# Vacuum Cleaner Aggression



## TassoGSD (Mar 9, 2013)

****.o - We are having an issue with Tasso and the vacuum cleaner. He gets absolutely crazy when he sees it in the vestibule and when we are vacuuming the floors. This morning he got himself all worked up that he threw up in his crate. My wife has to put him in there when she vacuums otherwise he is attacking it. He is starting to bark at the blender now as well. I know he is just a baby, 19 weeks, but we cant seem to calm him down. 

There is the whisper methods of using the pinch collar or e-collar-really dont want to have to go that extreme with him at this age-but nothing seems to calm him with this.

Any suggestions?


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## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

Don't use those on a baby! Put treats on the 'offending' object (while it's off) to introduce. Distract while it's on with focus, rewards, etc. I had one boy who chased the vacuum. However, it wasn't aggression, he was just a jerk. Didn't start that until he was several years old. Ruined one!  So I started correcting him for it. However, if I wasn't standing there... he'd do it anyway. Like I said, he was a jerk. This is a baby who needs some confidence that everything isn't going to eat it.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Have someone run the vac and you or your wife do some fun obedience with him...because he's teething I wouldn't play tug, but that was my other suggestion(redirect his focus to something positive) The crate may cause some frustration because he feels 'trapped' and a line may make him feel the same way. So I'd just go on another floor or room of your home with vac on, and get him desensitized to the sounds thru things he knows(positions?)
None of my dogs has this problem. Usually Karlo will get a toy and play with it as I run the vaccuum around him(after I've put all the toys in the toybox) My other dogs could care less, because I vaccuum so often, it is a normal occurrence.


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## jessac (Oct 29, 2012)

My puppy used to attack the vacuum. I'd either ignore it, use it in short bursts and let him get close and investigate it in between (treats on the vacuum helped entice him) or, if my husband was home, he'd play with him while I vacuumed. I think the vacuum can be overwhelming between the weird sight of it, all the smells it puts out and the loud sound. It's loud and has a distinct smell to me, so imagine if you had better senses, it would probably freak you out a little too. Eventually my pup settled down, although sometimes even when it wasn't dirty, I'd turn it on for just a second, or I'd leave it out for him to investigate for a couple days, but eventually he got used to it. Now, it does sometimes give him the zoomies or he'll leave the room and go chew his toys in another room, but he's not scared anymore. Now he just tries to chase the dust mop...

I agree that the crate might be making things worse. I would let him run away and come close when I had it out.


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## TassoGSD (Mar 9, 2013)

Thanks. It's new to us as well. This is the first dog either of us had that reacted this way. Our other one would just get up and go to a different room or make you vacuum around him. We thought it was funny at first but we want to stop before it gets to be a bigger problem. 


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I clean homes for my income and there is a Briard pup at one. I let him out of his crate when I can supervise, but after the second time of him seeing, barking at the vac I put him in his crate. He's fine in there and doesn't get wonky, just chills. Though I've found when I do leave him out(supervised) he destroys his toys or constantly is working on a rawhide. His owner over indulges him with so much....I'd never, ever let my dogs see his digs/toys. I felt bad that he killed a bottle crunch toy while I was there yesterday and wondered if it was my presence that made him want to shred it. Here is a photo of Henry!
Fetching the neighbors newspaper 








and his adorable huge paw


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## mamma6 (Feb 9, 2013)

TassoGSD said:


> ****.o - We are having an issue with Tasso and the vacuum cleaner. He gets absolutely crazy when he sees it in the vestibule and when we are vacuuming the floors. This morning he got himself all worked up that he threw up in his crate. My wife has to put him in there when she vacuums otherwise he is attacking it. He is starting to bark at the blender now as well. I know he is just a baby, 19 weeks, but we cant seem to calm him down.
> 
> There is the whisper methods of using the pinch collar or e-collar-really dont want to have to go that extreme with him at this age-but nothing seems to calm him with this.
> 
> Any suggestions?


I hope you do get some suggestions, b/c we have the same problem. Sort of...b/c I haven't had the guts to vacuum yet and we've had our dog 2 weeks! He barks and paces around at the blender, electric pencil sharpener and coffee grinder. I keep hoping he'll get used to these sounds before I break out the big guns. I keep dust mopping and sweeping, but with this shed monster, I NEED to vacuum!!! And soon!

I've heard the suggestion to put the thing on the floor and let them investigate it. I did that with the pencil sharpener and he grabbed the whole dang thing to drag it to his crate, spilling shavings everywhere. He bit the blender, too. lol! Maybe I just need to man up and try vacuuming, but I'm not looking forward to it.


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## Midnight12 (Jan 6, 2012)

They just need sometime to get use to these sounds. My last gsd, would go up and attack the vac when I first turned on and then look at me like ok I show it whos boss and then walk away and lie down for the rest of the time I was using it.


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## Sitz&Platz (Oct 20, 2012)

I second the treats! My puppy didn't trust the vacuum at first, but then I just started dropping treats randomly, while vacuum cleaning without saying anything or acknowledging my dogs. Now, both of my dogs come running when I vacuum clean, hoping that there will be some treats falling out of my pocket magically. If the treats don't appear, they just lay down, and I have to vacuum around them.  

I'm not a fan of Cesar Milan, at all. The most important thing to establish with your puppy is trust. I've noticed that Dexter looks to me, when he's unsure about something, and when I'm calm, he stays calm. You won't establish trust with e-collars and alpha rolls in my opinion. If you are afraid of something and you get zapped by an e-collar when exposed to the frightening situation, how much more afraid would you be?


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## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

I hope all of these pups didn't come from breeders!  Grim was exposed to just about everything as a pup... so he was rock solid even with new loud sounds.


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## mamma6 (Feb 9, 2013)

Jag said:


> I hope all of these pups didn't come from breeders!  Grim was exposed to just about everything as a pup... so he was rock solid even with new loud sounds.


I can't speak for everyone else, but Krok is a retired TSA bomb dog. Not sure all the training he's been through. But I know the airport is not a quiet place. And he lived with his handler, so unless he never vacuumed, you'd think Krok would be used to it. ; ) He's almost 9.

I have company coming this weekend, so I have to vacuum......I will try the treat thing......and report back how it goes! At least I don't have a vacuum bag he can rip.....it's all hard plastic, so if he bites it, I don't think he can break it!
FX and thanks for the suggestions to the op! I'm going to use them.

To the op.....how is it going? What things have you tried so far?


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## Sitz&Platz (Oct 20, 2012)

Jag said:


> I hope all of these pups didn't come from breeders!  Grim was exposed to just about everything as a pup... so he was rock solid even with new loud sounds.


A lot has to do with solid nerves. In puppy class, the instructor dropped a filled metal bowl to assess the degree of reactivity. Dexter basically napped through that with one ear moving slightly. He probably thought "There goes clumsy mom again, dropping a pot".  

However, I find that during the fear stages, even familiar sounds can suddenly make puppies uncomfortable, and redirecting the nervousness is really important, before it turns into fear/panic.

A personal experience: When I took my Lab puppy to a dog park for the first and last time, he got so muddy and dirty that I had to put him into an empty moving box (open of course) to avoid getting my backseat dirty. I was upset when he tried to climb out, and the whole experience must have scared him so much that he got really scared of moving boxes. It took me forever to recondition him with lots of treats and 3 moves.  He didn't have weak nerves, on the contrary, he turned into a very sound and solid adult. 

It was just a case of a stupid owner scaring the heck out of him.


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## TassoGSD (Mar 9, 2013)

I agree with not being a fan of the Ceaser Milan methods in most cases, especially a 19 week old baby. This poor thing would be getting zapped every 3 minutes the way he gets into things. He is also a barker, but everything is new to him. Ours was the first house that he was in. The breeder has the dogs in a kennel, which was bigger and nicer than someNYC apartments, but he was socialized with her 7 year old son and others. He does bark and nip at my son at times, mostly play with me or you look big enough take me out. 


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## mamma6 (Feb 9, 2013)

I tried the treat thing with the electric ice cream maker last night and it actually went pretty well.

I had plenty of treats and when he barked I put him in a sit and gave him a treat. When he sits, he doesn't bark. I did it a few times, talking to him calmly and happily in between so he would know this whole thing was nothing.

We were able to finish out the 25 minutes of it running with only a couple minor walk throughs and barks.....for the most part, he left it be. So yeah!!!

Gonna try the vacuum today........OP, I'll let you know how it goes!!!

Dee


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