Fear of Cellphones

“Please…Make It Stop!”

I have an observation I’d like to share and ask if anyone has had a similar experience.  I have an 11 year old Akita who is very confident with stable behaviors and has never been afraid of anything, until now.

My dog is afraid of my cellphone.  I’m not sure exactly when this began but I believe she has been sensitized over time and now she is at the point where she frantically runs for the door when I get a text.  It’s not so much the ring of an incoming call, but the text and voicemail notifications which seem to cause her distress.  It’s the “brrrr-ing!” or the honks or bells that we use for alerts, reminders, etc.

At first I thought that she may have experienced something at the same time the tone went off setting up a negative association.  But I not longer believe that. I have changed the tones many times and her behavior is the same.  Could there be a frequency accompanying the notifications that causes some dogs discomfort?  Something they can hear…or feel?   At first I believed this to be the case, but if she even hears a text or voicemail tone on T.V. she freaks out and heads for the door.

BTW, in trying to research this online, I came across a number of videos that people made of their dogs exhibiting fear of cellphones.  FYI… not funny.  Why would anyone find watching a dog in distress to be entertaining?

As for my husband and me, while we are at home we have turned the sound off on our cells and keep our phones in our pockets on vibrate until we can figure this out.  We don’t want the situation to escalate.

Oh, and did I mention my second dog has now started displaying similar behavior for the first time?  What the heck is going on!

Tags: cellphones, fear, scared, sounds

Category: All Posts, Behavior