Pet vacuums are wonderful options no doubt for keeping pet dander away from your home furnishing as well as from the floors. But Gosh!!!!! You might have noticed that your fur babies, especially dogs are really not happy about these gadgets.
Worry not! It is not only your pet! Rather it is a global issue. Hundreds of pet owners have complained that their dogs and cats hate the vacuums. Some of the owners have permanently discarded the use of these tools! But do you know why your fur baby is scared of this gadget?
In fact, if you know the reason behind the tension and panic of your dogs and cats about the vacuum cleaner, you can half win the trouble. Let’s look at the symptoms of their panic.
Symptoms that your furbaby is scared of the vacuum cleaner
Vacuum cleaner phobia of the fur babies is a common issue worldwide. However, most of the pet owners have observed almost the same behavior of their pets. Regardless, if it’s a handheld portable version, or a bigger one for gross household cleaning, the stress level of the pet remains the same.
Let’s check the common symptoms of a frightened pet:
- Staying under the furniture.
- Gross Salivating.
- Unusual Urinating.
- Patrolling here and there.
- Constant Howling and growling.
- Caustic chewing.
- Attempting to attack the vacuum cleaner.
- Trying to flee from the vacuum cleaner.
You may observe all these symptoms in your pet, or you may experience two or three repercussions listed above from your fur baby. Once the pet starts a tantrum, you must remove the gadget immediately from your pet.
Photo Credit: Quinn Dombrowski, flickr.com
In fact, nothing happens without reason. There are some motives behind the abnormal behavior of your pet dogs and cats, which is triggered by the presence/sight of the vacuum cleaner. You can consider these reasons as the stimuli behind the hatred of your pet about the cleaning tool.
The exposure: The noisy exposure, according to pet behavior therapists, is one of the prime reasons behind the unusual hatred of your pet toward the vacuum cleaner. The loud noise, hissing sound, and the gun like feature of the pet vacuum seem quite intimidating for your four-legged darling.
Bad experience: If the experience of the pet with the vacuum cleaner is not friendly because of its loud noise and its suction power, the pet can grow a sense of repulsion about the tool.
Unusual movement of the gadget: Anything that is in motion, slow or rapid, disturbs the nerve of the pets, no matter if it is a dog or a cat. A cat will become growling and attacking, and the dog may become suddenly virulent in front of an active on-work pet vacuum.
How to tackle the phobia?
It is rightly said if there is a problem, there will be a solution. So if there is the phobia of your pet toward the vacuum cleaner, there are ways to tackle it too. But one thing is obvious. You cannot expect to control your dog’s phobia overnight.
Photo Credit: Emery Way. flickr.com
According to the specialized veterinary behaviorist Karen Overall, preference and ability to communicate with your pet is the key solution to diminish the vacuum terror. Thankfully, you can do it yourself. Read here the clues:
Early use: Unless the pet gets gradually accustomed to the vacuum from its early childhood, all on a sudden the exposure to this gadget may terrify the pet. If the pet gets used to it from the early days, the phobia can be reduced to a great extent.
Reward him: Do not use the tool forcibly. Rather reward your fur baby if he stays indifferent to his grooming tool. Repeat the reward process and let him understand that if he tolerates the noise of the gadget, he will be rewarded.
Don’t let anybody else to try the grooming: Keep the grooming session reserved for you. Your pet trusts you. Gradually his feat will get diminished.
Leave the vacuum in front of him: Lay the machine inactive in front of him. Let him sniff the gadget thoroughly. If your fur baby becomes complacent by sniffing it, you may expect next time he will not be terrified with the tool. However, prefer a model, which is less noisy.
Keep the vacuum near the ground: Allow your pet to check the gadget whenever he wants. Never use its noise to terrify him. He should never recognize the gadget as a threat.
This is all about the pet’s phobia about the vacuum cleaner: knowing the triggers will help you to tackle the problem. The list of symptoms will help you to identify your pet’s panic. The suggested remedies are proven tactics to solve the tension in your pet about the gadget, we hope that the clues will help you to solve the issue amicably.
