Why are dogs afraid of vaccum cleaners?
I’m assuming it has something to do with the sound, but I am unsure. Also, when my dog, a female border collie springer spaniel mix, is out of her kennel during the vacuuming, she has a low, aggressive bark, When she is in her kennel, it is very high pitched and scared. Why?
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Its definitely due to the sound. When she is out of her cage she is more free to move around and knows she can hold her ground. That may be why she is more tolerant when out of the cage. When she is trapped within the cage she is vulnerable and is defenseless so she is going to be more anxious and scared.
my dog, a sheltie isn’t afraid of it at all, in fact we have to put him in his cage, otherwise he just nips the heck out of it and keeps barking etc. My other dog, another sheltie, he was afraid of it though as far as I remember, then he got old and just didn’t care anymore (he died 2 years ago), but my new dog.. hmm I could ask questions on here and hope for responses, he’s one of a kind kinda dog… (weird) really lol
Depends on the dog. None of my three care at all but they will move out of the way when it gets close.
Dogs and Cats are smart. They know that vacuum cleaners suck.
When I was young I used to run and hide under my bed when my mom brought out the vacuum. I was afraid of the noise and I’m pretty sure your dogs feel the same way.
The day after I brought home my Weim, a rescue, I had to rearrange some furniture in the living room to accomodate her crate. I spent the better part of the afternoon moving furniture and doing a thorough job vacuuming.
She spent the better part of the afternoon following me around, vacuum cleaner and all.
To this day, 2 years later, she’s still highly interested in the vacuum cleaner, and if you happen to vacuum near her while she’s lounging, you have to ask her to move, because she won’t budge! She will actually remain on the floor all spread out and let you vacuum all around her.
My other dog, a border collie/black lab, highly dislkies the vacuum. She will leave the room in a hurry, despite no negative experiences with it in her history.
My Italian Greyhound wants nothing to do with vacuum cleaners so you can count on him being nowhere to be seen when its vacuuming time. On the other hand, my Mini Dachshund immediately assumes an attack stance and barks and nips incessantly at the vacuum. Two very contrary reactions in my home.
It depends upon the animal and I don’t personally have any experience in puppy psychology to give you a good answer. Our cats are equally afraid, but they are also independently fearful of other things as well, despite having no real negative experiences with them.
All that having been said, if I had a lower IQ, coupled with heightened senses, such as most animals do, I wouldn’t be fond of an entity that makes that much noise and seemingly moves at will.
Its full on attack mode when the Oreck is fired up. He attacks like trained killer . If he is outside he will try to break through the French doors to get it. He is a terrier, and I think he does it out of fear!
Didn’t someone mention recently, in an answer to a doggy question, that he (answerer, not dog) vaccuums his dog regularly to help w. shedding problem?
Yes- I do recall that answer. Back in the 1970’s there was an attachment sold for vacuum cleaners which had a hose, collection chamber for hair and a rake like head just for vacuuming your dog. I remember this because we had a German Shepard dog and would use it on him. He liked it a lot.
Some dogs are surprisingly not affraid of vacuums. But the main reason is, is because of the high pitched frequences that only a dog (or cat) can hear, and when the vaacuum comes closer the noise gets louder thus causing them to back away
@Mrs_Dr; Isn’t volume different from frequencies? (Should you be doing your homework? A little birdie told me.)
I am guilty, as are a few others, of using creative spelling for “vacuum.“Amazing how many variations there are, like definitely
ok then the frequencies get more i don’t pressure? it’s just gets harder on their ears the closer it gets
Another thing that no one really mentioned is that the vacuum is pretty much at eye level for dogs and cats. It’s also much louder to them both because their hearing is more sensitive and because it’s physically much closer to their ears then ours. Anything that loud, possibly with lights, moving around fairly quickly on their eye level is going to warrant some attention.
@jballou ~ to them, it’s like a giant robot!
the same reason we would be afraid of a UFO….I imagine….;)
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