Weird things your dog is afraid of
- Thread starter Laurelin
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Brooms, mops, and swiffers. Literally his only fears, and I have no idea why. Maybe too many fell on him when he was a puppy zooming around the house, and maybe he's just weird.
He'll always get up and move when we pick up a broom, and goes out of his way to avoid them indoors. But when we ask him to touch it he'll still do it (reluctantly).
LMAO :rofl1:
He'll always get up and move when we pick up a broom, and goes out of his way to avoid them indoors. But when we ask him to touch it he'll still do it (reluctantly).
LMAO :rofl1:
Gusto is afraid of dead things. He won't tug on real fur tugs, and he is terrified if there is a dead animal on the trail when we are hiking.
There was a dead beaver on the path of one of our favorite trails this spring, and it took about 3 months (long after the beaver and any obvious signs of it were gone) for him to be able to walk down the path. Before that, he'd cut into the woods probably 20 yards before we reached it, run through the woods out of sight, and meet me on the other side. It took me a couple of hikes to even realize what he was doing, because he'd turn off so far before we reached the spot.
Meg's afraid of flies in the house, but I think that is because one time, without thinking, I swatted one while she was in the room.
There was a dead beaver on the path of one of our favorite trails this spring, and it took about 3 months (long after the beaver and any obvious signs of it were gone) for him to be able to walk down the path. Before that, he'd cut into the woods probably 20 yards before we reached it, run through the woods out of sight, and meet me on the other side. It took me a couple of hikes to even realize what he was doing, because he'd turn off so far before we reached the spot.
Meg's afraid of flies in the house, but I think that is because one time, without thinking, I swatted one while she was in the room.
Jackson is scared of the "alert" (that's the name of it) sound on the iPhone. It even plays on a commercial that comes on often and he typically will get off the bed if he was laying on it and go under it lol.
He's scared of fireworks and gun shots and anything remotely sounding like them -- though I guess that's not terribly uncommon in dogs. And thunder.
He is scared of flies. Well I guess more so fly swatters but when he sees a fly flying around, he knows a fly swatter will likely come out at some point, so he will go and hide.
He's kind of sort of afraid of fire. He will willingly lay by our wood stove fireplace though all the time but it's "closed" and not an open fire. The crackle and pops of a big fire in the fire pit outside freaks him out and he won't get too close. When we are camping, he usually wants to stay in the RV during nightly fire-side time, poor dude.
Lots of smoke. A few yrs back my mom set off the smoke alarm after cooking in the oven and then it happened again like 3 days later. So now he equates smoke with smoke alarm lol.
He's such a quirk.
He's scared of fireworks and gun shots and anything remotely sounding like them -- though I guess that's not terribly uncommon in dogs. And thunder.
He is scared of flies. Well I guess more so fly swatters but when he sees a fly flying around, he knows a fly swatter will likely come out at some point, so he will go and hide.
He's kind of sort of afraid of fire. He will willingly lay by our wood stove fireplace though all the time but it's "closed" and not an open fire. The crackle and pops of a big fire in the fire pit outside freaks him out and he won't get too close. When we are camping, he usually wants to stay in the RV during nightly fire-side time, poor dude.
Lots of smoke. A few yrs back my mom set off the smoke alarm after cooking in the oven and then it happened again like 3 days later. So now he equates smoke with smoke alarm lol.
He's such a quirk.
Auggie fears nothing. Really. Biggest balls dog I have ever known. I love him.
Payton doesn't really "fear" things but he doesn't like change. Very much like me. Although he has gotten WAY better about it in the past year or two, but before, guaranteed he would growl and look suspiciously at new things. I bought a new lamp and THAT WAS UNACCEPTABLE BECAUSE IT IS DIFFERENT. He doesn't really care much anymore unless it's something wildly peculiar or different... and even then it might be worth a growl or might just be worth a suspicious glare-and-sniff.
Pepper, well, it's too much to list (living..?) but Pepper's biggest fear right now is ceiling fans. If they are turned on she is afraid of them. Then if you turn it off she is afraid of it. The horrified, fixated staring at the ceiling fans is actually what has me seriously considering finally sking for some meds for her.
Payton doesn't really "fear" things but he doesn't like change. Very much like me. Although he has gotten WAY better about it in the past year or two, but before, guaranteed he would growl and look suspiciously at new things. I bought a new lamp and THAT WAS UNACCEPTABLE BECAUSE IT IS DIFFERENT. He doesn't really care much anymore unless it's something wildly peculiar or different... and even then it might be worth a growl or might just be worth a suspicious glare-and-sniff.
Pepper, well, it's too much to list (living..?) but Pepper's biggest fear right now is ceiling fans. If they are turned on she is afraid of them. Then if you turn it off she is afraid of it. The horrified, fixated staring at the ceiling fans is actually what has me seriously considering finally sking for some meds for her.
Caleb is afraid of smoke. We have no clue why- we discovered it the first time I made pork chops after we got him. He ran onto the porch and wouldn't come back in. We didn't realize why until it was time to eat and he wouldn't go into through the kitchen to get to his x pen. For the longest time, even steam would have him leaving the kitchen. And he wouldn't get in the passenger side of the truck if it was running in the winter (the exhaust is on that side). He's gotten better- he only leaves the kitchen when I open the oven, and then he just quietly walks out and lays in the doorway, and he gets in the truck when it's running.
To be perfectly honest, Morgan has a trigger that causes him to be trembling terrified, but I have yet to figure out what it is. It's just not that frequent, and (to me thus far) it seems wildly inconsistent. I have anti-anxiety drugs for him from the vet to pop in him if I see him starting down the path, and they help... but I really have to catch it early for that to work.
The smoke detector is the only other thing I'm aware of, even just the low-battery beep, and I can't really blame him. It's loud and piercing and awful.
The smoke detector is the only other thing I'm aware of, even just the low-battery beep, and I can't really blame him. It's loud and piercing and awful.
Leo is scared of my laundry hamper. I used to have one of those lightweight mesh ones, and I think it must have fallen over when he sniffed it for the first time, because he slinks away from it and avoids it like the plague. I have since bought a sturdy completely different looking hamper and he still avoids it.
Actually, he avoids pretty much all bulky big things if they are moving. Rolling suitcases, pushed boxes, dragged trash cans are all heavily avoided. No idea why.
Oh, and fans! Though he has a good reason for that one, and he deserved it
. A few months ago he broke his stay to rush to the window to growl at a dog outside. In his haste, he bumped into the fan and it fell on him from behind. Scared the bejeezus out of him, and likely hurt to (its a pretty heavy fan).
So yeah, he is scared of anything that might fall on him.
Actually, he avoids pretty much all bulky big things if they are moving. Rolling suitcases, pushed boxes, dragged trash cans are all heavily avoided. No idea why.
Oh, and fans! Though he has a good reason for that one, and he deserved it
. A few months ago he broke his stay to rush to the window to growl at a dog outside. In his haste, he bumped into the fan and it fell on him from behind. Scared the bejeezus out of him, and likely hurt to (its a pretty heavy fan).So yeah, he is scared of anything that might fall on him.
Bubbles is really only scared of fireworks. But only sometimes.
Jari isn't scared of anything. Which is how I wanted it. Pen isn't either.
Kimma. Oh boy. Her big thing right now is lighters. Also fireworks. Today on one of our walking routes there was a trashcan laying sideways near a wooded area, and she was totally freaked. She's gotten a lot better with age, but I don't think she will ever be "free" of fears.
Jari isn't scared of anything. Which is how I wanted it. Pen isn't either.
Kimma. Oh boy. Her big thing right now is lighters. Also fireworks. Today on one of our walking routes there was a trashcan laying sideways near a wooded area, and she was totally freaked. She's gotten a lot better with age, but I don't think she will ever be "free" of fears.
Pit's afraid of me sneezing. Only me. Like dramatically afraid. I can clear him out of any room or vicinity in a split second by simply making that pre-sneeze face.
And cords, or things that resemble cords. If you circle him with a cord on the floor, it's about as effective at containing him as a crate would be.
And cords, or things that resemble cords. If you circle him with a cord on the floor, it's about as effective at containing him as a crate would be.
I was going to say Maddie's not afraid of ANYTHING! But then I saw this
Maddie's been doing this, too. But she's got one good eye and that ones starting to get cloudy
After she was attacked she went through a phase where she was afraid of large Shepherd-looking dogs, but I strongly suspect a lot of it was my fault too. But she was over that years ago. She was afriad of the smoke detector but umm yea she's deaf now so problem solved
Bailey has a lot of random fears, most of which I've been able to get her out of it. For example, she was afraid of this concrete angel statue down the road :rofl1: seriously haha. As amusing as it was we worked past it, though.
The one thing I haven't been able to work past is.... Caterpillars only because we see them sooo sporadically and when we do, they always CRAWL RIGHT UP TO HER. Like seriously, wtf random wooly bear?
She is also fearful of men.
Maddie's been doing this, too. But she's got one good eye and that ones starting to get cloudy
After she was attacked she went through a phase where she was afraid of large Shepherd-looking dogs, but I strongly suspect a lot of it was my fault too. But she was over that years ago. She was afriad of the smoke detector but umm yea she's deaf now so problem solved
Bailey has a lot of random fears, most of which I've been able to get her out of it. For example, she was afraid of this concrete angel statue down the road :rofl1: seriously haha. As amusing as it was we worked past it, though.
The one thing I haven't been able to work past is.... Caterpillars
only because we see them sooo sporadically and when we do, they always CRAWL RIGHT UP TO HER. Like seriously, wtf random wooly bear?She is also fearful of men.
Hugo isn't bothered by gunshots, fireworks, strangers, loud noises- things dogs are normally startled by. Nope. He's terrified of orange traffic cones. We turned the corner in a pet store once and they had set up a traffic cone because a fish tank had leaked all over the floor. I think just turning the corner right into it terrified him and he went nuts barking. Now he barks every time he sees one.
