Flossie can be an anxious and sensitive dog. She hears noises I don’t hear and sees things I don’t see. My eyesight and hearing are not my strongest assets though. Sometimes her loud responses are a useful alert, for example, when I fail to hear someone at the door. Most of the time, they are not.
She reacts, sometimes rather alarmingly, to things she sees on the TV. Most animals and, in particular, dogs, send her into a frenzy of noisy activity which does not make for relaxed viewing.
She watches intently, waiting. If the TV dogs are running, particularly out of the screen, she will charge around, barking and crying. There is no realisation that they are not actually in the room with us.
And they need not be real-life animals. They can be in cartoon form or computer-generated. She once became hysterical over a tiny animated camel bobbing across the screen. The computer-generated ‘mop dog’ featured in a car breakdown company advert is a particular trigger.
For some reason best known to herself, horses galloping along the beach are acceptable. She also likes the dog in a cleaning fluid advert, I believe, because he looks like her friend, Dougal.
It can be difficult to manage. Until I had Flossie, I didn’t realise how many dogs feature in programmes and adverts. Crime dramas use the sound of barking dogs to indicate a ‘dodgy’ neighbourhood. Countless car companies use them to sell their products. It’s a minefield.
I’ve recently engaged a dog trainer for various issues and this is one of them. My instructions are to feed Flossie a treat every time she sees a dog or animal on the TV. She will then make a positive association with them and, in time, become more calm.
Hopefully it will help so I can enjoy watching TV in peace again. We’re certainly getting through a lot of treats.
As published in the Bath Chronicle, 24 June 2021
Suzy Pope is a certified copywriter and newspaper columnist specialising in pets, business and lifestyle. If you would like help with a writing project, please get in touch.
