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Sisko doesn't even pay them any mind. I don't know if it was because we celebrated and played when we heard them when he was little Baby Ko or what. Wish me luck! My mom's BF is here. I ran a bit with Sisko and asked my older brother to help me play with Sisko outside with his flirt pole.
 
Discussion starter · #164 ·
Hey! Checking on y'all. How are you guys and Peggy with the fireworks going off?
She was doing great, sleeping through the random pops. But then she must have woken up and sleepily saw the TV reflected in the dark living room window (her nemesis) along with a series of distant bangs, and she briefly lost it. Just really intense barking.

But I grabbed some treats and she was immediately like, "Oh okay. Let's do that instead." And it's been silent outside ever since, thankfully! She's sleeping in her crate now.

Thanks for checking in. :)
 
She was doing great, sleeping through the random pops. But then she must have woken up and sleepily saw the TV reflected in the dark living room window (her nemesis) along with a series of distant bangs, and she briefly lost it. Just really intense barking.

But I grabbed some treats and she was immediately like, "Oh okay. Let's do that instead." And it's been silent outside ever since, thankfully! She's sleeping in her crate now.

Thanks for checking in. :)
Awesome! That's her nemesis 😨?

😎 I'm so happy to hear this 😁

You're welcome :)

How are y'all today?
 
She was doing great, sleeping through the random pops. But then she must have woken up and sleepily saw the TV reflected in the dark living room window (her nemesis) along with a series of distant bangs, and she briefly lost it. Just really intense barking.

But I grabbed some treats and she was immediately like, "Oh okay. Let's do that instead." And it's been silent outside ever since, thankfully! She's sleeping in her crate now.

Thanks for checking in. :)
Thank you, Peggy! I feel so much better about my own spoo, lol.

Annie's nemesis is (when bored) her reflection in the TV, in the dishwasher, or, horror of horror, reflected lights on the side porch windows from passing cars. She goes nuts about them every once in a while.We have to keep curtains over all dog-visible windows because of her. I can't even have a floor length mirror; I have to keep it turned towards the wall, as she will stand in front of it and bark.

So glad to hear she (mostly) tolerated the stupid fireworks.
 
Discussion starter · #168 ·
Awesome! That's her nemesis 😨?

😎 I'm so happy to hear this 😁

You're welcome :)

How are y'all today?
Yep! Dark windows with reflections in them—especially moving reflections. Freaks her right out. She gets so weird after, almost like she's in a trance, and starts spooking at everything. It's usually when she's overtired.

We witnessed it for the first time on the long car ride home from the breeder. After about 4 hours, it got dark. We were on the highway, so there were tons of fast-moving, bright reflections. I think she got overwhelmed.

Today she's doing fine. She's sitting in the backyard right now, watching the new neighbour do some landscaping. There are lots of random firecrackers in the distance and she doesn't care at all. I think she's just hoping the neighbour will play with her. (He said hi to her one time and now she thinks they're best friends.)
 
Discussion starter · #170 ·
Thank you, Peggy! I feel so much better about my own spoo, lol.

Annie's nemesis is (when bored) her reflection in the TV, in the dishwasher, or, horror of horror, reflected lights on the side porch windows from passing cars. She goes nuts about them every once in a while.We have to keep curtains over all dog-visible windows because of her. I can't even have a floor length mirror; I have to keep it turned towards the wall, as she will stand in front of it and bark.

So glad to hear she (mostly) tolerated the stupid fireworks.
Good. :) Annie is definitely not alone in this.

You'd think the novelty of reflections would wear off! But I've had no luck desensitizing Peggy. Luckily they don't always spook her. Unless it's dark out and she's overtired, she mostly just tries to get them to play with her.

Having a floor length mirror actually helped a bit, I think because the reflection is so clear and accessible to her. I'll find her in the master bedroom alone sometimes, laying on the bed just gazing into it and occasionally muttering to herself. I break the spell by waving at her in the mirror and saying "HI PEGGY!"
 
You know it's weird... they use the mirror test when studying animal cognition to see if animals realize they're seeing themselves in a mirror. But it only works with animals that have brains that work in a specific way. If animals totally don't get mirrors, I would think they should react as if they're seeing another of their kind. When they don't, doesn't it mean they grasp some of what the mirror means? I had a monitor lizard that would flip his sh** if he saw another lizard of his kind. But when presented with a mirror he would look at it oddly for a little and then go back to what he was doing. Misha also looks at the mirror briefly but mostly ignores it. He's never acted as if it's another dog. I suspect some animals act somewhere in between, where they can tell it's not a really another dog but also are disturbed by the uncanny aspect of it.
 
Discussion starter · #173 ·
You know it's weird... they use the mirror test when studying animal cognition to see if animals realize they're seeing themselves in a mirror. But it only works with animals that have brains that work in a specific way. If animals totally don't get mirrors, I would think they should react as if they're seeing another of their kind. When they don't, doesn't it mean they grasp some of what the mirror means? I had a monitor lizard that would flip his sh** if he saw another lizard of his kind. But when presented with a mirror he would look at it oddly for a little and then go back to what he was doing. Misha also looks at the mirror briefly but mostly ignores it. He's never acted as if it's another dog. I suspect some animals act somewhere in between, where they can tell it's not a really another dog but also are disturbed by the uncanny aspect of it.
I fostered an absolutely genius young GSD mix and she freaked out when she first saw herself in a full-length mirror. But all I did was tap it once, she paused....and then never acknowledged it again. It might as well have been a blank wall.

Abstract reflections freak Peggy out, but interacting with her own reflection seems to be more of a game. This is probably a stretch, but it almost seems like she has an imagination sometimes—the way she makes up ways to entertain herself. She'll bring toys to her reflection in the sliding glass door outside, dropping them one after another, hopping up and down, and making playful little sounds. But I've seen her play with other dogs plenty of times, and she would NEVER offer them a treasure like that, or even encourage them to chase her with one.

So I guess that's the "in between" you describe.

It's all so interesting.
 
Annie is funny like that too.... she first saw her mirror when I took her home as a puppy - she was from a litter of all black poodles and she was CONVINCED that a littermate. I turned the mirror around, because she was getting upset by the puppy in the mirror. I figured she would figure it out later.

Now- she still plays with the puppy in the mirror if she is bored. She barks, play growls, bows, paws herself, etc. I cant tell if she knows it is her or not. I can't tell if she passes the mirror test or not. I do think she is by far the most visual dog I have ever had. Other dogs would sniff, no sniff =not real. Annie is fascinated.
 
Discussion starter · #176 ·
Peggy's living the life! I hope she was undisturbed by the celebrations last night.
She did really well! Was hoping I'd luck out and she'd ignore them entirely like Gracie did, but that might have been asking too much. Aside from the occasional bark, she was content to chew and snooze as long as we kept her in a room with covered windows. The flashes of light were much more concerning to her.
 
Discussion starter · #177 ·
Annie is funny like that too.... she first saw her mirror when I took her home as a puppy - she was from a litter of all black poodles and she was CONVINCED that a littermate. I turned the mirror around, because she was getting upset by the puppy in the mirror. I figured she would figure it out later.

Now- she still plays with the puppy in the mirror if she is bored. She barks, play growls, bows, paws herself, etc. I cant tell if she knows it is her or not. I can't tell if she passes the mirror test or not. I do think she is by far the most visual dog I have ever had. Other dogs would sniff, no sniff =not real. Annie is fascinated.
So! Cute!

The play bows get me every time.
 
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