# Terrified of the AFLAC Duck



## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

I have a small stuffed replica of the AFLAC duck that when you press its back it says AFLAC in an increasing louder manner 3x. I had shown it to Riley a long time ago and he is absolutely TERRIFIED of it so I put it in a drawer. Riley is so neurotic about it that if he sees me even near that drawer he would run and hide. Next step was if he hears an AFLAC commercial on TV it strikes terror into his heart and he hid. Now I had stored some night t-shirts in the same drawer as that darn duck and I put one on last night and went in to sit with him as he is recovering from surgery. He perked right up, started sniffing my shirt and tried to get up and go hide. I don't want him moving around a lot so I had to go change shirts. What in the world is his issue with a duck!!?


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## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

it's not the duck it's the "memory" of being scared real bad the first time, they seem to not forget much! aside from listening that is.
Mine is scared but he goes apesnot when he hears my SIRI on the Iphone4s, its' funny! when he's sleeping but i don't want him sleeping yet *(pre bed time)* i push that and he's UP! like what......the phone in general intriuges him.....

you need to figure out something....like have the duck out and if it scares him JUMP ON IT AND BEAT THE **** OUT OF IT and toss it in the trash....

better question, why do you still have this duck? he knows you have that duck and it upsets him?


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

Good question Looney. I was actually going to throw it out tonight after he goes to bed. I guess I had figured he would grow out of the fear of that one thing. What reminded me of it was the way he was acting when I put that particular shirt on and that's the only thing I could think of and the commercial on TV thing is a new behavior. Strange.


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## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

I'd make sure he sees you get rid of it or he'll never know and the fear will always be there.
take it throw it on the floor and kick it out the front door! slam the door and say THERE YOU GO BUDDY NO DUCK!!!!

then make sure he knows that drawer is empty, wash it all down and then it's gone gone?????

good luck


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Looney said:


> you need to figure out something....like have the duck out and if it scares him JUMP ON IT AND BEAT THE **** OUT OF IT and toss it in the trash....


As weird as it sounds, this really does work. When Riley is really afraid of something, I walk over to it and kick it and (if possible) jump on it. Now, try explaining to someone why you're kicking a fire hydrant and laughing.... :


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

I'll try that! Not much I can do about the commercials though. :-\


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

He has been scared of it for a while and its not something he will come across out in the world everyday. He has been going through a lot with the surgery, so I would throw it away.

We have a chicken that clucks when squeezed and my male was scared of it the first time it clucked. I put it in the corner of the living room and acted like it wasn't there. He would watch it from a distance but would still go about his business. Sometimes he would bark at it but I just ignored it. Then he would creep up on it, then hop backwards. Later he would start to touch it with his nose. Then got brave enough to pick it up and it clucked. He would drop it leap back and start barking at it from what he thought was a safe distance. Then he would repeat the whole process. In the end he learned on his own that the duck wasn't going to hurt him. He carried it around clucking till the batteries went dead.


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

Oh trust me the duck is not a sentimental object. I had actually forgotten about it until recently when I noticed the commerical on TV fear and the shirt thing was just last night. Just so unusual, because normally he is a brute and fearless. Surgery or no surgery!!


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

I've never dealt with an object fear like you describe, but this will not be the last thing that scares him. You have some great suggestions about the duck, but you may want to start thinking about teaching him a command to explore something that you know is safe. I use 'Checkitout' for anything Savannah finds suspicious (balloons, different cars parked on our block, trash cans out of place, flags flapping in the wind, etc.)


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

We have this thing around here called the Emergency Alert System (or something like that). Every now and then, they run tests on the radio or TV. "This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System" (or something like that), blah, blah, blah. Then you hear this big BUZZZ BUZZZ BUZZZ sound for a while. Willie is very afraid of that. I think it startles him. I used to leave the radio on for him if he had to stay home alone... Classical music on NPR. Then I discovered how afraid he is of that test thing, so now I don't do that anymore. :'(


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

Oh no! I bet he was getting scared and there's no way you would've known it!! We have to be real careful now and be on alert. If an AFLAC commercial comes on TV, he is hurt right now and we have to prevent him from jumping off the bed. We havememorize dwhere the mute button is. We have just been muting the TV during the commercials.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I would just get Willie a classical cd and set the player where it just keeps replaying it.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

TexasRed said:


> I would just get Willie a classical cd and set the player where it just keeps replaying it.


I always had a dog named Willie pegged as country music fan..........with a name like that how could he be anything but. Some lyrics spring to mind.........."on the road again, just can't wait to be back on the road again, having fun and sniffing arseholes with my friends, just can't wait to be on the road again......"


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

That is a good idea, TexasRed!! I already have the cd player and a cd entitled "Mozart's Super Hits", so I'm all set...

Ozkar... HA-HA-Ha-Ha-ha!! You crack me up!! I think the classical music is more soothing, BUT the Willie Nelson tune might actually make him happier!! You are hilarious! ;D


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

the AFLAC DUCK is really a small person left over from the WIZARD of OZ covered in feathers - Who would not be AFRAID!


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