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Are any of your pets afraid of strange things? I had a dog that was absolutely terrified of balloons. I'm not actually sure why a 140 lb chocolate lab would be so scared of a balloon, but he really was. Whenever he would see one he got really jumpy and ran away. So since he used to love stomping on my head to wake me up when I was sleeping, I would sometimes tie a balloon to my bedpost to keep him away. It's a strange scarecrow but it did the trick.

What are your pets afraid of?  

I used to have a dog who was also terrified of balloons, and I've heard two theories on this.

One thory was that she was trained to stay off furniture by loading up the sofa with balloons that would pop when she got up, or the owner would pop one if she tried to get up. Either this theory is wrong, or that training method is ineffective, cause the dog loved sleeping on the sofa!

The other theory is that there's something really freaky to a dog about seeing a disembodies head floating around.

I also knew of a cat who developed a fear of pot holders. She got caught in the kitchen as she was trying to devour one of her owner's gerbils. Her owner reacted by grabbing a potholder from its magnetic hook on the refrigerator. In her haste, the hook and magnet went flying and clonked the cat in the head. From then on, she kept the cat away from her gerbils by hanging a potholder on the tank. And whenever a cake was ready to come out of the oven, the cat would bolt!

We have one dog that is afraid of cameras. I think the flash going off reminds her of lightning which reminds her of thunder of which she is afraid. All you have to do is hold the camera in front of your face and she scampers from the room not even waiting for one picture to be taken.

Another dog of ours will run from the room if my husband picks up a fly swatter. This dog was never hit with one, but I guess he doesn't like the noise it makes when you swat at a bug.

My mother has a cat that doesn't like the plastic bags you get from the grocery store. If my mother has to keep something clean (cat-hair-free) for a few hours, she just covers it with some plastic bags. The cat can't stand the crinkly noise it makes when she walks on it.

I had a puppy, only 4 months old, that was afraid of basically...my hands. I would always keep my hands to my sides but if i lift them to grab something or say hi to someone she'll cry and run. i guess her previous owner used to hit her.

My sister's cat LOVES plastic bags. He jumps into them and rolls around and attacks them, bouncing all over. It's really quite funny to watch. Of course you have to pull him out soon so he doesn't get too wrapped up and suffocate. Then again that cat knows no fear.

It's amazing how animals learn from their experiences and develop fear like that.