This post brought to you by ALPO® Brand Dog Food . All opinions are 100% mine.
There’s a world of wonder when it comes to our yellow labs.
They can be just like a member of the family, our kids’ best friends and faithful, loyal companions.
Until new floors enter the picture and then our eldest dog that we’ve loved and nurtured for ten years won’t step foot into the house.
We saw it happen slowly throughout the week that our floors were being installed. The first day when the dining room floors were put in, she went to round the corner, stopped, started shaking, and then backed up as quick as possible. Then it was the family room, the kitchen, and finally the laundry room where she enters. Each day, her world was getting smaller as she refused to go onto the floor until she was finally let out to go to the bathroom on the last day and she refused to come back in.
She saw the dark flooring and backed up 15 feet. Now, she won’t even come any where near the door, so we have to pick her up and force her inside since the temps have been so frigid. We have a carpet down and she will not step a toe off that space. Our other labs are fine, but she is scared to death.
The installers mentioned that they’ve heard that happen to others as well, but I don’t know quite what to do about it. We’ve tried “bribing” her with amazing pieces of meat on the floor and even that wouldn’t get her to budge.
Have any of you had this happen?
We finally put the ALPO® ‘s wet dog food in her bowl and moved it slightly off the carpet. She extended her neck and stretched, stretchd, stretched so her tongue could barely reach it. She LOVES that food and as their home page states, it brings excitement during mealtime for dogs and their owners by delivering great taste, nutrition and variety, but while it enticed her more than anything else, she still wouldn’t get onto the floor.
Our other two labs rushed in, barreled over her and pretty much demanded, “If you snooze, you lose.” They lapped up that wet food with healthy protein sources, wholesome grains and accents of vegetables. It was gone in a second and she missed out. Don’t worry, we do feed her outside.
Do any of you have experience with dogs being afraid of flooring? Any ideas to help her out?
Obviously, other dogs agree with their love of all things Alpo.
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Our older cat refuses to touch the new (8 months old now) area rug in the family room. She goes to great lengths to avoid it, leaping from the hardwood floor onto the ottoman, onto the couch then onto the lap she wants to lay on. If she’s just walking around the house, she skirts around the outer edge of the rug all the way around so she doesn’t have to touch it. We think it’s hilarious. I hope your dog gets used to your new floors soon!
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We have two pit bulls. One is only afraid of our older cat but the older one is afraid of everything – my husband’s cell phone, thunder storms, fireworks, etc. We finally bought a thunder shirt for her. When a storm is coming, we ask her if she wants her shirt and she just sits there and lets us put it on her. Don’t know if it will help your dog but it worked wonders with ours.
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I feel for you and your dog!!!! Our Chihuahua will not go on our deck since we painted it. She will not go in to our daughters room because she got new furniture. She slept in that room every night for 7 years……it has been well over a year since we bought the furniture. I would be so grateful for advice since I have a “quirky” dog also!!!!!
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If it was just a slipping issue, I would suggest some toddler socks with the grip pads on the bottom. But it sounds like she hasn’t slipped, and has just been too scared to try. If that’s the case, carrying her to the rug isn’t helping. Actually, it could be making things worse because your unknowingly enforcing her fear that the floor is bad. If she won’t come in on her own and you must carry her in, set her down on the floor several feet from the rug so she has to walk on it to get to her “comfort zone”. Or you could sit on the bare floor and have one of the boys carry her in and set her next to you. Give her gentle petting until she starts to relax, before asking her to move around on it. Leashing her and asking her (gentle tugging) to walk off of the rug could help too. Stay calm and reassuring, even when she panics. It will take some time (no one conquers their fears in one day), but it can be done.
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Jen Reply:
January 11th, 2014 at 7:43 pm
Yes, great ideas. We carried her once and realized that would be the last time. She was so scared.
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I had a dog who didn’t like my wooden floors, because I think, she couldn’t get any grip – and was possibly afraid of the noise her claws made. It improved with clipping her nails, but it just took time for her to become accustomed. I spent a lot of time ignoring the fear, but rewarding those moments when she forgot the floor was the devil, even for split seconds. Good luck!
Cesar Milan dealt with a dog who was petrified of hardwood floors – I was trying to find the TV clip, but couldn’t – This may help –
http://books.google.com/books?id=WJw2CxdfLAMC&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=cesar+millan+and+dogs+being+afraid+of+wood+floors&source=bl&ots=lZ13A3rQeT&sig=wnbg0C2c23j-foFyDJrOMM0VGPw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HwLSUqvWJqazsQTBvYH4Cw&ved=0CEYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=cesar%20millan%20and%20dogs%20being%20afraid%20of%20wood%20floors&f=false
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Same thing happened with our little elderly dog. Once the floors were refinished, she wouldn’t walk
on them. I think it was the sheen even though we had a satin finish. She eventually would cross
from one area rug to another. But always in reverse! She actually scooted backward! We ended up putting down a runner for her. She was approaching 15 years old and it was just easier for her and
everyone. I really think it was her eyesight and the glare of the sheen on the floors scared her. Her
eyes were really bad. She has since passed away. In retrospect it was a minor adjustment for a time that didn’t last long enough…we miss her so much..she was an angel in fur! I hope your sweet dog
is able to adjust.
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My friend has an older yellow lab, and a new house with hardwood floors. She told me that the runners and rugs in their house are for the dog, who won’t walk on the hardwood. He will walk from runner to rug to get around the house. Maybe this could be an option for you. Good luck!
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I would wonder if it has something to do with your dog’s eyesight. We have an older Shih Tzu and she is very careful of where she walks because she can’t see very well.
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Keep trying and doing what you are doing. She’ll hopefully get better with the wood floors quickly. Possibly she doesn’t see that a floor is there and it may look like nothing to her. Have you tried blindfolding her? I know it sounds weird but maybe if you covered her eyes when you brought her in with a towel or something? It may help. Possibly keep her leash on her in the house and walk her around the wood floors so she can see that she’s safe. You may want to write Cesar Milan, no really, the dog whisperer may have some tips for you… Victoria
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Maybe this will help….My hubby and I also had this problem with our Buddy….He’s better now, but still needs his area rug!Hahaa
Copy and paste….
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That’s actually pretty common, especially if the dog wasn’t exposed much to the new kind of flooring growing up. If you ever meet someone with a retired racing greyhound, ask them how their dogs responded to walking inside a house for the first time. 🙂 Many of them have very funny stories.
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