Scaredy dog

mbgood

Has anyone else ever experienced sudden onset irrational fear with their bullies? Murphy is 15 months old, and suddenly this weekend, as she turned to walk out of the kitchen, where she is constantly underfoot, her feet slipped a bit on the linoleum floor. She ran out like a shot, skittering along the way. Now she seems fearful of walking through the kitchen at all, though it is where her food and water are given and is on the way to the back yard (necessary!). 

Her nails were ground last weekend, so it's not that. I have wood floors and ceramic tile, with and without area rugs in the rest of the house--no issues. My last bully (Piggy) was also afraid of walking through the kitchen, and sometimes would "forget," then realize whee she was and slowly back out of the room. I'm beginning to wonder if I have a kitchen ghost!

The picture was taken a month ago--no fear then!

BulliesofNC

I have yet to hear of any Bull Terrier having a fear of a particular type of floor. However, it isn't impossible that he somehow developed a form of phobia with the flooring that scares him. I would try and put a runner or throw rug down in the area to see if he starts using it in order to enter and exit the kitchen.

philsergeant

I can only think it might have something to do with the nails..... The reason I say this is; A) as Steve says, it's kinda unheard of to have a bullie "afraid" of any floor surface, and I don't think "afraid" is the word..... I can't think of much that our bullies are afraid of in life, besides upsetting us, and not appreciating the vacuum cleaner... but they are not afraid... They just don't like it.... They also don't like wet grass, unless they can roll and romp in it, or smelly grass... if some other creature has messed in it.. so often they will literally leap, 95% vertical and 5% horizontal to get off of it. Murphy probably doesn't like the way his new nails don't give him traction, or make a sound/ feeling on it, and he would rather just avoid it. I don't think he is "Scardy"

mbgood

I sense Smurf just didn't like the feeling of loss of control, as her feet were slipping out from under her with no traction as she tried to scoot away. She wants to be the boss of her domain. 

I did toss down a couple of rugs in the middle of the floor, and she will walk from one to the next to go through the room now (thanks, Steve!). Sort of like when we were kids and jumped from the couch cushions to the chair cushions to not step in the "hot lava" that was the carpet!

mbgood

Well, here it is a couple weeks later, and things have gotten worse. It turns out, Murphy is not afraid of walking through the kitchen, as I first feared, it's more of a fear of walking through DOORWAYS in general. I had just noticed it in the kitchen first because it is in the center of my house, surrounded by all other rooms. there are 4 doorways, plus the basement steps that enter in to the kitchen, 3 of them are standard door-opening size and one is about 8 feet wide opening to the family room. That is the only one that she will walk through. And now I am seeing that she cowers and shakes when confronted with walking through any other doorway, too. It doesn't matter the floor surface (wood floors in dining room and living room, carpet in hallway, etc.). She just stands there looking terrified. This only started last month--no idea what started it or how to proceed. I have tried coaxing her with a "fun" voice, praise, favorite treats, etc. but she is clearly upset. Her nails are a good length, no changes that I can think of.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom?!! I am getting desperate!

Quinnofhearts

I have seen other dogs with fear of flooring or tile, just haven't seen a bullie have it. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I think in the case of fear of flooring, a dog can't tell what it's about to step on and doesn't trust the surface, especially on shiny floors like tile or stepping from carpet to tile. With these other dogs I have seen with this, no amount of coaxing or pulling could get them on the tile, and when they finally stepped on it they either had a sudden inability to walk correctly or they cowered or moved fearfully until they could get off of it.

Wondering, does Murphy spend any time in closed in spaces like a crate? If she does will she go into that willingly? Just thought maybe the walls being close together could scare her or something. Is she afraid of doors at any other locations (pet store, friends houses, etc)? If not maybe you do have a ghost... :-SS

mbgood

Murphy is crate trained. She has a big crate in my room that she sleeps in, and even though I now leave the door open, it is her "den" and she goes in willingly and sometimes even on her own just to nap or chew an antler. I also have a smaller travel kennel in my car that she has to be in to go to the dog park and dog food store, etc., so she associates that with fun. It definitely seems like it has less to do with the actual surface of the floor, except that once she finds herself already on a more slippery surface, like tile, she wants to hurry off of it and skitters in place (like a cartoon). While amusing for the observer, it really makes her more scared.

Quinnofhearts

Did you mean to say that it has more to do with the surface of the floor?

If she's not afraid of crates or small spaces I guess we can rule out any kind of claustrophobia or tight spaces caused by the walls... Have you tried putting down a rug over the tile?

mbgood

Yes, I put throw rugs everywhere (it looks ridiculous).  But it seems to be the actual act of walking through a standard-size doorway. Some doors in my house are a threshold between wood floor and carpet, some tile and wood, some wood to wood--doesn't seem to matter. She'll be perfectly normal, playing around in the room (any room) then freezes if she starts to follow me and realizes she has to walk through a doorway. This has only been going on for a few weeks, she was not crazy before this. I did determine yesterday that she was worse right when I got home from work (she had been napping in a bedroom, but not crated) then much, much better when we returned from a long exuberant romp at the dog park (she goes there around 4-5 times a week). I have even Googled "My dog is afraid of doorways" and there are surprisingly many entries.

Quinnofhearts

Haha, well this seems to be an interesting problem... At least others have experienced it! I hope you can either find a solution or maybe she will overcome her fears.

ACES5

My blue  nose pit bull terrier has had the same experience. She seems to associate the floor and the area with the trauma that made her so scared. She walked so cautiously every time she would walk on and would often cry. I know you put rugs down, we did also there wasn't much improvement from this, but I would put her on a lead and walk her on them and other areas of the house so that she saw it as a pleasurable experience. Lots of treats and praise. another thing I noticed it was the amount of emotion that we were putting out for the whole thing too. we made a big deal out of it so I think she was apt to react accordingly.

Djammy

The other day I watched an episode about a dog trainer - sadly it was a german broadcast, otherwise I would have tried to find it to post it here. The trainer was called into a house where the very friendly and outgoing dog suddenly changed completely, once he stepped near certain areas of the house. Outside and in other areas he behaved normal. Those certain areas he refused to walk through or stay in.

The trainer first considered suggesting the same thing with area rugs and getting him slowly used to that. After he had excluded any physical problems of the dog and just watched him for a while around the house, he came to another conclusion: He told the owner that the dog may have had a bad experience in a certain area of the house, something painful, startling or else. It may have been just a tiny moment that left a big impression.

As this very likely happened unnoticed by the owner and due to the dog's age, the trainer did not see much of a chance to successfully work on it. As the dog was happy in all other areas, he suggested to leave the situation as is was and just let the dog choose where he feels comfortable. Even if that meant, that he will never climb on the sofa to watch tv with the family, because he was avoiding the living room.

I know that must sound discouraging. But actually I am telling it to you for quite the opposite reason.

If you have been trying several things, including rugs and luring with treats and are not successful with it yet, something like that may be the reason. On the downside this can mean you will just have to live with it. On the upside, as long as it does not include the entire house and your dog is otherwise happy, maybe you can just learn to live with it. Maybe rearranging one or the other furniture in your home or something can even help to create more spots to get together.

Don't feel sad because you have to deal with that issue. your dog is obviously not the only one. And even humans have their fears. It's not the end of the world.

mbgood

Update on Crazy Murphy (aka Smurf): She is much better now and is back to just avoiding the kitchen specifically, not all doorways. But not all of the time. It's like she forgets that she's scared sometimes and will trot right through to chase a ball, then remembers, freezes, and backs out. I gave up on the throw rugs. Sometimes she will just stop inside the doorway and refuse to budge and I have to go carry her scaredy self to the next room.

 

@Djammy I suspect she had a skittering, unsafe footing experience a while back on the kitchen floor which either scared her, hurt her, or both. 'Cause when she does pass through the kitchen, she walks carefully, then really picks up the pace in the next room. Quirky, yet lovable, that's Smurf!

philsergeant

At least she's worked out a strategy as to how to handle it... after a while I am sure it'll go away.

Djammy

@mbgood
I am really happy for you that your sweety seems to have started to handle the situation.

Hope, everything keeps getting better!

I love Djamila especially for all of her quirks! That's just the way they are!

mbgood

Ha! I just ran across this old thread and thought I'd give a 4-months-later update.

Whatever was scaring Murphy has been long forgotten. She got over her fear completely and walks or runs wherever she wants to anywhere in the house, and we no longer have throw rugs everywhere. 

Just had a crazy spell, I guess, as we never did figure out what caused it or what made it better. Maturity helped?

philsergeant

Musta been Global Warming :-)... Glad she is over it.

abau004

That’s great news...can only add my Boy Jinx had similar issues --I would find him hiding behind a chair shivering ....no idea why. Now that’s his a year old all forgotten...I think he scared himself looking into the pool...

stephbeau444

Just found this. 2 days ago my bully started to become afraid of the kitchen. His food is in there. It started in the blink of an eye. Just as the dog above! And today, day 3, he won't go thru doorways. I have left his food in the kitchen because he is food driven. Idk what to do. Hopefully this will pass, any suggestions!?

philsergeant

You gotta put your Inspector Clouseau cap on and work out what happened 3 days ago.... there must have been some trigger... My dogs won't go near dog poop, they jump 2 yards around it... but they love deer poop....It's all in the smell, which we can't smell... Could a slice of pepperoni have rolled under the fridge about 3 weeks ago?  It's either some smell or some experience that happened to them, or you, in there. They know the meaning of "upset".

BulliesofNC

stephbeau444 - I've heard about others that had the same issue with their Bull Terrier being afraid of a certain room. Come to find out it wasn't the room but the actual floor which caused them stress possibly due to a near fall or slip. Often it's the ceramic tile that may be the culprit. try putting a throw rug down and see if it helps.

Kf2112

My Monty is similar. It is the craziest thing. We have one step up (dark hard wood) from the foyer to the main hallway and the kitchen the family room. Both steps as a pup he had no issues with. He's 14 months old and he has now decided he is afraid of those two steps. Not even the greatest treat will tempt him. He'll put his two front paws up and whine or bark for help up. He has no issue with the stone steps in the back or front of the house. I have to walk over get him to walk back five feet and let him get momentum but he won't do it alone. He is generally afraid if the wood stairs. He's never tried to go up or downstairs in our house which us fine with me...white hair gets everywhere already. It is obviously the surface but it's so strange. It happens about 70% of the time now. I also tried to put down rugs to see if it was because he felt it slippery but nothing. Crazy bully. You see him overthinking it.