Barking at reflection

[Atemas]

Last evening, for the first time for months and months, we sat in the sitting room. It is beginning to go dark much earlier. Red was sleeping in her bed, then woke up. She saw her reflection in the patio doors that go through to the conservatory where we have been all summer. Her hackles went up and she barked and barked at her reflection. DH spoke gently to her and she went rushing over to him but then she went to the doors again and continued to bark. She used to do this last winter but I didn’t think it would still bother her.

Any suggestions of how to deal with this? I have gone up to the doors and told her, the dog she sees is her but she doesn’t get it ?.

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

That's funny that she already did the barking thing last winter but is at it again. Did she just stop on her own last winter?

So far my shelter fosters from Spain have all done this, my guess is because they've not been in a house before they get to me. My strategy, or lack thereof, is just to say, "Goofy dog, that's just you," and go back to whatever I was doing,not making a big deal of it. For the Bodegueros (hunting dogs), I'd let them outside so that they could see for themselves that no other dog or animal was out there.

I don't know if this was the right thing to do, but the behaviour just kind of disappeared on its own in a couple days.

 

[Boogie]

I think I’d use LAT just as if there were a real dog behind the glass

.

 

[Atemas]

Thank you @Boogie ?

 

[Selina27]

Cassie's been the same this week ! She's barked at her own reflection in the low kitchen window which is behind her bed, as it's getting darker earlier. We usually just chuckle and say "that cheeky black dog's out there again" and she usually just wags her tail and stops then. Although to be fair to her sometimes my neighbours dogs do appear out there. Sometimes I open the window so she can sniff/see no real dog is there. That might help @Atemas ?

 

[snowbunny]

Yeah, LAT, scatter feeding, kongs, snuffle mat, boundary training... anything to promote calmness and take the focus away from the window, but still allowing her to experience it as part of her environment - I mean so you're not getting her into a situation where she is magnetised on something away from it. So if you're doing scatter feeding, scatter the treats on the ground in front of the window so she's still seeing the reflection whilst she's getting on with her calming activity.

 

[Jen]

We have mirrored wardrobes in our bedroom.

One of the first times Stanley slept in the bed I woke up to him barking at his reflection in the mirror at about 5am.

I was just like “oh my god - that’s you, you absolute div”. And he sort of looked at me, looked back at the mirror and it was as though it dawned ?

He’s never done it again since!

 

[Atemas]

Did she just stop on her own last winter

She stopped once the curtains were pulled across the patio doors. We won’t pull them yet awhile. I will see what she does this evening. If she dies it again, I will open the doors so she can see there’s no other dog there. If her hackles go up again, will try LAT and some scatter feeding by the doors.