Dog scared of bass

tranceFusion · #1 03-03-2009, 12:14 PM

Ok, my dog is scared of my bass guitars.. When I play, he shakes and winces and tries to dig his way out of the house. This is through an amp at a reasonable volume level for a bedroom.

He starts flipping out just when I pick it up and put the strap on.

Anyone have this situation? How do/did you deal with it?

bongomania · #2 03-03-2009, 12:17 PM

Mine too, and I have not found a good solution yet. Best I've managed so far is to have him in a pen or large crate near my practice space, and play at low-ish volume. he freaks out for a little while, but then calms down and eventually goes to sleep. But if I don't pen/crate him he won't relax. I just leave him in a different part of the house if I'm going to practice.

NickInMesa · #3 03-03-2009, 12:50 PM

They are very sensitive to the low frequencies.

When I play with no amp and just use the vibrations of the body against my ribs (don't laugh, it works), my dogs can hear even that and stare.

tranceFusion · #4 03-03-2009, 01:39 PM

so is it actually painful or uncomfortable to the dog? I thought it was just high pitched things.

I was trying to coax him nearer to the amp with some food, associating the bass with good stuff, but I don't want to do that if it is actually uncomfortable to him.

Marley's Ghost · #5 03-03-2009, 01:41 PM

Sends my cats flying out of the room too.

JansenW · #6 03-03-2009, 01:43 PM

No pictures, not scared pets!

Jeff K · #7 03-03-2009, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tranceFusion

so is it actually painful or uncomfortable to the dog? I thought it was just high pitched things.

I was trying to coax him nearer to the amp with some food, associating the bass with good stuff, but I don't want to do that if it is actually uncomfortable to him.

Yeah, the higher frequencies are worse for them. My dog (a Weimaraner) will sometimes actually lay by my feet about 5 feet from the front of the amp while I play. And yet she won't go anywhere near my son's room if he's playing guitar. (And she absolutely loves my son. Usually won't leave his side, but it's a different story if he's playing guitar.) But the bass doesn't bother her.

My daughter also has a Weimaraner. I always keep a bass & amp over at her house. When I play bass over there, her dog is afraid of it. Same breed - different results. Go figure...

CamMcIntyre · #8 03-03-2009, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marley's Ghost

Sends my cats flying out of the room too.

My cat has been different. She'll come into the room once I start to play even if she's been hidden all day.

Lady Kayri · #9 03-03-2009, 06:58 PM

Same here. My two cats can be at the other end of the house, as soon as I start plucking the strings, both of them come running in the room and want to sit either next to me or in my lap (difficult when the bass is occuping the lap!)

Marley's Ghost · #10 03-03-2009, 07:24 PM

It could be that Schroeder effect.

()smoke() · #11 03-03-2009, 08:03 PM

my dog will literally lay against my amp when i play...he's done this since he was a pup, i even used to play through a headphone amp and put the phones on him while he went to sleep

it comforts him

...but then again, he thinks he's 'people'

guitar ed · #12 03-03-2009, 08:21 PM

My currents cats are afraid of the guitars while I am carrying them, as if I used them to beat the cats, which I would never do.

But my old really reacted to my singing. By running. As far away as he could get. Jack did not mind the guitar, but the singing was too much for him. So now I sing with my daughter. She does not know how bad I am.

edg

Woodell · #13 03-03-2009, 08:25 PM

My dog has gotten used to my bass, even at somewhat high volumes but is still scared of my acoustic. I think it may be because it sounds off so easily just by handling it that it seems to have a life of its own.

MadMan118 · #14 03-03-2009, 08:43 PM

That reminds me when I was a kid and I brought home my first bass and amp. The dog eyed it carefully then about 5 minutes int playing, the dog curled up against the grille and went to sleep.

I also remember when i got my first tube head my cat hoped to the top of the stack and slept up there.

kesslari · #15 03-03-2009, 08:54 PM

All three of my dogs are fine with my playing - that said, I never practice really loudly.

I used to have a great lab/staff mix, he would come with me to rehearsals and lie with his head leaned against the kick drum.

Have you tried "play bass while giving treats?" I haven't had to do this with bass, but for most food oriented dogs, it the "treat while exposed to scary stuff" will get them over many, many fears.

Dfinch · #16 03-03-2009, 09:11 PM

My shepherd doesn't care at all. My minpin is okay with it until I turn it up, then she leaves the room with an annoyed look on her face.

NJL · #17 03-03-2009, 09:23 PM

My dog is named Jaco, he plays bass and he only needs four paws.

R D Maynard · #18 03-03-2009, 11:30 PM

Never had a pet that had any unusual reactions to my bass playing, but I did have a dog that went nuts around drummers - or anyone with a drumstick. Krypto was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, a sort of diminutive pit bull, and he went nearly everywhere with me, including rehearsals and gigs. He would go nuts as soon as anyone produced a stick and would do the pitbull jump-and-grab-on thing if you'd hold it up for him. Forget dropping a stick; he'd grab it and that would be it - you'd never get it back before it was splinters.

Well, Krypto's long gone, but I'd be willing to bet there are still a few Long Beach punk rockers from the early '80's that remember the little black dog that chased drumsticks.

Bard2dbone · #19 03-04-2009, 03:24 AM

About a bazillion years ago I was in a band. We were mostly just a high school garage band. We did probably less than thirty gigs before breaking up. The keyboardist was my girlfriend. The drummer was my best friend. The guitarists were two guys from my church. And the singer was a douchebag.

So it was probably a very familiar experience for many of you. We usually practiced, at least initially, in the drummers garage. He lived out in the country so we could play loudly.

He had five...count 'em, five, dogs. Most of them got to where they recognized our cars and would scatter as soon as band members started showing up.

But the oldest dog, a shaggy cowdog mutt, would wait for me to put my rig together and promptly lay down directly in front of my amp and go to sleep...before we started playing. He would sleep throughout our practice, waking up when the music finally stopped, and then wandering off.

When he went outside, the other dogs would come back but not until.

D Rokk · #20 03-23-2009, 12:12 PM

i figured this was a dogplaysbass flame thread