We have a 4-year-old border terrier named Gizmo. We adopted him a year ago, and he’s usually friendly to everyone! He’s fine with people wearing hats, kids, and even our friend with a prosthetic arm. But when it comes to people wearing sunglasses? It’s like he sees the devil himself. We first noticed this when my brother, who is blind, came over for a visit wearing sunglasses. Gizmo went ballistic—running around, barking non-stop, and refusing to let my brother get anywhere near me, even trying to trip him.
At first, we thought Gizmo hated my brother, but as soon as he took off his glasses, Gizmo calmed down immediately. To test it out, my boyfriend put on sunglasses that night, and sure enough, Gizmo went nuts again. So it’s definitely the sunglasses.
Now, my poor brother has to take off his sunglasses every time he comes over. While he says it’s fine, I still feel terrible about it.
How can I help Gizmo get over his fear or hatred of sunglasses? (And what could have caused it?) If I can’t train him out of this, should I just ask my brother to avoid wearing sunglasses when he visits?
Dogs find sunglasses especially upsetting because they perceive them as large, black eyes that don’t respond in the same way as human eyes do, they don’t blink or offer guidance. It’s more often than you would think. For roughly the same reason, some dogs react differently to cameras with visible lenses than to phone cameras.
Fascinatingly, I was shocked to see my incredibly amiable dog suddenly start barking at a photographer at the park the other day because he never does when we go for walks. Maybe it was the lens, but I thought it was because the guy was standing around and moving strangely. I never would have imagined.
Have someone stand apart from him outside wearing sunglasses. Give Gizmo a treat each time he looks at the person wearing sunglasses while he is sufficiently far away to prevent him from barking or acting up. Repeat a million times or so, getting closer to the individual each time. Additionally, try with various folks.
