Dog goes nuts when there is a power cut.

kenon

As the thread title says, our dog goes bonkers when there is a power cut. Shes a 7 year old terrier and whatever it is about a power cut, it sets her off.

What exactly does she do? Well, she starts legging it around the house, jumping up on you, barking at nothing, whimpering, more running, starts dragging mats around the house, flips her bed, moves her bed, jumps up on the beds, hides under stuff, more running, more barking etc etc.

I threw a quick search into this forum and google looking for people who have pets that do this but found nothing, so my question is...Is there anyone who has a pet that goes loopy when there is a power cut? Do you know exactly why they go nuts? Did you find a way to stop them from reacting like this?

peasant

What do you (and the other members of your family) do when there is a power cut?

If there is general mayhem, lots of shouting and panicking going on...that would explain it.

spurious

Do you have an alarm that may be emitting a high pitched signal while on battery power?

kenon

peasant wrote: »

What do you (and the other members of your family) do when there is a power cut?

If there is general mayhem, lots of shouting and panicking going on...that would explain it.

Haha, no, we're just trying to keep out of the way of the dog as she lap's the house, ransacks the jax and all the other stuff I mentioned.

spurious wrote: »

Do you have an alarm that may be emitting a high pitched signal while on battery power?

Good shout but I dont think its that. Our alarm isn't that advanced.

Inexile

kenon wrote: »

Good shout but I dont think its that. Our alarm isn't that advanced.

Could a radio clock alarm, phone or any other electric device on standby be producing a noise?

star-pants

True - some electronic items make a noise when the power is out, could even be in a neighbours house but if it's a frequency you may not hear, but she does it could be driving her nuts. She also might think somethings wrong if she senses anything from any of ye, and wants to warn and protect.
I assume you've tried sitting her down, hand on her chest and talking comfortingly to her?

kenon

Inexile wrote: »

Could a radio clock alarm, phone or any other electric device on standby be producing a noise?

You see it could be, but I might not be able to hear it. Any alarms we'd have would be dead without mains power, same as most electric devices as we don't really have anything on battery back-up.

star-pants wrote: »

True - some electronic items make a noise when the power is out, could even be in a neighbours house but if it's a frequency you may not hear, but she does it could be driving her nuts. She also might think somethings wrong if she senses anything from any of ye, and wants to warn and protect.
I assume you've tried sitting her down, hand on her chest and talking comfortingly to her?

It could be an electronic device, but I've thought about any devices that could be setting her off and can't think of anything. I also thought that it could be the absence of the hum of the electricity but thats also hard to prove / confirm.

She can't be calmed in the house when it happens so I just walk it out of her. I created this thread before I saw what she did to my room. She removed speakers and routers from my desk and rearranged other stuff. I think she is taking up interior design.

star-pants

Hmm funny she went for your speakers/router, thing is when the power goes out, sometimes there might be a flicker left pulsing, causing certain things to to have a smidge of power, maybe creating a whine. One that we can't hear. Also they can hear things further from the house, and you may never know what is setting her off. Maybe as you say take her outside for a walk. Or let her out the back?

oldyouth

It might have series linked the new Waking the Dead episodes and the power cut messes up the Sky +. I'd be the very same if it happened to me:p

kenon

star-pants wrote: »

Hmm funny she went for your speakers/router, thing is when the power goes out, sometimes there might be a flicker left pulsing, causing certain things to to have a smidge of power, maybe creating a whine. One that we can't hear. Also they can hear things further from the house, and you may never know what is setting her off. Maybe as you say take her outside for a walk. Or let her out the back?

She wrecks the house by trying to hide in really weird places. She pulled down my speakers and routers by trying to hide under the desk and she stood on the wires. She hides behind teles, sofas etc. Whatever it is, it scares the bejesus out of her.

oldyouth wrote: »

It might have series linked the new Waking the Dead episodes and the power cut messes up the Sky +. I'd be the very same if it happened to me:p

Shes more of a friday night with jonathan ross fan.

star-pants

Oldyouth funny, but more helpful posts next time please.

Odd whatever scares her, you might not find out what it is, if it's something humans can't hear. Maybe try turning off all switches even, or unpluggin things routinely, see if she stops at any point. Might narrow it down

kenon

star-pants wrote: »

Odd whatever scares her, you might not find out what it is, if it's something humans can't hear. Maybe try turning off all switches even, or unpluggin things routinely, see if she stops at any point. Might narrow it down

Thats a decent idea. I might kill the power to the house at the fuse box and see if she goes off. If she doesn't, then she could be triggered by a house near by.

dee o gee

If he's doing this out of fear it might help to give him a quiet little place to go when he gets scared, a crate covered with a blanket in a quiet place in the house would be ideal.

Just a suggestion, maybe seem a bit stupid but does he only go mad when the electricity goes out at night? Could it be that he's afraid of the dark? Also does he do the same thing when your not in the house? Could it be that he's picking up on your nervousness at anticipating him to go mad?

kenon

dee o gee wrote: »

If he's doing this out of fear it might help to give him a quiet little place to go when he gets scared, a crate covered with a blanket in a quiet place in the house would be ideal.

Just a suggestion, maybe seem a bit stupid but does he only go mad when the electricity goes out at night? Could it be that he's afraid of the dark? Also does he do the same thing when your not in the house? Could it be that he's picking up on your nervousness at anticipating him to go mad?

I possibly could give her a specialised, quiet place but she has loads of old haunts around the house and she uses them all very quickly when she is panicked.

She goes bananas when theres a power cut during the day or at night. We have all the lights off at night normally, she'll be asleep and then...power cut...she starts barkin', whining, running around, knockin' things down, gestures to go outside, you open the door to let her out, she changes her mind and then runs around more. She's a crazy little dog.

dee o gee

Hmmm that is odd!! So she actually wakes up when the power goes off! That would sound like there's some noise thats annoying her. Would any of your neighbours have a back up generator out back?

Edited to say: Forgot to ask why your power goes out? Is it because of lightening/bad weather nearby or even far away?
Dogs have very sensitive ears and can hear thunder from quite a distance away before we can, and would definetely cause her to go mad like this. Some dogs just give the odd bark but others can go so far as urinating in fear and even self mutilation. Knew a dog once that jumped through a window because of it, poor fella died from his injuries, knew another dog that chewed through a window frame and then moved onto the doorframe!

kenon

dee o gee wrote: »

Hmmm that is odd!! So she actually wakes up when the power goes off! That would sound like there's some noise thats annoying her. Would any of your neighbours have a back up generator out back?

Edited to say: Forgot to ask why your power goes out? Is it because of lightening/bad weather nearby or even far away?
Dogs have very sensitive ears and can hear thunder from quite a distance away before we can, and would definetely cause her to go mad like this. Some dogs just give the odd bark but others can go so far as urinating in fear and even self mutilation. Knew a dog once that jumped through a window because of it, poor fella died from his injuries, knew another dog that chewed through a window frame and then moved onto the doorframe!

Thanks for your replies.

Nope, no generators near by. The power went out today at about 14:00 and I have no idea why. I think it was just maintenance or a fault, fixed within an hour and a half.

Thunder / Lightening. Very good. There was no thunder/lightening today but in the past it has set her off like the power cuts. I forgot about that. She'd have the exact same reaction as if it was a power cut.

I've heard of dogs being upset by lightening etc. They are her two things, lightening/power cuts. We are coming into banger season and she doesn't get bothered by them.

Quirky dog.

dee o gee

Could be that maybe she associates the power going off with thunder & lightening, and shes getting all worked up because shes anticipating the thunder when the power goes off, only a thought, I think too much!!!:D
If it is this then you can get cds with the sounds of thunder and other scary noises to desensitize the dog to the noise so she isin't bothered by it anymore, https://ahimsadogtraining.com/store/proddetail.php?prod=MCH-0056&cat=5

oldyouth

star-pants wrote: »

Oldyouth funny, but more helpful posts next time please.

Apologies all:o

kenon

dee o gee wrote: »

Could be that maybe she associates the power going off with thunder & lightening, and shes getting all worked up because shes anticipating the thunder when the power goes off, only a thought, I think too much!!!:D
If it is this then you can get cds with the sounds of thunder and other scary noises to desensitize the dog to the noise so she isin't bothered by it anymore, https://ahimsadogtraining.com/store/proddetail.php?prod=MCH-0056&cat=5

It's hard to say. I think she experienced a power cut before thunder and lightening. Its a weird one but I'm still surprised that no other dogs seem to be bothered by it.

9wetfckx43j5rg

Very strange. It does sound like theres a noise, because otherwise power cuts would just be the same as nightime.

I remember my dog used to bark a bit at a power cut because some of the neighbours alarms would go off. Same with bangers and lightning and thunder.