Scared and hiding!

This morning we were all in the kitchen getting breakfast and feeding the pets. Our electric bissell broom fell over and made a loud crash right next to where we were. Nobody was hit by it, just startled us. Cody was there waiting for his food. This broom is there all the time, gets used frequently, and has never been a problem. Well....he took off upstairs and hid in our closet. It's been almost 2 hrs. now. I've physically carried him down, put him at his bowl, and he turns, looks around, and runs back up to the closet! What the heck? Is he going to get over it? I put the broom away, but he still won't eat at his bowl. Brought him down twice now.....help!

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Permalink Reply by Bogart the Cardigan on January 17, 2013 at 12:15pm

Perhaps you can take him for a walk to take his mind of the "scary broom" ?

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Permalink Reply by Beth on January 17, 2013 at 12:16pm

Put a leash on him, take him outside for a walk, then get a handful of cheese and hotdogs and just walk him around the general area popping food in his mouth the whole time. Take him out of the room, back into the room, back out. DON'T force him to stay there, do use the cheese in front of his nose as a lure to encourage him to walk through. Be calm and act like nothing much is up.

The outside walk is to burn off the stress hormones and let him relax first before you start.

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Snickmom on January 18, 2013 at 9:32pm

My 10 year old spaniel was in the laundry room with me this morning when I knocked an empty bucket off the counter- it banged right in front of him. He didn't even flinch. This is the dog that hides under the desk at my feet if it is windy outside, and whines and shakes if the smoke alarm beeps. Go figure. You have gotten good advice, Cody will be fine. After some time has passed, you might want to start desensitizing him to noises. Have someone make a noise far away from him while you treat or praise him and slowly bring him closer to the noise. Don't do too much at once, and if he is uncomfortable make the noise further away next time. Keep it fun with no stress. He will start to associate noises with good things.

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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Unsell & CODY on January 18, 2013 at 10:20pm

Thanks everyone! Gosh, he has never before had an issue like this, and has been around noises and kids, vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, etc! That stick broom scared the daylights out of him. He came downstairs but ran back up when he heard me take it out of the pantry. Today, I took it outside and ran it on the mat by the back door. He didn't flinch. Just sat there. I think he's OK now that I used it by him in a different place. Who knows?! Poor guy, he just couldn't tell me how he felt! Funny corgi.....!!!!