My Dog That Has A Weird Phobia

Maria Bayote

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Can anyone explain to me why one of my dogs, a toy poodle who we named Moomoo, is afraid of my 12-year old daughter when she is dressed to go out. Whenever he sees my daughter like this, he would hide and shake - really scared.

Whereas, if my daughter is dressed on her school uniform or on her house clothes Moomoo is not at anyway affected.

We cannot pinpoint what is causing all these.

Impt note: Moomoo, along with my other 2 dogs, are very close to my children.
 

Willowy

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Dogs are weird and superstitious. Maybe one time when your daughter was dressed to go out, there was a loud clap of thunder or the dog got a static shock or some other unpleasant thing happened, and the dog associated her clothing with that unpleasant experience.

Of course they don't make the associations we WANT them to make that easily, lol!

I'm not really sure what to do about it. Some say to ignore the dog and some say to try to create a more positive association in the dog's mind. It depends on the dog's personality.
 

neely

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Since you said he is attached to your children and dogs are very observant he most likely makes the connection when she is dressed to go out that she's leaving the house. Our dog always made the association and picked up on my departure whether it was putting on my coat, picking up my purse, rushing around to get ready, etc. I've heard you should ignore it and not make eye contact but everyone's reaction is different. The other option would be for you daughter to give the dog a treat and then leave so he associates it with something positive. It's up to your discretion since you know Moomoo best. :bluepaw:
 

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Is your dog a rescue? When I brought my dog home he was absolutely terrified of certain outfits, so I assume the people wore something similar when they beat him. It took time but I made positive associations with all my clothes. For the more stubborn items of clothing I just tossed them in a laundry pile on the floor (he always naps in the piles when I'm sorting laundry) and when he'd get up he noticed he was touching the scary item yet nothing bad happened.
 

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What does your daughter wear when she goes out that she doesn't wear to school or at home? Is there a certain type of shoe she only wears on those occasions?
Lip gloss, earrings, perfume? Contacts instead of glasses?
 
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Maria Bayote

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Since you said he is attached to your children and dogs are very observant he most likely makes the connection when she is dressed to go out that she's leaving the house. Our dog always made the association and picked up on my departure whether it was putting on my coat, picking up my purse, rushing around to get ready, etc. I've heard you should ignore it and not make eye contact but everyone's reaction is different. The other option would be for you daughter to give the dog a treat and then leave so he associates it with something positive. It's up to your discretion since you know Moomoo best. :bluepaw:
I initially thought it was some sort of a separation anxiety but no. Moomoo is scared, as in shaking scared and does not want to get anywhere near my daughter. I also thought that it maybe is the type of clothes she wears or shoes etc, but my daughter has assorted clothes in different colors as well as shoes.

Things are different when my son prepares to leave. All the 3 dogs howl and cry as if its the end of the world. That to me is separation anxiety. But for moomoo to be scared of my daughter for unknown reasons is really a mystery to us.
 
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Maria Bayote

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What does your daughter wear when she goes out that she doesn't wear to school or at home? Is there a certain type of shoe she only wears on those occasions?
Lip gloss, earrings, perfume? Contacts instead of glasses?
My daughter wears two types of uniforms for school, which moomoo is not affected of. Also when she is at home and in her pyjamas or house clothes nothing seem to bother the dog. But wait when my daughter dresses up to go for the mall, church etc then moomoo will run and hide and would shake violently - as in REALLY SCARED. My daughter also does not wear the same color of shoes or same color of clothes when she goes out, no perfume, no lip gloss.

On the other hand, when my son prepares to leave the house moomoo and the other 2 dogs howl and cry like crazy - as if they would be abandoned forever.

This phobia of one of our much loved dogs is really a mystery to us. We want him not to feel this way as this is not amusing for us and we worry a lot of him. I told my son to discuss this with the vet and hope he has some answers. For now, when my daughter prepares to go out, I instructed them to keep moomoo in a bedroom where he can't see my daughter.
 
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Maria Bayote

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Is your dog a rescue? When I brought my dog home he was absolutely terrified of certain outfits, so I assume the people wore something similar when they beat him. It took time but I made positive associations with all my clothes. For the more stubborn items of clothing I just tossed them in a laundry pile on the floor (he always naps in the piles when I'm sorting laundry) and when he'd get up he noticed he was touching the scary item yet nothing bad happened.
Moomoo is not a rescue but was given by a friend when her dog accidentally got pregnant before they could spay her. He was given to us at around 4 months of age. My daughter does not wear a specific clothes or shoes, as we also tried to experiment if moomoo is just afraid of a certain color or type of clothing or shoes. I have not heard of any dogs who have this certain type of phobia before and we want to help him. He really gets too terrified and we worry about him.
 
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Maria Bayote

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Dogs are weird and superstitious. Maybe one time when your daughter was dressed to go out, there was a loud clap of thunder or the dog got a static shock or some other unpleasant thing happened, and the dog associated her clothing with that unpleasant experience.

Of course they don't make the associations we WANT them to make that easily, lol!

I'm not really sure what to do about it. Some say to ignore the dog and some say to try to create a more positive association in the dog's mind. It depends on the dog's personality.
It really is a mystery to us. We have done all sorts of things just to determine his fears - like switching types and colors of clothes and shoes. But he seems to be afraid of them all. Surprisingly he is not terrified when my daughter wears her school uniforms. He is like this only with my daughter.

On the other hand, when he sees my son preparing to go out, he will howl and cry and block my son's exit point, along with my other two dogs. Exact opposite.

Let me add also that moomoo is a type of dog that is very playful and happy most of the time - until my daughter dresses to go out.
 
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