New fear

Twyla · 12-12-2011, 08:58 AM

Woolf, 14.5 mth old, has suddenly decided he is scared to walk on the wood floors here in the house. We are changing the floors over from carpet to wood ourselves, so it's a work in progress, half the house is done. If you can imagine a dog tip-toeing, that is what he now does when he has to walk on them, only when he has to otherwise he refuses to step on them. Almost appears to freeze up. And to get to his crate, he has to walk on them. Also the part of the floors he has to walk on have been down for a while and hadn't had a problem with them until now. This started yesterday no slipping, falling, or skidding, the fear just started.

What I've been doing so far is sitting in the hallway floor with his ball and very good treats (he is ball insane crazy) and give treats and his ball when he makes the walk to me. It has been painful watching him trying to walk the couple of feet.

What I am doing today is taking him to have his claws clipped .... they are not long, but just in case somehow that is affecting him.

What other suggestions can I get from all of you wonderful people on how to work with him on this.

Tuckered · 12-14-2011, 07:04 PM

Our GSD doesn't like the tile only in our bathrooms, she slinks the instant she is asked to go in. We've been overcoming this by using high value treats and saying "come" which she is very good at listening to. Our trainer suggested this, which we were already doing, but she said not to caudal the dog otherwise she may think this is how she is meant to act on the tile. We act like nothing is different and call her as though she has no other options. She suddenly started getting much better, it was like a light switch went off again. She still slinks slightly on the tile, but it's better than what she was doing...barking at us and throwing a tantrum.

Freestep · 12-14-2011, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuckered

We act like nothing is different and call her as though she has no other options.

This.

If you make a big deal over it, it's much more likely to be a big deal to him. Clip his toenails, and if he has hair on the bottoms of his feet, trim that too. Then, just act normal, as though nothing is wrong, give him a treat when he goes in his crate, and when it's time to come out, grab his ball and say, "Hey Woolf, let's go play ball!" and go across the floor and outside in a happy, casual way. Don't even watch him struggle across the floor, and don't wait for him. Just call him, and go! He'll get over it, he'll have to, if he wants his ball!

It might actually be a good thing that he walks slowly and softly across the wood floors, rather than running around tearing them up with his toenails.

As to why he's suddenly developed a fear of the wood floors, I cannot guess. The only thing I can think of is if he slipped and fell, maybe you didn't see him do it? Did you just get the floors refinished, are they shiny? Sometimes the reflection from a floor really freaks dogs out. A friend of mine once had a dog that was afraid of anything reflective. She wouldn't even eat out of a stainless steel bowl.

Twyla · 12-14-2011, 09:02 PM

Thanks for responding

I did take him in for his nails, the tech just barely tipped them. I knew they weren't to long BUT I wanted to cover the bases (can't stand long nails on a dog). The tufts of hair doesn't look to long, but again I'll trim what I can to cover that base. Thanks for the suggestion.

Sitting in the hallway with treats and his ball just wasn't working, so I just left the ball there. He showed up later with his ball and we went outside and played (even though not supposed to let him decide when to play this occasion it made a good reward). Did a repeat each time he brought the ball to me after leaving it in the hallway. He's now once again walking on the wood floors, being very careful and watching his step around corners but otherwise doing good. One of his jobs is to carry DH's shoes to the living room, he finally did one shoe this morning. Weird job but it's the one time he's allowed to put his mouth on a shoe so he's happy.

We are doing so much dealing with his DA issues that I did not want this to linger and grow into something bigger.

12-12-2011, 08:58 AM	#1 (permalink)
Twyla Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Georgia Posts: 498	New fear Woolf, 14.5 mth old, has suddenly decided he is scared to walk on the wood floors here in the house. We are changing the floors over from carpet to wood ourselves, so it's a work in progress, half the house is done. If you can imagine a dog tip-toeing, that is what he now does when he has to walk on them, only when he has to otherwise he refuses to step on them. Almost appears to freeze up. And to get to his crate, he has to walk on them. Also the part of the floors he has to walk on have been down for a while and hadn't had a problem with them until now. This started yesterday no slipping, falling, or skidding, the fear just started. What I've been doing so far is sitting in the hallway floor with his ball and very good treats (he is ball insane crazy) and give treats and his ball when he makes the walk to me. It has been painful watching him trying to walk the couple of feet. What I am doing today is taking him to have his claws clipped .... they are not long, but just in case somehow that is affecting him. What other suggestions can I get from all of you wonderful people on how to work with him on this.

12-14-2011, 07:04 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tuckered New Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Ontario Posts: 23	Our GSD doesn't like the tile only in our bathrooms, she slinks the instant she is asked to go in. We've been overcoming this by using high value treats and saying "come" which she is very good at listening to. Our trainer suggested this, which we were already doing, but she said not to caudal the dog otherwise she may think this is how she is meant to act on the tile. We act like nothing is different and call her as though she has no other options. She suddenly started getting much better, it was like a light switch went off again. She still slinks slightly on the tile, but it's better than what she was doing...barking at us and throwing a tantrum.

12-14-2011, 09:02 PM	#4 (permalink)
Twyla Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Georgia Posts: 498	Thanks for responding I did take him in for his nails, the tech just barely tipped them. I knew they weren't to long BUT I wanted to cover the bases (can't stand long nails on a dog). The tufts of hair doesn't look to long, but again I'll trim what I can to cover that base. Thanks for the suggestion. Sitting in the hallway with treats and his ball just wasn't working, so I just left the ball there. He showed up later with his ball and we went outside and played (even though not supposed to let him decide when to play this occasion it made a good reward). Did a repeat each time he brought the ball to me after leaving it in the hallway. He's now once again walking on the wood floors, being very careful and watching his step around corners but otherwise doing good. One of his jobs is to carry DH's shoes to the living room, he finally did one shoe this morning. Weird job but it's the one time he's allowed to put his mouth on a shoe so he's happy. We are doing so much dealing with his DA issues that I did not want this to linger and grow into something bigger.

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