Dog fears drains

April 30, 2007 5:46 PM

Why does my dog have a fear of storm drain openings along curbs and gutters? I have a small (10 lb) dog who absolutely will not walk past a gaping storm drain. On our walks, every time we encounter a drain, I have to pick her up and carry her past. Any ideas why she has this fear, and any suggestions on how to cure her of it?
posted by retiree to pets & animals (19 comments total)

You mean the concrete ones integrated into a raised curb? At eye level, they are a little scary. Your dog also might be more sensitive to the sounds echoing throughout the drain system.
posted by Burhanistan at 5:53 PM on April 30, 2007

Oh, and I forgot the obvious question: Have you been the sole owner of this dog since it was weaned? Maybe it has a traumatic memory associated with the drains or something that resembles them?
posted by Burhanistan at 5:54 PM on April 30, 2007

In my neighborhood, the storm drains provide daytime shelter for gangs of raccoons. My dog (big) has tried to claw his way in after them on more than a few walks. Maybe your pup knows how to pick his battles.
posted by jamaro at 5:55 PM on April 30, 2007

It reminds her of a mailbox, maybe?

Actually, the racoons is a good suggestion. I was thinking of moles, but that requires some abstraction on the dog's part.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 6:06 PM on April 30, 2007

Yes, the concrete drains integrated into a raised curb. Yes, sole owners. We purchased our dog from the breeder
posted by retiree at 6:07 PM on April 30, 2007

My dog was immensely frightened of storm drains, and to my knowledge she never had a traumatic experience involving one. I think your pet's fear probably has to do with the fact that a storm drain sounds like a deep echo-ey hole, and dogs are wired such that they're averse to falling into deep echo-ey holes.
posted by perissodactyl at 6:07 PM on April 30, 2007

I had a dog who was scared of or hated grates and cattle guards.

He could ever figure out how to walk across them and would often slip, which looked like it hurt when he did.

Besides the perceived cave like answers given above, maybe she has a memory of hurting herself walking across one.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 6:16 PM on April 30, 2007

For something so small, those drains have to be scary. Kinda like a person walking past a very dark alley.. I'd stear clear of it myself.
posted by Sufi at 6:19 PM on April 30, 2007

She's worried Pennywise is going to take her down there to float.

It could be as others' suggested: there's something living in there that either smells or sounds scary. Can't you just give them a wide berth or somehow distract her with a very small treat when you're walking past? After a few times giving the very small treat near storm drains she may stop associating them with scary.
posted by cosmicbandito at 6:20 PM on April 30, 2007 [2 favorites]

perhaps it's because they stink?
posted by kuujjuarapik at 6:21 PM on April 30, 2007

The cutest thing I've seen on the streets here was an owner training her miniature schnauzer to walk over the scary subway gratings by calling her with a treat from the other side. When the dog finally scurried across, both dog and owner were jumping up and down and shouting in excitement.

Which is a really long way of saying, could enough treats and positive reinforcement from the oposite side of the storm drain train your dog to overcome her fear?
posted by twoporedomain at 6:25 PM on April 30, 2007

I have a dog that was abandoned in a hole, he always hated any sort of hole or drain along the street. You couldn't get him anywhere near one, he would run out to the middle of the street and stay as far away as possible.

Fortunately after 7 years of kindness I think he has figured out that we're not ready to throw him down a hole, so he doesn't get as stressed as he used to.
posted by icebourg at 6:41 PM on April 30, 2007

Electrocution?
Maybe.in.the.past.she.received.a.mild.shock.due.to.a.bad.ground?
Istillneedanewkeyboard
posted by Gungho at 7:11 PM on April 30, 2007

Humans are very vision-oriented; it's important to remember that vision is not a dog's most important sense.

My guess is that your dog is smelling something in the grate (which, of course, you cannot smell) that scares it. Rats, 'coons, alligators, something like that.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:43 PM on April 30, 2007

I vote that your dog had a bad experience with CHUDs.

But more likely it's the smell factor.
posted by commander_cool at 11:04 PM on April 30, 2007

If you keep picking the dog up, you'll make the situation worse.

There used to be a woman on UK TV called Jan Fennell, who helped train owners to handle their dogs better. One particular dog (an Alsatian or German Shepherd) has petrified of bridges. It had gotten to the point where the dog refused to go anywhere near a bridge, let alone onto it. Anyway, Ms Fennell took the owners out, to see how they and the dog reacted. It turned out that the dog had got progressively worse over a period of about 6 months, to the point where it would lie on the floor and refuse to move. The owners were picking him up and carrying him, which the dog had come to expect.

She did the training with the owners and the dog, and then the first time she took him out, she got the dog to walk straight over the bridge, without turning a hair.

I've tried the bonding technique with a relatives dog, who you could call a "typical Jack Russell" - jumpy, boisterous, etc, and it worked within 2 visits. The dog was totally different natured.

http://www.janfennellthedoglistener.com/ is her website. I have the DVD and the book. :D The bonding is really easy to learn too.
posted by Solomon at 2:05 AM on May 1, 2007

She's worried Pennywise is going to take her down there to float.

And the youtube.
posted by Deathalicious at 7:06 AM on May 1, 2007

My Maltese does this, though it extends even to solid metal manhole covers. No traumatic experiences, and I've had her literally since birth. I suspect the sewers don't smell all that rosy. Which is odd because I don't think cat poop smells too appetizing, but clearly we disagree.
posted by Skorgu at 8:25 AM on May 1, 2007

I'm with the crowd on this one.
It's probably caused by bad sounds or smells that she's picking up on because she's closer to it/ has more acute senses (or a bit of both).
I also imagine that it's nothing some training can't fix.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 10:57 AM on May 1, 2007