Basil vs. Paper

Interesting:

I mentioned how Basil doesn't like the sound of paper. When I read and flip a page, he gets very startled and begins barking and he's on edge. I always thought that I just startled him while he napped on my lap.

Another time, I was swatting some flies that got into the house with a magazine. I had the magazine in my hand and was waving it back and forth in the air. Basil got very nervous and ran inside his crate and was hiding out. :(

After that I realized why he didn't like the sound of paper. :( Being that he's a rescue and we don't know his full history I wonder if Basil got hit with a paper in his past life. Makes me so sad.

So to turn things around, I got out a bunch of small training treats. I sat with him and crunched paper and rubbed the paper in between my fingers over and over while I gave him little treats. Since then he hasn't jumped once at the sound of paper.