Could you just arrange for someone to take her out while you do the work?

 

Maybe on one occasion, but I’ll definitely have to do work more than just once over the next twelve years or so. It would be good to have a way she could stay and tolerate it - even if it’s when she’s older and doesn’t need to actually be in the room.

 

This article may be helpful to you: How to Train Away Fear of Loud Noises: Sound Desensitization for Dogs (rover.com)

While I understand your concern, but starting early with desensitization to sounds can help a dog cope with unexpected loud noises. Life happens, fireworks, thunderstorms, things being dropped on the floor, loud music, loud vehicles - we cannot protect them from all of those things, but we can help them through desensitization to be better able to cope with them.

 

The company Rex Specs have good hearing protection, I think it's called "Ear Pro". They also have great eye protection. Most dogs take quite a bit of getting used to these types of aids, so you would need to train them to accept things slowly, much like a muzzle.

And I totally agree about teaching the dog to accept different (including loud) noises. I would be a bit careful to not do too much during the fear period, and I would still consider protecting the ears for very loud and potentially damaging noises, but I absolutely agree it's a key life skill. Making a plan and desensitizing is important for (potentially) noise sensitive dogs.

 

Thanks both - glad it doesn’t have to be inherently traumatic. I can work on Nina letting me put the headphones on - she’s so good motivated, I’m fairly sure we’d get there with it in the end! And I didn’t really realise the noise thing was something you had to consciously accustom puppies to! I’ll add it to my list!