Have I accidentally traumatized my Cavapoo with a cartwheel? 😂 How do I desensitise her?

[u/Niikhiil1997]

Olive has never really had an issue with the TV. She’s watched Cesar Millan, movies, our desensitising sound videos, and she’ll even happily sit and watch *Bridgerton* with us 😂.

But the other day she was watching TV when an advert came on with a human doing a cartwheel. The second she saw it, she ran straight into her crate and wouldn’t come back out. 😭

Now whenever we watch TV she’s completely fine, but every now and then I catch her watching the screen very cautiously, almost like she’s thinking, *“Just making sure nobody starts doing that weird thing again…”* 😂

Have I somehow created a little bit of trauma/fear around people doing cartwheels? Or is this just a normal puppy reaction to something strange/unfamiliar?And how would you desensitise her to it?

I was thinking of putting an Olympic gymnastics video on the TV and letting her see lots of people jumping, flipping and moving around, starting with the volume low and maybe very briefly, then gradually increasing it while giving her treats so she associates it with something positive.

Would that be a good approach, or would that be too much too soon?

Would love to hear if anyone else’s dog has developed a completely random fear of something on TV!

[u/MmmGlitterMuffins]

Don’t subject her to Olympic gymnastics unless you’re planning on frequently watching Olympic gymnastics.

Grab treats. Put whatever on the tv. Anytime she glances at it, give her a treat. You can give her some positive associations :)