alysiama86 need help to clarify doubt about: : Can you teach a puppy not to be afraid of the vacuum cleaner?
My boxer puppy is only 7 weeks old and she is terrified every time I turn on the vacuum cleaner. I feel horrible! My husband would hold her to try and comfort her, but a friend of mine told us not to “baby” her or she would never get used to it. What should I do? We are new to this, and I would appreciate some advice from others with more experience in dealing with puppy beahavior!
Try this:
Answer by hellokitty85
Ya, you should make it fun for him. The older he gets the better it gets. My kid was scarred at first also, but I let him touch the vacuum and I would turn it off when he would cry hard, and hold him. He got used to it fast.
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Your friend is right, by babying her you make her feel like there is something wrong and she needs to be protected. By ignoring her she realizes that other people are not freaking out and she has nothing to fear. By the way, I know that this has little to do with your question, but if a dog is less than 8 weeks old when it is taken home, then it is more prone to fear aggression, and she is already showing fear, when she turns into an adult it could turn into aggression. Socialize her constantly until she is an adult to make sure she doesn’t become fearful of people.
Every time you turn it on, give her a tiny treat. Do this a few times in a row. Dogs don’t really perceive holding as comforting — that’s a primate thing.
Next week begins her fear imprint period, where she will associate any unpleasantness with random phenomena. Try to keep her life happy and stressfree from 8 to 11 weeks.
It just takes times, lol. My dog now wont move when I vacuum, I got too close yesterday and got some of the fur on his tail in there for a second before he decided that he didn’t like that and moved, lol.