From: crs@beta.lanl.gov (Charlie Sorsby)
Subject: Re: please???
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 14:35:11 GMT

In article <1992Apr12.220007.3557@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> eam9e@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU (Ann Myers) writes:
= In article <21020138@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM>, kae@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Karen Erickson) writes:
= > This is discourgaging, folks...I haven't seen any ideas for helping me out
= > with Tucker's fear of thunderstorms. 
[...]
= 
=   My dog Shiloh is getting more terrified by thunderstorms as he gets
= older.  Someone on the net suggested playing music during a thunderstorm
= so the dog doesn't hear the thunder.  This worked for Shiloh.  We had
= a thunderstorm this afternoon. When Shiloh starting pacing and panting,
= I turned on the stereo loud enough to make the floor vibrate.  The cats
= weren't exactly thrilled, but Shiloh quieted down and went to sleep.

I replied by e-mail to Karen but it sounds as though the comments
may be of general interest.

Several years ago, I read of a gun-shyness cure system that
involves the use of music.  More recently, the subject was
discussed in the gun dog column of Quail Unlimited magazine and the
process sounded the same as the method I'd read about some years
before.  The column title is "About Dogs" by Steve Rafe.  The
specific article is called "Your Dog Is Gunshy.  Now What?"  I'm
sorry to say that I don't recall which issue the article appeard in
but it was probably somewhere between one and two years ago.  Quail
Unlimited magazine is bimonthly.

As it happens, gun shyness is simply one form of noise shyness.
Other common forms are fear of thunder, fireworks, ...  Oddly, a
dog can be afraid of one (or some) but not the others.

Anyway, to get to the point, Steve Rafe sells his "Cure System"
which comprises a tape and a manual.

CAVEAT:  The magazine article doesn't mention other forms of noise
shyness.  I *DON'T* know if such problems are addressed or if he
has another system for other forms of noise-shyness.  *CHECK*
before you buy.

It shouldn't require mention but I'll say it anyway:  I have no
connection with Steve Rafe other than to have used some of the
methods suggested in his magazine articles and in one of his books.
I've found them useful.

NOTE:  I have not used his system--so far I haven't needed it--so I
don't know if it is effective.  Part of my reason for this post is
to query if anyone here has used it and, if so, what they think of
it.  My guess is that, as with other methods of dog handling, it
may be effective in some cases, not in others.  So, for what it's
worth, the address and a list of some other publications of Rafe's
as well as the "Cure System" follows:

	Steve Rafe--STARFIRE
	P. O. Box 3119, Dept. QU
	Warrenton, VA  22186
	703-349-1039
	
	Training Your Dog For Birdwork	$24.95 (hard)	16.95 (soft)
	Electrostimulation(tm)				10.95 (soft)
	Training Your Dog to Retrieve			10.95 (soft)
***	Cure Systems (Gunshyness, etc., tape/manual)	39.95
	Gunshyness Prevention System			24.95
	kalmMusic(tm)					14.95
	
	S&H $3 < $25, $4 < $40, $5 > $50.

Another possibility would be to play the "kalmMusic" tape for your
dog when there is no thunder to calm and relax him.  After this has
worked, playing it during a thunderstorm may help but, again, ask
Rafe about it for that is pure conjecture on my part.

A final comment:  I seem to recall that the original method that I
read of (before I learned of Rafe's method) had been developed at
some university but I don't recall where.  I imagine that I read of
it in some hunting or related magazine and probably in the gun dog
column but it could have been a feature article.

A final request:  If anyone tries this system, I would appreciate
hearing of your success or your failure.
	
	
-- 
Best,

Charlie "Older than dirt" Sorsby				"I'm the NRA!"
	  crs@lanl.gov