Corgi afraid of vacuum.....deathly afraid! Advice anyone?

My baby Corgi Hunny has been afraid of the vacuum since the day I got her. I'm a bit of a clean freak so I try to thoroughly vacuum at least once a week and lightly about 2-3 times a week. As far as I know she has never EVER had a bad experience with a vacuum, but I didn't get her until she was three months old.

Any suggestions on how to get her to warm up to it?

As soon as I take it out she literally runs and hides. I'll put her in a room where I am not vacuuming and check on her every few minutes. Sometimes she'll be shaking. It tears me apart! My friend watched her one day and decided to vacuum. Hunny ran in her room and relieved herself on the bed (we think out of fear).

I'm so worried that she will work her little heart up too much. Maybe I can try leaving the vacuum out - in her sight - for a week without turning it on (uggg, I can see the Corgi hair pile up now! lol)?

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on April 1, 2011 at 11:57pm

I think Sam's idea of the bathroom is a good idea. I would get a toy you can put some nice food in, like a Kong and smear peanut butter or cheese inside it, and I would run the vacuum in the most distant room, at the lowest setting or speed ( just in place, for the noise factor), while you are in the bathroom with the dog. If you have another person to turn it on, great. They need not vacuum, just let it run for a short time, two or three minutes to begin with. While in the bathroom, run water, brush teeth, clean, whatever, but ignore the dog. You need to act as if nothing unusual is going on. Then leave the dog, telling it to "stay there", go and turn off the vacuum, then return to open the bathroom door, all very matter of fact. The dog will associate your leaving with the noise eventually stopping. As the dog gets used to this routine, take longer to come back, while the vacuum runs, until you can actually vacuum one room. Start this training twice a day, every day. In a week or so, you should notice less fear, then you can drop down to once a day. When you get to a normal schedule, always put the dog in the bathroom while you vacuum with the special toy/treat. If you keep going back to check every few minutes, you will make the dog more anxious because you are anxious yourself, even if for a different reason. As far as the dog is concerned, you too are anxious about the vacuum!

A radio in the bathroom with talk or soft music (not loud) may also help.