#197 Bush Scare Trauma

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Those viral videos of people dressed as bushes jumping out to scare passersby might rack up millions of views, but they've crossed a disturbing line. When these pranksters target people walking their dogs, they could be causing real psychological harm to animals who have no framework to understand what's happening.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Today I want to talk about something that, I'll admit
it, made me pretty mad.
You've probably seen the videoson social media.
Somebody dresses up like a bushand then jumps out to scare
people as they walk by.
You know it's supposed to befunny, but I'll be honest, I
don't see the humor funny, butI'll be honest, I don't see the

(00:28):
humor.
Well, anyway, one of these guysor girls, whoever it is, just
posted a video doing these jumpscares to people that were
walking by with their dogs, andtheir dogs were obviously scared
, shaken up, panicked, and itwasn't the least bit funny.
Waken up, panicked and itwasn't the least bit funny.
And here's why this is a bigdeal.

(00:49):
Dogs don't understand pranks.
They don't get the whole it'sall in good, fun part.
All they know is that they werewalking along minding their own
business and boom, suddenlythere was a loud, strange, scary
thing jumping in theirdirection, with no warning and
no true way to escape, and thatmoment of fear or panic can

(01:14):
stick around.
Remember, it only takes one badscare for a dog to develop a
lasting fear.
And maybe now it's bushes, ormaybe they link that fear to
other dogs or people that theysaw in the moment or to a
certain street.

(01:34):
The brain doesn't always storethe cause neatly.
It just remembers that feelingof fear and panic.
And for a dog living in a busyarea this can turn into a daily
struggle.
Fearful walks, suddenreactivity, pulling to avoid a

(01:55):
spot or a bush shaking orshutting down, and you, the
owner, left wondering whathappened to your happy,
confident dog.
Now, I don't think the peoplewalking by in these videos knew
what was coming.
I think they were victims too.
But the dog has zero contextand no way to just laugh it off

(02:20):
and no understanding that it'snot going to happen again.
So what can you do if this everhappens to you and your dog?
First, try to remain as calm asyou can Dogs will always look
to you for cues on whethersomething is dangerous and then
try to move away from the sourceas quickly as you can, but

(02:41):
without dragging or panickingyour dog even further.
And then give your dogsomething else to focus on,
maybe some treats, maybe a happyvoice with some petting, maybe
a few trick cues that he'sreally good at.
As you try to keep moving inthe opposite direction in the

(03:08):
opposite direction, and laterspend some time revisiting that
area or that object in a safe,positive way.
Don't just avoid it forever.
Help your dog build back hisconfidence.
Don't just avoid it forever.
Help your dog build backconfidence and please, if you
see someone planning to pull astunt like this on dog walkers,

(03:28):
speak up.
They may not realize thelong-term damage that they could
do, but they need to hear it.
You know, a prank may last fiveseconds for a human, but for a
dog it could last a lifetime.
For a human, but for a dog itcould last a lifetime.
So let's make sure our walksstay safe, peaceful and

(03:57):
prank-free.