< See All Questions
Help! My Dog Is Afraid Of The camera!
I dont know what to do. My dog is afraid of the flash of the camera..and because it was one ONCE..she now always thinks its on. I am a huge photography fan and it gets really frustrating when she runs away or turns her head avoiding the camera! I cant get a good picture of her no matter how hard I try. Even with a treat above her head!
Answer:
The best thing to do would be to take this in three steps. The first step will be to let her know that the camera is a good thing. The second step will be to let her know that having her picture taken is a really good thing. And the last step will be to let her know that having the flash of the camera go off is the best thing.
So for the first step, we want her to be comfortable when she sees a camera. Start with just leaving the camera on the table, on the coffee table, on a shelf … places where she is likely to see it but where it won’t feel threatening in any way. Do not have it in your hands during this phase of the training. If she avoids the areas where the camera has been positioned, put some really incredible treats around the camera so that she becomes very happy with seeing this wonderful piece of machinery that somehow delivers treats! This first step may take several weeks depending on how frightened she is of the camera.
Once you are certain that she is comfortable with the camera being in her midst, the second step is having her really happy about having her picture taken. This step is actually going to be broken down into smaller steps but each sub-step is going to proceed in the same manner. The first sub-step will be for you just to be holding the camera. Do not hold it up to your eye. Just hold it as though you are carrying it. Be very nonchalant about it. Whenever she has the courage to come close to you while you are holding the camera, be sure to give her a really awesome treat. If she doesn’t want to approach you at first, reward her for getting anywhere near you. We want her to build up her courage to get just a little closer.
Once you can hold the camera, begin to raise it to your eye. You may not get it all the way to your eye at first. And initially, don’t point the camera in her direction. Remember to progress in very small steps. You don’t want her to get to the point where she runs away or turns her head. Go slow enough so you can detect the slightest bit of tension from her and the moment you see that, move the camera just a little bit further away so you aren’t asking more from her than she is capable of giving at that phase in the training.
Once you can get the camera to your eye without having her concerned, then SLOWLY begin to turn toward her. Don’t take a picture at first. She doesn’t initially need the added stress of the click. Let her first be comfortable with the camera pointing directly at her. And remember … continue to reward at each and every step and reward each and every time. This camera has to be the thing that signals this awesome treat will come her way if she continues to allow it to be in her presence.
The last portion of this is to take a photo. Don’t worry about setting her up for the perfect shot. Just make it a quick, candid shot so that there isn’t added stress for her. This step should be done for several months before trying to move on to the flash.
If you want or need to condition her to be tolerant of the flash, you have to do it similar to the previous step. The first step would be to use the red-eye flash since that’s a quick flash. But be sure to point it AWAY from her. Don’t let the full flash go off. Just get her used to hearing the flash and seeing the light … but not in her eyes. Once she is fine with that, you would do the same thing but with the full flash … again, being certain that the flash is not pointed in her direction. Slowly begin to point the flash more and more in her direction. This step will take quite some time to work on. And this one will need to have huge rewards as it’s the flash that initially caused her to be frightened of the entire camera.
Be patient with her and she’ll be posing for you in no time.
|
|
|
Please Sign In
to submit your question
|
|
|
