As part of a series of articles on caring for your puppy, expert dog behaviourist Lisa Hird from the Dog Behaviour Clinic provides advice on how to help your puppy Feel Good about the many things that you have around the home.
To learn more about Lisa's background, experience, qualifications and services visit her website: dogbehaviourclinic
STAGE ONE
1. Make it all Feel Good. Put your puppy on her mat or in her puppy den and give her a stuffed frozen Kong or similar long-lasting treat. Bring the vacuum cleaner into the same room as your puppy but DON’T TURN IT ON.
2. When she looks up at it, praise her. If she goes back to her Kong and does not seem bothered by the vacuum cleaner, move it a little closer to her.
3. If she does not move away, or show any anxiety, praise her.
4. Gradually move the vacuum cleaner closer and closer, as long as she is still showing signs that she is ok with it, until it is right next to her. If she sniffs at it, praise her (you can give her a tiny, tasty treat as well to make the experience feel even better).
5. Take the vacuum cleaner away calmly and put it away.
6. Leave her to finish her Kong then let her out of her puppy pen once she is calm.
7. If she shows any uncertainty at all during this process, move the vacuum cleaner further away from her but do not make a fuss of her. This kind of reassuring around worrying things creates anxious puppies – what she needs is an upbeat, cheery approach from you. As soon as she is eating her Kong and relaxed around the vacuum cleaner you can go back to step 2 and follow each step, always checking that she is calm and relaxed.
REMEMBER to leave the vacuum cleaner turned off throughout Stage one. Your puppy needs to adjust to it being silent at first so that she is not afraid of it.
STAGE TWO
1. Put your puppy in her puppy den and give her a stuffed frozen Kong.
2. Put the vacuum cleaner in another room, (possibly upstairs if you already know that your puppy is easily startled by loud noises) and turn it on.
3. Go into the room with your puppy and praise her if she continues chewing the Kong and shows no uneasiness about the noise of the hoover.
4. If she is comfortable with the noise and continues chewing her Kong, move the hoovercloser to her room, but don’t bring it inside.
5. Before she finishes her Kong, turn the vacuum cleaner off. Leave it just outside the roomso that she can investigate it when she comes near it.
6. Let her finish the Kong and then let her out of her puppy den once she is calm.
7. Praise and give her a tiny, tasty treat if she approaches or touches the vacuum cleaner.
8. If she does look uneasy at any time, just crouch near her, and smile at her. Do not say anything. The instant she goes back to chewing her Kong, praise her, and give her a tiny, tasty treat to boost the Feel Good of the experience.
9. If she trembles, looks anxious, whines or tries to move away from you or the sound of the vacuum cleaner, turn your head away from her, count to 5, then go and move the vacuum cleaner further away into another room.
10. Come back into her room and repeat steps 1 -4. If the noise is still overwhelming her, go and turn the vacuum cleaner off, and repeat steps 5 and 6 of STAGE ONE. When you next repeat socialising with a vacuum cleaner, go back to the beginning of STAGE ONE for a couple of days.
11. You can then build-up to STAGE TWO again, but make sure the vacuum cleaner is several rooms away so that it isn’t too loud. It is very rare that a puppy has such an extreme response as this, and if she does, contact me so that I can help you with her response to noises.
STAGE 3
1. Repeat steps 1 to 7. This time, you can move the vacuum cleaner up and down outside the door to the room she is in. Remember to stop the exercise before she finishes her Kong.
2. If she looks at all uneasy, either move the vacuum cleaner further away, or turn it off. Try to remember not to fuss her or give her attention for being nervous. Then praise her when she can look calmly at the vacuum cleaner.
STAGE 4
1. Repeat steps 1 to 7 but bring the vacuum cleaner inside the room where your puppy is eating her Kong. If she is comfortable, you can move it up and down a little bit inside the door, but do not bring it too close to her.
2. If she continues to ignore it, you can gradually move it closer to her, but NEVER have a vacuum cleaner closer than about 2 metres to a dog unless you can guarantee they are completely unbothered by it. They are noisy machines and dogs’ hearing is over 100 times more sensitive than ours, so very few dogs like vacuum cleaners.
KEEP THE VACUUM CLEANER AWAY from your puppy if she is stressed by it and arrange to do the vacuuming when she is out of the house or in the car (supervised by somebody, with a stuffed frozen Kong) until she’s comfortable around it.
Noise-sensitive dogs can be de-sensitised to anything, but it does take time and it is vital that you take things very slowly with your puppy if she shows any uncertainty around loud noises.
You can use the above method with many things that you have around the home, such as:
- Washing machine – obviously, with stationary objects you need to move your puppy closer to them, rather than move the object!
- Dishwasher
- Hair dryer
- Wheelie bin
- Noises on the TV (this method is particularly good when you hear barking dogs on the TV)
- Door bell
- People dropping and breaking things – you can try this method with somebody dropping a saucepan lid, starting with them doing it in another room!
