Vacuum Reactivity: How To Build Confidence
Vacuum Reactivity: How To Build Confidence
(Does Your Dog Shed, Part 2) How to help your pup with their fear of the vacuum.
But What if My Dog Hates the Vacuum?
Now that we have the perfect vacuum the only step left to the perfect house is getting ‘Oli comfortable when we use it.
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I worked hard with ‘Oli during his socialization period to not be fearful of many things, however it appears I dropped the ball when it comes to the vacuum.
I don’t know what it is, but it seems something about the vacuum triggers the herding instinct in a Cattle Dog and well let’s just say vacuuming isn’t the easiest chore with a heeler in your house.
With our little hand held vac, ‘Oli goes straight into attack mode. If we choose to use it in his presence there is intense focus from him and a lot of impulse control work that is bound to ensue.
However with the ol’ vac we retired and the new BISSELL1 that just arrived, ‘Oli has a bit of a different reaction.
Fear.
Observing that ‘Oli has a very low tolerance for surprises when it comes to vacuums, he panics (runs away and hides) when the vacuum is moving, I decided to help work on this fear with him and build his confidence.
How To Build Confidence:
Assuming your pup, like ‘Oli, already has a negative association with the vacuum, in order to get to a place of peaceful coexistence you need to start by shifting their negative association to a neutral association.
1. Building a neutral associate with the vacuum:
Leave the vacuum (or other triggering item) out in a neutral setting.
Do not force any interactions between the vacuum (triggering item) and your pup.
You want the dog to decide to interact with the object not the other way around, otherwise you will end up re-enforcing the fear response they are currently experiencing.
Go at your dog’s pace.
The first day you take the vacuum out of hiding, it may be too much for your dog to be in the same room as the vacuum. That does not mean you need to put the item away again, it just means your dog needs time to observe the item in it’s new spot before they will be comfortable being in the same room. They simply need the time and space to begin forming a neutral association with the item.
And the best way to create a neutral association with a triggering item is to show them the item is boring.
In other words: teaching a neutral association means the thing they are fearful of that they have associated with this item does not happen in the presence of the item.
Example: taking the vacuum out of the closet and not using it.
2. Begin building a positive association:
Praise any form of voluntary interaction with the vacuum, or triggering item.
This can include being in the same room as the item, cautiously approaching the item, sniffing the item, etc.
Begin introducing known positive items in the presence of the triggering item
For example food usually has a positive association. Consider moving the feeding location to the room with the vacuum. that way your dog is getting rewarded for spending time by the vacuum.
3. Limit possible negative interactions moving forward:
Confidence, especially around previously scary things, is not a one and done achievement. Continue to reward the confident behavior but also do your best to reduce negative interactions.
You will need to be very cognizant of your dog’s personal threshold. While some things need to get done on a different timeline than your dogs that does not mean they need to live in fear.
For instance while ‘Oli has begun to show great signs of confidence around the vacuum while it lays neutral in the open, he is not ready to be near the vacuum while we use it. So, at the moment, we will place ‘Oli in a separate room before using the vacuum . This way our floors get to be clean and he can feel safe. Additionally this allows him to continue to work on eliminating his negative association with the vacuum as he hears the the vacuum being used but is not forced to interact with it, or fear it will encroach on his safe space.
4. Consider working with a Professional Trainer
Our favorite training program, Baxter and Bella2 has an awesome video on where to start with vacuum conditioning. Watch it: here.
Baxter and Bella also offers an online dog training school! As a partner with Baxter and Bella we are thrilled to offer you a discount code of 25% off your membership. If you need professional help we highly recommend checking them out.
Not ready to make the financial commitment to dog training but still want to learn?
We have found these dog training podcasts to be of immense value and we wrote this post for you:
We’d love to hear if any of these tips worked well for you or if you try out any of the resources we have linked through the post.
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As a partner with Baxter and Bella, I earn a commission when my code is used at checkout.
Baxter and Bella Puppy Training School, https://www.baxterandbella.com/learn-more