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I know there are more people out there whose dogs go nuts when you vacuum; I can't be alone.
How severe does it get for you? What do you do about it? What actually works?
I've actually begun to avoid vacuuming, which is not good, with all the cat and dog hair. But I just DREAD the insane barking and snarling. I'm sure my neighbors hate it too, and would prefer that I just give up cleaning my home.
This isn't just a little bit of barking. It's loud, vicious, angry, pools-of-drool and foam-coming-out-of-the-mouth barking. I lock Shermyn in another room with the nice wooden pet gates, and he actually tore out one of the bars of the gate and pulverized it into splinters! He's a sweet dog otherwise, but he turns into a rabid beast when the vacuum comes out.
Now Winnie has learned it from him and goes crazy as soon as she sees the vacuum.
I've tried yelling at them. Doesn't work.
I've tried putting them outside. Doesn't work, then they bark insanely out there, which is worse for neighbor-relations.
I've tried giving them a special bone or pork-hide treat to distract them. Nope, they won't be fooled.
I've even tried (not hard) smacking with a rolled-up magazine. Doesn't work. Hated to do it, but desperate.
I've tried desensitizing them to the vacuum. Leaving it out where they can see it (they continue to bark and attack it, for hours and hours). Giving them treats on the vacuum (they eat the treat, then attack the vacuum). Gave up.
So I basically try to ignore them and get the cleaning done as soon as I can. But this still means 30-40 solid minutes of mayhem, after which I have a splitting headache. Then I have to clean up a huge pool of drool from where Sherm was (unfortunately, dog saliva doesn't make the wood floors nice & shiny like you'd think).
Anyone have advice? Anyone just want to commiserate?
Jack was 3 when I adopted him and he's the most mellow guy ever, so I was surprised to find out that he was absolutely terrified of the vacuum cleaner (and any other loud noises). Whenever I had to vacuum, which is at least daily, I would laugh and dance and sing stupid songs about how it's just noise and it won't hurt you. If any other humans were around they would have been at least as afraid of the lunatic woman as Jack was of the vacuum. But, it worked. He seemed to pick up on the fact that I was having fun (ok, cleaning is not fun, but it's all about perception here) and he quickly relaxed. Now, he doesn't even open his eyes if he's napping and if he's sleeping on the floor, I actually have to nudge him out of the way with the vacuum cleaner. He also loves to be vacuumed with the upholstery brush.
Bandit’s not a fan of the vacuum and used to retreat to the safety of his kennel while I had the scary machine out. But we moved 6 months ago, and some of his habitual behaviors are different in the new place than they were in the old place. In the new place, when I’m vacuuming, he’s practically underfoot, suspicious eyes fixed at all times on the vacuum. He doesn’t bark at it or growl or make any kind of threatening gestures. He just watches closely and moves with the machine, moving as I move (always positioning himself in my way, naturally, which must make it seem to him that I’m chasing him with the vacuum. No wonder he watches it with such suspicion!)
I crate Willie while I vacuum. He hates the vacuum, and tries to attack and bite it like it's an invading animal. He barks at it the same way he barks at rabbits and squirrels he stalks. He still barks from in the crate, but at least he's not underfoot.
For Willie, the vacuum has to actually be on and moving. Some dogs go nuts the minute they even see the vacuum, but not him. At first I thought it was the sound, but I think it's a combination of the sound and motion. He doesn't go crazy until it starts moving.
If it's nice out, I'll typically put him out on his 50-foot line. The neighbors don't care about barking, because they wouldn't even notice it, with their two bassets baying.
Oh, yeah, they hate it; the dog just goes out onto the balcony (insistently so) and sits on her dogbed until I am done. She beelines it to the balcony door as soon as she sees me coming out with it; sometimes, I'll warn her, saying, "Okay, I'm going to vaccuum now," and she immediately gets up and goes onto the balcony.
The cat completely freaks and darts from room to room, under the bed, then the couch, then a chair; she hates it so much that, when I left it out in the living room overnight, she wouldn't leave the top of the dryer and was acting like there was a poltergeist in the house until I put it away.
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