hello! My little girl recently turned 8 mos. and has been acting skittish and strange lately. She has been spayed. I’ve read about fear stages and wondering if she’s going through one...if not I’m wondering if my place is haunted and she’s seeing ghosts that I don’t..haha! I live in a one bedroom apartment and there are certain spots that all of the sudden she is scared of, and those areas will change day to day, sometimes several times a day. She typically follows me around and likes to be in the same room as me, but sometimes she’ll get “stuck” in an area because she’s too scared to continue following me...like there’s an imaginary barrier that’s stopping her. Like she will paw at this imaginary barrier and whimper for a while before she finally gets the guts and scurries over that spot...I have wood floors so her legs will go all over the place like she’s trying to run on ice... I don’t know how else to describe it. She will do this in the strangest places...like in the middle of the living room, not just door ways. Or today she was wanting to get off of the couch but scared. Is this a bizarre fear stage????
Bizarre. Not sure if I can help, but here goes. I have some hypotheses: Does she exhibit the strange behaviour when she is walking on areas covered with rugs and mats? Polished floors do not provide a good surface for dogs to walk on, particularly if her nails have not been worn down by walking. Consequently, I would check the length of her nails. Another theory. Could she be hearing mice in the floor and wall cavities? Since the mice move that might explain why the spots associated with her odd behaviour change over the course of a day? Is her strange behaviour displayed at anyone else's home? If so, I would ask a vet to check her over.
Hi there, As it happens (and I wasn't sure if I'd ever get to signpost someone to this!) we have an article on our main site called "Can Dogs See Ghosts?", and it explores all the things which we don't notice outside or around the home, but which might spook our pets. I'm afraid it boils down to a lot of trial an error and guesswork, but hopefully you might find some ideas there. Good luck and please let us know if you solve the mystery!
I agree with Michael, a good starting point would be to buy some rubber-backed vet bed or similar, and put it down in as many locations as possible. Get hall runners for halls and rugs. Try to provide as much traction as possible for the dog. Slipping about everywhere is scary in itself, so it's possible there's a bit of a vicious circle going on - she has slipped in the past, so she is afraid of slipping, but the fear makes her run fast - which makes slipping happen... and so on. So I'd try providing her with loads of traction and grip and then report back if that doesn't work...
