Behaviour
One dog vanishes under the bed, another lunges at the brush barking. To a dog, the vacuum is a loud thing that moves by itself and heads for his favourite spots.
Worth knowing. An adult dog who has suddenly become afraid of noises may be in pain, especially in the joints or back. One who no longer reacts to the vacuum may be losing his hearing. See your own vet first, then start the plan.
You open the cupboard for the hoover and the dog has already disappeared under the bed. Another dog does the exact opposite: barks, lunges at the brush, grabs the hose and follows you round the whole house. Then there is the new robot vacuum, and a seven-kilo dog curled up on the sofa with saucer eyes while it trundles round the living room. To us it's a cleaning appliance. The dog sees something else: a loud thing that moves unpredictably, roars at a pitch his ears pick up far more sharply than ours, and heads straight for his favourite spots. Fear of the vacuum is one of the most common fears in the home, and the good news is that it's also one of the easiest to work on, if you give it two or three weeks.
Dogs hear higher-pitched sounds than we do and pick them up from further away. The roar of a vacuum, with the thin whine of the motor on top, is close to painful for some dogs. A dog who is sensitive to noise in general (fireworks, thunder, slamming doors) is almost certainly scared of the vacuum as well.
The vacuum comes at the dog, backs off, comes at him again, and the brush "swallows" things off the floor. That isn't how objects behave. It looks alive and impossible to predict. A robot vacuum is stranger still, because it wanders about on its own with nobody pushing it.
A puppy who didn't meet the vacuum in his first months, or met it for the first time running right next to him, can keep that fear for life. It's a common gap in dogs who came from a rescue or off the street.
The vacuum switched on next to him while he was asleep. The hose that hit him. Someone who "hoovered him for a laugh" to see what he'd do.
Herding breeds (Border Collies, shepherd dogs, Corgis) and some terriers don't run from the vacuum, they go for it: barking, biting the brush, trying to "round it up". It looks like play, or like aggression. Most of the time it's a mix of excitement and fear, a dog trying to get control of something that unsettles him.
If you chase him off shouting, or shut him in another room in a hurry, the vacuum becomes the signal for one more unpleasant thing. Dogs connect these things quickly: the machine appears, something bad follows.
The most common idea is to hold him next to the running vacuum "so he gets used to it". Someone holds him, the vacuum runs, the dog freezes. He looks as if he has accepted it. In fact he's frozen with fear, and next time the fear is bigger.
Pointing the vacuum at him "so he sees it's nothing" doesn't help either. To him it's being chased, so he runs harder and barks more.
Telling him off for barking adds another reason to be wound up on top of the one he already has, at the exact moment the machine is on.
Then there's playing with the vacuum. Some people let the dog "fight" the brush because it looks funny. In herding dogs it becomes a habit that is hard to stop, and it sometimes moves on to the mop, the broom or the children's feet.
And swapping the big vacuum for a robot. For some dogs that works. For others the robot is even scarier, because it turns up out of nowhere and moves by itself.
In short: you get him used to it gradually, starting at a distance and volume where he is relaxed, and you link every appearance of the vacuum to something he really loves. Behaviour books call this desensitisation and counter-conditioning. In your house it means tasty treats, distance and patience.
While you are working on the fear, he shouldn't have to go through it. When you vacuum, he is out on a walk with someone else, or in a room well away with the door shut, something good to chew and the radio on. Schedule the robot for when he is out on his walk. Every extra fright sets you back a few days.
Take the vacuum out and leave it, switched off, in a corner of a room where the dog spends a lot of time. Every so often drop a few good treats on the floor next to it. He comes over if he wants to; don't call him and don't push him towards it. For a few days the vacuum is just an object that smells interesting and has good things lying next to it.
Push it slowly round the room, switched off, at a distance from him. When he looks at it calmly, he gets a treat. If he gets up and leaves, let him go, and next time move more slowly or further away.
Someone else switches the vacuum on in a distant room with the door shut, while you sit with the dog at the other end of the house. The second the noise starts, the treats start raining down: one after another for as long as he can hear it. The vacuum stops, the treats stop. A few seconds at first, then up to a minute. He learns that the roar means something brilliant is coming.
Then the door opens, and the vacuum comes closer, a little at a time. At every step he must still be able to eat and to look at you. If he stops eating, hides or barks, you have gone too fast, so go back to the distance where he was still relaxed.
Once he can cope with the vacuum running in the same room at a distance, give him a fixed spot (a blanket, a bed) where he gets something to chew or a food-stuffed toy. You vacuum the other side of the room. His spot doesn't get vacuumed while he is on it.
Same plan, with one difference: he needs a job that keeps him away from the brush. His blanket and a stuffed toy, for example, or treats hidden in another room for him to find. If he still goes for the vacuum, stop him without scolding (switch the machine off, take him calmly by the harness) and lead him back to his job. Indoors, a light lead clipped to the harness lets you stop him without grabbing his collar.
| Days | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1–14 | Vacuum only when the dog is out, or shut in well away with something good to chew. |
| 1–3 | The vacuum sits in the room switched off, with treats next to it. |
| 4–6 | Move the vacuum slowly, switched off; a treat whenever he looks at it calmly. |
| 7–10 | Switch it on in the furthest room; treats raining down while it runs. |
| 11–14 | Door open, distance shrinking little by little; he stays on his spot with something to chew. |
With very frightened dogs a single stage can take a week. The dog sets the pace. The table is there so you don't skip steps.
A dog who is suddenly scared of noises he used to ignore needs to see a vet. Pain, especially in the joints, back or neck, makes dogs more sensitive to loud sounds, and there is research linking musculoskeletal pain to noise fear that appears later in life. It works the other way round too: a dog who no longer seems to hear the vacuum may have a hearing problem.
Book in with your own vet before you start the plan if:
Treats scattered on the floor while the vacuum runs in the distance are already a small piece of nose work. A dog searching with his nose down is calmer than one standing and staring at the machine. Search games also build confidence: he finds out he can solve a problem on his own, and that helps with any fear. You can turn hoovering time into find-the-treats time in the bedroom. You do the living room, he has a job for his nose.
Ask a trainer for help in any of these situations:
At an assessment session we see the dog in his own home and put together a plan with you for every noise that frightens him.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer.
Either from fear, because the noise and movement frighten him, or from excitement and the urge to chase, especially in herding breeds and terriers. Often it's a mix. Telling him off makes it worse. What helps is keeping him away while you vacuum and getting him used to it gradually, from a distance, with tasty treats.
Schedule the robot for when he is out or in another room. Then leave it switched off in the room for a few days with treats beside it, move it slowly by hand, and only after that run it briefly, well away from him, with treats raining down while it moves. A robot that appears out of nowhere is scarier than an ordinary vacuum.
For most dogs, two or three weeks of short sessions, a few minutes a day. For very frightened dogs, or dogs sensitive to lots of noises, longer. The dog sets the pace: if he stops eating or hides, go back to the distance where he was relaxed.
No. Held next to a running vacuum, a dog freezes. He looks calm, but he is frozen with fear, and next time he is even more scared. Getting used to it only works from a distance where he still eats and looks at you, then you move closer bit by bit.
Usually it has nothing to do with aggression towards people. It's a mix of excitement, fear and the urge to chase, common in herding dogs. Give him a job away from the brush, stop him without scolding and work through the plan. If he has bitten someone who tried to stop him, get help from a professional.
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.
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.
At the window, at the doorbell, at the neighbours, when he's left alone. A dog always barks for a reason, and the plan starts with finding it.
He launches at the cyclist, runs the fence after cars, vanishes after cats. The chase is its own reward, which is why it never fades on its own.
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.