Halo is afraid of the floor !
 

So Halo (9 year old lab X) has suddenly developed an aversion to walking across the laminate floor in the bedroom doorway. She'll stand outside the door (in or out of the room) and cry until somebody comes to her and encourages her to cross the threshold. Then she tentatively puts her paw down on it and bolts across. Of course this sometimes results in her slipping, which doesn't help. I should point out she's also afraid of the floor vent in the bathroom, but that doesn't seem so odd to me, but she circles wide of that also and panics as she passes it. I don't know what brought this on for her. She was afraid of the bedroom floor when we had to pull it up and put it back down without an underlay, but that was over a year ago.

When I see her doing this I take her over the spot and have her stand on it while I pet her and scratch her - not so much coddle her as I don't want her to think she's right to be afraid of it. I just want her to see it as an okay spot to be. Any ideas??

Ember slipped on the bathroom tiles once and it took him 6 months to forgive them :rolleyes: Grace is still shy of walking across the basement floor--to the point that we finally got some runners for her to walk on from the basement door to the steps leading upstairs. Otherwise we'd have to pick her up and carry her to get her in from the basement yard...

Can you put a non-skid rug there for a while till she forgets what she was afraid of? :o

I was thinking about that this morning Hazel. I did cover up the floor vent in the bathroom, but she knows it's there so she pulls the carpet away from it and stares at it :laughing:. I will try putting a carpet in the doorway though, we never close the door so it won't be in the way. I'm just glad she's not the only chicken dog on the block... :o

Does she really stare at the vent?!? :o :laughing: omd, that poor girl!! :dog:

She and Ember and Grace would get along just fine! :D

was thinking about that this morning Hazel. I did cover up the floor vent in the bathroom, but she knows it's there so she pulls the carpet away from it and stares at it . and i thought cats were strange

You should see Cole watch the underground moles, Jim! :laughing: Now [I]that's[/I] strange-looking! :dog:

Yeah she stares at it. She sticks her nose on it to sniff and then stares at it and then tries to get as far away from it as she can to go past it (which isn't far as it's a small bathroom). :laughing: I don't know with that one if she maybe got a toe caught in it once or if it's just the air blowing out of it that bothers her, but it's fairly new as well this fear of the floor vent. The upside of that is she doesn't come to join me when I'm on the toilet so often. :D Hazel, Halo tracks the moles too! Very strange, I hope the neighbours can't see her doing that.

Hmmmm...if that's all it takes to get a little privacy, I may have some new vents put in :o

:laughing:

Well yeah that's an option, but so is closing the door!! Just gotta do it fast. We only close the bathroom door at home for big events (so to speak) as it's just hubby and I there, and the toilet is around a corner in the room so you can't even see it from the hallway. The girls like to come and visit.... But we always close it when we have company! :D

Poor Halo :laughing: I think with some time , she'll understand there's no danger.

Sienna took a few days to get used to our new screen door in the sun room. :p

Moocher was like that for the last 4 yrs of her life, when she turned ten she suddenly discovered she didn't like any flooring but carpet which was real fun because we only had scattermats, the vet told me she was losing a certain part of her sight that reflected light, it was letting too much in (can't remember the damn words he used) so to her it was all a shiney glare, we had to put runners everywhere for her to be able to get around.

See now Melinda I hadn't thought of the sight issue. I know she can see a squirrel from two blocks away though so that might not be it... but I will keep that in mind.

I'm reading this with interest. My sister's last dog was afraid of all slippery floors all his long life. Apparently though, they were not so bad if he walked backwards. Dummies that we are, we never thought to get a video of him walking backwards.

:rolleyes:See now longblades that would be a problem for us because amongst her other little things Halo is afraid to walk backwards! She went down between the truck and the fence the other night and got stuck at the back wheelwell. She couldn't turn around, tried to go under the truck, and then stood there and cried. I had to reach in and coax her out backwards and put my hands on her butt to guide her. She hates walking backwards. She is my little coward dog (okay not so little really...)

Backwards would have been more entertaining for you but of course not a good solution. When Laddie came to visit our house we had to watch he didn't back over the stairs and fall down. He was afraid of stairs too.

But, I just remembered, the ladies at obedience were talking about this same topic this week. They said there is some stuff you can buy to put on your dog's pads to make them less slippery. I'll try to remember to ask them next week. I know there is stuff people put on their golf clubs and tennis rackets to make them more grippy. Maybe it's the same stuff. If people can put it on their skin it would be OK for dogs? Don't know. I do wonder if, since dogs can only sweat through a few places, one being footpads, it would also have to be breathable.

Non-slip booties might work too.

Hopefully anything tried would only be temporary till she forgets her fright.

I was thinking about eyesite issues too since this developed later in life.

A lot of animals because of the way their eyesite is will balk at certain textures or types of flooring/ground. It's the reason cows are really weird about what type of things they'll go in and cross, their eyesite does not allow them to see everything clearly, so certain areas don't look safe to cross.

Longblades I'm not sure if putting something on her feet would be the answer as it's only in this one spot. The rest of the floor is fine. Boots would freak her out for sure (remember big chicken dog...) I see your point about them backing down the stairs too! That's a scary idea.

MBIE, I don't really sense it being an eyesight thing, as I think it was Melinda suggested, but she seems fine everywhere else, that said I will certainly have the vet check that out next time she's in. I have more of a sense that she probably slipped there trying to get around Shadow (she's also afraid to walk too close to Shadow even though Shadow could care less, but she tends to try to sneak by her then bolt) one day and now is afraid of that piece of floor. I'm certainly going to get a piece of carpet and try that first.

In case anyone is interested it's called Show Foot. I looked at it this week and it says "harmful if swallowed." However it is for dogs. :confused:

[url]http://www.showdogstore.com/bio-groom-show-foot.aspx[/url]

DD, Moocher could see a fly on a tree 50 feet away and go after it...it was when she tried to look down to walk on the flooring that was screwed up....just something to think about

Thanks for the info Longblades and Melinda. She's still very nervous about the doorway, but has stopped crying about going over it. Now she's just nervous and tentative but she crosses. Most of the time. I will definitely ask her vet about it when she goes in again, but at this point I'm not taking her in to have it checked. Not yet anyhow. If it was on all the floors or doorways for sure. I still think she slipped here probably. She slips in the kitchen when she runs too fast to get to the door, and she knows this, so sometimes when she knows we're going out she'll stand and look and the floor and make a false start or two (because she knows she's going to slip) and then finally the need to rush to the door overtakes her and she runs anyhow, and slips... But going for a walk is worth it!