Behaviour
Under the bed, behind the washing machine, behind the sofa. A hiding dog is saying either I'm scared or it hurts, and from outside the two look the same.
Worth knowing. A dog who has suddenly started hiding, trembles, will not eat, moves stiffly, walks hunched or yelps when touched may be in pain or unwell. Before any behaviour plan, see your own vet, the same day if the signs are new.
You are lying on the floor by the bed with your phone torch on, and two eyes look back at you from the far corner. It is the third day he has come out only to eat. Maybe your version is different: he slips into the bathroom and squeezes behind the washing machine every afternoon when the kids get in from school. Or you brought a rescue home a week ago and he will not leave the gap behind the sofa, and he shakes when you come near.
A hiding dog is almost always saying one of two things. "I'm scared", or "something hurts". From the outside they look exactly alike, which is what makes this hard. Below is how to tell them apart, what to do in the first few days, and why the first thing you want to do, get him out of there, usually makes things worse.
Under the bed, behind the sofa, in the crate, in the bathroom. These spots have something in common: they are small, dark, and nothing can come at him from behind. To a dog that is the safest place in the house, and he heads there when the world around him gets to be too much.
The most obvious reason is fear of one particular thing. Thunder, fireworks, the hoover, an angle grinder on the building site over the road, visitors, children charging about, a row. He disappears when the thing shows up and comes back out once it has gone. Write down when he hides for a few days and the link usually jumps out.
Then there is the new place. After a house move, or in a new home, nothing is familiar: not the smells, not the sounds, not the people. Rescue dogs very often hide for the first few days, sometimes the first few weeks. It is normal and it passes, given time.
Some sensitive dogs pick up on tension. A new baby, a second dog, a cat, people arguing, a routine that has fallen apart. Nobody has to shout at him. A strained atmosphere is enough to send him off to his corner.
Pain and illness are the reasons owners think of last. Dogs hide weakness. If a dog who always met you at the door suddenly stays out of sight, stops jumping on the sofa and moves stiffly, he may have back, neck, belly or joint pain. Or a temperature, or nausea. We put it on this list precisely because it gets missed.
With older dogs, age comes into it. Eyesight and hearing fade, they want more quiet, and some get stuck in a corner or behind a piece of furniture and cannot work out how to get out. That can be a sign of the brain ageing.
Two more, both fairly ordinary. In summer, the floor under the bed is often the coolest in the house; a dog there is stretched out, relaxed and asleep, and you can see he is not afraid. And a dog who has been told off or punished a lot sometimes learns to leave the room at the first hint that his person is annoyed.
The big one is pulling him out. A hand reaching under the bed for him is exactly what he is hiding from. Cornered, frightened or sore, even a gentle dog can growl or bite, though he has never done it before. Yes, he comes out. Next time he hides faster and further back.
Blocking off the hiding place does not help either. He will not settle because his spot is gone; he will find another one, often a worse one. Behind the washing machine. Under a desk. Wedged between boxes.
Then there is the idea that he has to "get used to it". So you hold him on your lap next to the visitors, or leave him in the middle of the noisy kids. He goes still and looks calm. He is not calm, he is stuck, and the fear grows each time.
Calling him over and over with a treat held out is another one. Some dogs dart out, grab it and retreat straight away, tense as a spring. Others will not come out at all and just feel the pressure. Putting the food down near the hiding place and walking off works better.
Last, the opposite mistake: leaving him to get over it and not really watching. For a one-day fright, fine. For a dog who has been hiding for several days and is not himself any more, no. There may be pain behind it.
Before you think about behaviour at all, look at him the way a vet would. Is he eating and drinking? Weeing and pooing as usual? Getting up and lying down without effort? Does he yelp if you touch his back or belly? Is his head carried low, is he panting for no reason, trembling while lying down? A dog who was part of the household yesterday and is a different dog today needs to see your own vet. The specific signs are in the medical section further down.
He picked that spot as his answer to the problem, so work with it. Put a blanket that smells of home and a bowl of water in it or right next to it. Better still, give him a proper spot of his own: a crate with the door open and a sheet over the top, tucked in a quiet corner, or a high-sided bed in a room people do not walk through.
One rule for the whole family. When the dog is in his spot, nobody bothers him. Not the children, not visitors, and not you with cuddles.
Keep a diary for a week. When does he hide, for how long, and what happened just before? A noise, someone at the door, the children coming home, a heated conversation, the hoover, a storm. A pattern usually shows up within a few days. If nothing shows up and he is hidden nearly all the time, go back to step 1.
Once you know what frightens him, set up the house and the day so he runs into it less. If it is visitors, settle him in his room with something good to chew before they ring the bell. If it is the kids' noise, give them a rule: no running in the dog's room. For storms, get the most sheltered spot in the house ready in advance and put the radio on.
Sit on the floor in the same room, two or three metres from his hiding place, side-on or with your back to him, and read something. Every so often, without looking at him, toss a tasty treat towards the hiding place, about halfway.
He comes when he is ready. When he does emerge, do not grab him and do not rush in to stroke him. Talk to him softly, toss the next treat a bit further away, and let him go back if he wants to. A dog who knows he can always return to his corner comes out more often.
Frightened dogs settle when the day is predictable: meals at the same times, walks at the same times, on quiet routes. Add easy games he cannot fail. Treats hidden round the room. A cardboard box with treats tucked among scrunched-up paper. Every find gives him a little more nerve.
The first two or three weeks are for settling in; training can wait. Let him hide, keep the house calm with no visitors, and keep walks short, on a lead and a well-fitted harness, because frightened dogs back out of collars and bolt. Do not be surprised if he only eats at night for the first week. Plenty of them do.
| Day | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Check for signs of pain and book the vet if you are unsure. Set up his spot with a blanket and water. |
| 1 to 7 | Keep the diary: when he hides, how long, what happened just before. Nobody pulls him out or disturbs him there. |
| 2 to 7 | Twice a day, sit on the floor in the room and toss treats towards the hiding place. |
| 3 to 7 | Meals and walks at fixed times, plus ten minutes a day of treat-search games. |
| 7 | Read the diary back and decide: carry on yourself, see the vet or bring in a professional. |
A dog can be in pain without making a sound. Get him to your own vet the same day if, as well as hiding, he:
For a shy dog, his nose is the gentlest way back to confidence. While he is searching with his head down he does not have to look at anyone or put up with being touched. Nobody is asking anything of him. His only job is to find.
Start the treat-search games right next to his hiding place and move them a little further out each time. His own curiosity draws him out, not your hand. At our training sessions we often see shy dogs who, after a few sessions of nose work, start carrying their tails higher.
In an assessment session we watch the dog at his own pace, without pushing him. The plan we put together starts from what scares him in particular, in his home, with his people.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer.
Usually fear: storms, fireworks, visitors, new noises, an argument. But a dog who shakes and hides for no reason you can see may be in pain, feverish or nauseous, and dogs are good at hiding weakness. If you cannot find what frightened him, or it lasts more than a day, see your own vet.
Do not drag him out and do not block the spot. First check he is eating, drinking and moving normally; if not, go to the vet. Then put water and a blanket by his hiding place, keep a diary of when he hides, and coax him out by sitting on the floor and tossing treats his way.
Yes, especially in the first days and weeks. Everything is new and the hiding place is where he feels safe. Leave him there, keep the house calm with no visitors, stick to a routine and keep walks short on a well-fitted harness. If after a month he still only comes out at night, get a professional in.
Not by force. A cornered dog, scared or sore, may growl or bite, and next time he hides even better. Sit on the floor without looking at him, toss treats towards the hiding place and let him come out on his own. He needs to know he can always go back.
He may want quiet because his sight or hearing is going, he may have sore joints, or it may be the brain ageing, when a dog gets stuck in corners or behind furniture and cannot work out how to get out. Your own vet can tell you which it is.
A behaviour that appears suddenly or changes for no apparent reason can have a medical cause. For full details, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
He hides under the table at every doorbell or trembles at lorries. Exposed "to get used to it", he got worse. Confidence comes from distance and his own choice.
He shakes at fireworks, in the cold, with excitement before a walk. Or he shakes, drools, goes floppy and found the chocolate. A thirty-second video tells them apart.
Shaking under the desk, panting, refusing food. On the night you help him through it; the fear itself you work on during the rest of the year, and it does improve.
He lies in the corner of the hall, will not eat and jumps at every noise. An adopted dog needs calm and routine first; training and visitors come later.
An assessment session tells you where you stand and which plan makes sense for your dog. The behaviour programme then works step by step, reward-based only.