Slippery Puppy

November 27, 2024 10:18 AM

My 2 year old dog is suddenly terrified of walking on the wood floors of my apartment. Up to this week, she has been 100% fine – playing, running, chasing her toys. Not clear on what happened, but now she stands in the [tiled] kitchen and whimpers and refuses to come out. Sat with her... Tried to coax her out with treats. walked with her slowly... Nothing seems to work. I will trim her nails this weekend (they're due). Any other Suggestions?
posted by pmaxwell to Pets & Animals (10 answers total)

I wound up buying some floor runners for my husky malamute who refused to walk on the floors after slipping a couple of times. In his case, his pads had gotten too hairy, but even after trim he just stood on a square of rug and looked at us mournfully. The runners worked.
posted by tingting at 10:54 AM on November 27 [1 favorite]

This happens with my pup too. Rugs is my solution. A friend found extra cork flooring on craigslist and laid it out like rugs.
posted by latkes at 11:11 AM on November 27 [1 favorite]

You can get non-skid mats (make sure they are) and then gradually widen the distance between them. But some dogs never go back.

You may want to have your dog checked out at the vet - my dog got skittish around our floors and he was suffering from pano (which is a growth thing so your dog is probably too old.) I wouldn't call it an emergency or anything but might be worth it if you haven't been in lately.
posted by warriorqueen at 11:17 AM on November 27

The Channel 5 dog programme Dogs Behaving Very Badly has featured a couple of dogs with this issue. Perhaps the solutions their expert used might help?
Buckley the labrador
Ted the greyhound
posted by Lorc at 11:53 AM on November 27 [1 favorite]

I think that between what you're already doing and the responses you have the general go-tos for Sudden-Onset Floor Is Lava covered. It's a thing. Who knows.

I will say that my house is 95% hard flooring of one kind of another, and my dog decided that the kitchen floor specifically--not the hardest, not the most slippery--is out to get her (but only sometimes). I.. believe her that that's the emotional experience she's having in those moments but for the most part I do not indulge it beyond trying to have a little extra patience with her when she needs to traverse that area, which is several times daily. Sometimes things are stressful and we just have to find a way to keep living.

Same energy as baby/toddler falls- yes that happened, yes we're going to be kind with your distress, yes we're going to make sure there's not an actual injury issue, no we are not going to (re)act in a way that confirms that it is correct to be very anxious/upset, thereby reinforcing those emotions/fears and avoidance behaviors.
posted by wormtales at 12:09 PM on November 27 [5 favorites]

I would get anti-skid dog socks instead of rugs. Perhaps if the dog tax were paid I might google some for you.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 2:59 PM on November 27 [4 favorites]

If you decide to go with a floor covering solution, my dog's physical therapist suggested buying rolls of yoga matting which is readily available online. They are cheaper than nice area rugs and can easily be cut to the lengths you need. We made paths through the house. Not pretty, but it worked.
posted by MelissaSimon at 3:06 PM on November 27

Try to solve the problem at the source before working with socks and rugs and training. If she's slipping (even in small ways you don't notice), she'll be scared. No amount of training will make her ignore that she's "unsafe". Rugs are a last resort or temporary fix, but it really sucks for dogs to be so limited in their movement.

Not sure what your definition of "they're due" is, but most people don't trim claws nearly often enough. It has to be done about once a week, for most dogs. If your dog makes clicking sounds when walking, her nails are too long. If the nails are longer than the pads, or at all curling, they're much too long. Trim her nails today, and then on the weekend, do it again (because you can only take off so much per session). Also, yes, definitely cut the hair between her pads. You might find the problem has resolved after some paw care. If not, have a vet check her out. Only after she's cleared by the vet, if the problem persists, does training make sense. You may be making future training success less likely by coaxing her on the floors now, while she still feels unsafe. If she slips during training, she'll remember that and become more wary. (I used to run a training center, so definitely a proponent of training in general. It's just that humans are quick to discount dogs' fears as "all in their head", much like they do/did with women. Sometimes, fear is based on real problems and cannot be trained away).

Two links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2I0EwlZaZk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywdRNvS1-jg&t=0s

Both about how to dremel nails, which is safer and more effective than clipping. Casfuy makes good ones. You'll need a headlamp or someone holding a light, then you're good to go.

Try to be nicer than the lady in the video. Maybe use a licking mat with peanut butter or something similar. Here's an example of peaceful nailcare:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EITYvqs32Hg

Good luck!
posted by toucan at 3:22 PM on November 27 [7 favorites]

Mod note: Hi folks, please just help the OP by answering their question instead of demanding a dog tax, thanks! One comment removed.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 3:58 PM on November 27 [2 favorites]

Same energy as baby/toddler falls- yes that happened, yes we're going to be kind with your distress, yes we're going to make sure there's not an actual injury issue, no we are not going to (re)act in a way that confirms that it is correct to be very anxious/upset, thereby reinforcing those emotions/fears and avoidance behaviors.

But this isn't the same thing, at all. Toddler falling- looks to parent for information, parent reaction informs to a degree toddler reaction. But this dog is already in a poor space WRT the floors, they're not looking to anyone for information- the information available to them has already told them something is not right with walking on the wood floor/out of the kitchen. Whatever happened to make this dog fearful has already been processed and sorted into the "very bad" column.

Obviously remaining calm is important, but it's not indulgent to provide helpful aids to re-teach this pup that the rest of the apartment is not a bad place after they've clearly already been spooked in some way. And not everyone can easily work around a dog that is fearful to walk through their living space- if the dog is too large to be carried but they need to go out to go pee, concessions need to be made. No one here even knows that it's "incorrect" for the dog to be upset, because no one knows what happened to cause this in the first place. It might not even have anything to do with the wood floors, but just something that the dog associates with being out of the kitchen.

OP, do as much due diligence with anything physical you can control (toenails furry feet, check for any sore spots). Then see if you can coax her to walk around on cardboard, throw rugs or mats. You're doing this not only to see if your dog feels more comfortable, but also to help identify the actual problem- if walking on a different surface doesn't seem to help, the issue might be something else, like a neighbor making a loud noise right when your dog stepped out of the kitchen, or some other environmental event that spooked your dog. In that case you may have to work on other ways to assure your dog she is safe in your space. I would consider going to the vet in order to rule out other issues, like vision or hearing changes. You could also look into calming supplements that could ease her anxiety until she is feeling confident again. We've had good experiences with Solliquin for one of our cats, but it takes a few weeks to have an effect in our experience.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:41 PM on November 27 [5 favorites]