The one that just doesn't seem to stop is her fear of her stainless steel food and water bowls. The fear was so difficult for us to help cure her of, we ended up switching her to plastic bowls, but she developed an allergy to those which caused her jowls to become all hard and crusty, so the vet advised us to switch her back to stainless steel. Right after the switch, things seemed to go ok, but then one day I accidentally dropped one of the bowls on the floor and it crashed and banged all over the place. So Ginger ran out of the kitchen in fear and now so did our newest addition, Roscoe (an 18-month old good natured Pit Bull boy who was never afraid of anything) is now starting to act a little aprehensive about going near the bowls. Ultimately I would love to help Ginger get over the fear completely, so if anyone has any advice on how I might try to do that, please let me know. If we just can't lick this one, then any advice on another type of bowl that will not cause her allergies but also not make her afraid is also appreciated. By the way, the type of bowls we have are the kind that sit in the plastic-covered wire holder to keep them stable.

Thanks,
Michelle
Orlando, FL

Hi Michelle, nope this isn't the old Doggy Door Forums. :)

Have you tried clicker training? I'm not sure if you know what it is so I'll give you a run-down. Basically a clicker lets the dog think for itself. You can get a clicker at any pet store or pet supply store. Every time the dog does the correct behaviour, you click, and then reward with a treat right after. ALWAYS reward. Before training her, click and treat several times so that she knows what the click means. With the bowls, you can start by clicking every time she looks near the bowls. Don't let her know what you want -- just stand and wait. Every time she looks even remotely near them, click. Once she's done that a few times, don't click until she starts to walk toward them. Eventually you will have her touching the bowls and eating out of them.

If it's too much of a hassle, you can always switch to ceramic. :)

I have never heard of the "doggie door" site you mentioned, but have a
suggestion on dog dishes. Have you tried ceramic bowls? There should be
no allergic reaction from those kind. Good luck with the pooch.

OOOPs, just saw the other post. :)

What I would do is leave bowls around all the time. Leave them on the floor, in the toy box, as many as you have, leave them lying about.

Help her find delicious goodies in these bowls from time to time. Special things, like good cheese, cooked chicken or steak, etc.

Over time she should come around. If not, ceramic might be a good option.

:D

Thanks so much! I hadn't even thought about ceramic bowls so if the clicker or other suggestions don't do the trick, at least I have an option. I'm thinking, too, that ceramic bowls will have some weight to them, which will make it much more difficult for them to bounce around and make the same loud, scary noises that the stainless bowls do.

I had read a little about clicker training some time ago, but for some reason just never picked it up. But I'm definitely willing to give it a try. I also like the idea of leaving the bowls all around the house with good treats in them. Only thing is, I'm sure my other dog, Roscoe, would find them as well (and he doesn't need the extra reward--he does fine eating out of the stainless bowls) so I'd have to figure out a way to do it where Ginger would be able to get the benefit of the reward. Sounds like that idea would also start to desensitise her to the bowls since they are located all around the house.

I'll give these a try and keep posting...

Thanks,
Michelle