Help solve a mystery? My dog is freaking out

[Dixie_Chic]

Hi all. A couple of days ago the smoke detector battery ran out. I was home and changed the battery but of course my terrier reacted to the beeping. Battery changed, no more beeps, all was well. Two days later, she started reacting again as if to the same noise. I couldn’t hear a thing but I checked both smoke detectors and neither was beeping. I thought a couple of times I could hear what sounded like a fax machine or an old time modem. I have neither. A few hours later she was fine again.

Yesterday she was fine, this afternoon she reacted again. I had a neighbour come over and she couldn’t hear anything. I took her out of the house for a walk to calm her down. She didn’t want to come back into the house. As of now (about an hour after it started) she’s calmer but still shivering a bit. Not panting and shaking as she was.

My printer is off, my smoke detectors are fine, I have this laptop open now but it’s been off all afternoon. Nothing else electronic in the house. No new people have been here and she’s not reacting to anything emotional from me. We’ve been here 3 years and this is new behaviour. I live on a quiet street in a small village, no construction or any new noises in the area.

She can be reactive to thunder or similar sounds but it’s a clear day and not much is going on. She’s fine outside and as mentioned above, does not want to come in the house.

I’m at a loss, does anyone have any ideas? Thanks for any help, this is rather distressing for both of us.

[libgrrl]

Did the dog ever hear the detector go off? I used to live in a college apartment in grad school where the smoke detector was set right outside the kitchen, and I used to set it off on the regular if my meal began to smoke. My poor GSD used to scratch at the front door frantically when I fried burgers – poor guy! That’s a trick – teaching a chowhound of a dog to be afraid of fried foods!!

[George_T_Mule]

Hi Dixie

Dogs can hear audio frequencies well above the human range; perhaps that is the problem?
Try disabling the smoke/CO/whatever battery operated alarms, or at least take them down and get them out of the house. Close them up in your car or something.
It that doesn’t work, try shutting down all of the power in the house and see if that fixes it. Possibly a dishwasher or something making the noise?
Start with the main circuit breaker, and if that does fix it, try powering the house back up one circuit at a time at the panel until you find which one is causing the issue, and then systematically disconnect things plugged into that circuit until you find the culprit.
'Bout all I can offer. Good Luck!

[OverandOnward]

I would call the most experienced pro dog trainer in your area and just ask them, as a favor to a dog, if they have ever had experience with something like this.

Approach the question as just a question, not a request for services. Most pro trainers I’ve known would be more than happy to share, if they know something about it. Information is good!

Sometimes something that is strange to us is only strange because it is so rare, so we aren’t likely to have known about it before. Someone who has the most volume of different experiences in the field is likely to know something about it. That can be a good resource.

I wonder if it is really the smoke alarm battery signal, or if that is coincidence? It might have nothing to do with low battery signal. Maybe a different trigger that happened to occur for the first time shortly after that experience.

[George_T_Mule]

I can say for sure that our dogs have an absolute fit when one of the smoke detectors goes off. (Usually from my cooking; we won’t go there . . . :-D)
Thunder or fireworks cause the older dog anxiety; not so much the younger one. And the older one also reacts to the timer on the oven, and the “haptic” alarm on my watch, but then she has always been a bit neurotic.
Also, K9s, quickly develop associations, and one or two freaky indoor experiences could well set up an aversion to going inside.
Mmmm; Equines exhibit this sort of behavior as well, just FWIW, maybe even more-so than dogs. And they can be a real bear to work thru, too.

[Larksmom]

probably off the wall, but do you remember the story of the cat who stared at a spot on the wall for weeks. It was investigated, and there was a problem in the basement that could have been very bad but it was found by the cat!

[Dixie_Chic]

Thanks everyone. She’s been for a walk and a drive in the CAR!!! and although she was reluctant to come back in the house she did and she seems fine. Yes, she was in the house when the smoke detector went off and she lost her mind. I will disable the smoke detectors as suggested but I might wait until/if she has another episode. They will beep when I take them down so I’ll put it off until necessary. I stopped in to the local pet store to brainstorm and it was suggested that her ears were still “ringing” from the other day. I know they hear frequencies that we don’t but honestly I can’t figure out the source. Rural properties are very close by and she has reacted to gunshot noise in the past. Maybe she heard one that I didn’t. No dishwasher here and no new appliances that might be making new noises. Aargh, poor little thing.

I appreciate the responses and I will try the power down if she does have another episode.

[GraceLikeRain]

Could she be so smart that the single incident for her was tied to “afternoon scary happens” and when her internal clock gets near that time she’s anticipating?

Mine hate hate hates the smoke detector. I once bumped are carbon monoxide and it fired off the same smoke detector sound but like 50 beeps in 20 seconds. It was awful. He went flying and for a few days if I walked near that area he would bolt across the house.

My instinct would be to make life as normal as possible and if you have an incident to a casual calm redirect. If it doesn’t resolve in a few more days I’d be more inclined to suspect he’s hearing something you can’t.