Does anyone else have problems with their puppy chasing and barking at vacuum cleaners and brooms?! I usually have to distract max with a kong or some other treat filled toy. He also likes to try and eat the dust pile while sweeping.
My Brogan thought brooms and hoovers were the devil. When they came out, his eyes would get big and he would try to make his very large body disappear into thin air. Personally, I didn't get it. I never beat him with a broom, honest. I had fosters that would do that chase and bite thing. Depending on how desperate I was to sweep, I'd either just remove them from the room (crate them for a short amount of time) or I'd stop all movement until the broom became boring. The latter took longer, but did the trick in getting them off the idea that it was a toy.
Yup, all mine have done, either for fun or through fear. I just treat for calmness, pop them on a raised bed and keep throwing them treats for staying on there. Shadow is still scared of the Dyson but we're working through that. He runs and hides from it though, no attacking it. We always say that he'd be a great guard dog - as long as the burglar doesn't break in with a Dyson
Max turns into the devils spawn biting at the air and chasing the vacuum. I will work on trying to get him to lay and STAY on his chair with treats while I clean. That worked when we used to have issues with him while were eating; now he lays calmly next to us. He used to bark and jump up on us in a fury at dinner time.
I clicker trained Xena to not bark at the vacuum, and that worked very quickly. Now she won't even move when I'm vacuuming and I have to clean around her - it's a pain in the neck! She barks like a maniac at the lawn mower but I don't have the patience to clicker train that - it's such a performance to get the mower out of the shed and up on the lawn that I just want to get the damned thing over and done with.
Max loves barking at the leaf blower! I think I would find it too difficult to get him to stop as leaf clean up is enough of a job in itself living in the woods. I would love to get him to stop running down to the river behind our house but I am not sure how to tackle that one. His recall isn't the best when he's got his mind set on something. We clearly need to work on that one. We don't clicker train but I do use the word yes followed by a treat which works wonders. I suppose it's somewhat similar to clicker training. I just know I could never get my boyfriend to follow along with that one.
If only we could have a conversation with our pups and talk some sense into them, but that doesn't even work with my boyfriend with the many things I try and get him to do; leaving his dirty laundry on the floor and trails of crumbs on the floor from whatever he's eating at the time. Max would be upset if he stopped with that though.
The hoover & the broom - the banes of Coco's life. I have to lock him out of the room if I'm using the extension nozzle. It's just one of those things I've never got around to tackling. I've had a half-hearted but unsuccessful attempt.
When I use the dyson, Finn guard his cuddles and place them all from his place into the room and back again. He is rather a nuisance by laying in front of the hoover.... When my oh starts to mow the lawns he is going out of his mind by barking and biting the mower. We try to let him get used to it, but after a while we take him inside, not knowing if he is afraid or just the noise that he reacts to. And he doesn’t learn from it. He does this from pup. He wasn’t afraid of the dyson, he just let me do the job. After a while it changed into his protecting behavior. Don’t know why...he does the same with brooms! Biting and attacking...barking loud
Strange little pups they are! I suppose i might do the same if i were a dog. A big loud machine moving all over the place is quite an exciting thing! Sweeping takes me over twice as long as it used to because I learned if I sweep slower he doesn't get quite as excited. I have to guard the dust pile or pick them up very frequently so that he doesn't eat them.
For me, these are behaviours I want to fix. Either because it's showing over-arousal and I want to teach my dogs to be calm, or because it's showing fear and I don't want my dogs to be afraid. Willow was an easy fix. She would bark and lunge at the vacuum from fear. I just grabbed a handful of treats and threw her the occasional one as I was vacuuming, pre-empting her barking "attacks" at the machine. Shadow is more difficult because he is more fearful and runs to hide, but I'm tackling it with LAT while J vacuums. He can now stay in the same room as it, although he's not entirely happy still, he will look to me for treats when he hears the noise. Luna was over-excited and I just played boundary games on her raised bed. The first time it took me a while to do the brushing up, but since that first time it's been really easy. I pop her on a boundary and she understands her job is to stay there (with the occasional treat) while I brush or vacuum around her. No bouncing around me, no fussing the broom or Dyson, just calmness. Perfect. If she's not on a boundary, she will still act the fool and grab at the vacuum or broom, but once she's on her place, that's that.
Maxx absolutely loves the broom and attaches himself to the broomhead and gets swept back and forwards. It's his favourite game of all. It was much easier to do when he was 8 weeks old rather than 17! But of course not much actually gets swept so we play the game for a minute then I remove him from the room. He knows I'm still sweeping and barks and carries on but I just ignore him until all the little yellow furry bits and the foliage that he loves to bring inside are gone! He isn't afraid of the vacuum; he lunges at it and runs away - all another big game. He did bite the hose once and put a hole in it. Sigh.
Max isn't afraid of the vacuum by any means. I can sometimes get him to lay down. And stay but it won't last for long. I suppose i have some work to do! Sweeping has gotten much better than it used to be. Just slow going. Snowbunny, I will work on boundaries with Max! Thanks for the tip! It's hard, because sometimes after a long day of work I just want to get my chores done quickly, but I will be sure to work on this one a bit more! It's definitely an over stimulation problem. That tends to be where most of his issues stem from. He still gets bitsy with us on he occasion, less so than he used to. There's another one to work on!!
My last one was scared of vacuum (and mower) and would just take himself off to bed. Current one tries to ride on vacuum, not mowed yet. I am more concerned about him being excited by engine sounds and wanting to run towards cars.
Oh yes, Maisy and the broom/hoe/rake/vacuum are mortal enemies. When she was in the socialisation period and I was introducing her to everything she went ballistic in the garden when I was hoeing but I got her to 'leave' with a treat each time and she stopped, brilliant, she completely ignored it. Next time I got the hoe out, all that was forgotten and I had to start from scratch. This kept happening and I just gave up. Brooms and even small brushes she will endeavour to tear out the bristles, this is even before I start sweeping so it can't be in the sweeping action itself. I don't know, it's just one of those things. Now I sweep, hoe etc. when she is not around and my OH vacuums when we are not home - lovely!
Yes, I made the mistake of playing with tiny puppy Tatze with the broom. All great fun. But now she still wants to play and her big teeth would destroy it in seconds. Lesson - don’t do with a tiny puppy what you don’t want to do with a 27Kg adult dog!
Hahaha! It seems so cute and innocent while they are little! I walked through the door today after work and for the FIRST time EVER, didn't get jumped on!! HOORAY!!! Patience and perseverance! It pays off in the end! Although I am sure he will get me back tomorrow!
