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Dogs attacking vacuum.



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 24th 04, 05:22 PM
Alan Walker
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Default Dogs attacking vacuum.

Hi,

A long time ago I inherited an old Collie, Roz, who was a lovely peaceful
and friendly bitch apart from a tendency to attack the vacuum cleaner. I
ignored this as she was otherwise wonderfully behaved and couldn't do much
damage. We later got a Doberman bitch, Jasmin, who watched and barked a bit
at the vacuum but otherwise was OK, I let this go as the noise wasn't a
problem when I had the vacuum going and, again, her behaviour was otherwise
not a problem.

Last year Roz passed away at the age of twenty and we took on a young Westie
and a Dalmatian. All the dogs are well behaved all day, both around the
house and out on walks, none have shown any signs of agression or excessive
barking.

The one exception to this is the vacuum cleaner, they have all become quite
aggressive towards the vacuum cleaner, growling when it's out of the
cupboard and attacking it when it's switched on. I've tried shutting them
out of any room I'm cleaning but they get distressed and noisy and scratch
on the door, something they never normally do. Attacking the vacuum is
accompanied by the sort of behaviour they normally exhibit when they are
proud of something they've done, they'll get in close and snap at it then
wag their tales and look at me, and once I put it away they're all over me
looking for attention and praise.

All three dogs are trained to obey basic commands such as 'sit', 'stay' etc
as well as 'no' which means stop whatever they are doing. The only time
they don't reliably obey these commands is when attacking the vacuum.

All advice gratefully received,

Alan


  #2  
Old June 25th 04, 01:54 PM
FurPaw
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Default

Alan Walker wrote:
Attacking the vacuum is
accompanied by the sort of behaviour they normally exhibit when they are
proud of something they've done, they'll get in close and snap at it then
wag their tales and look at me, and once I put it away they're all over me
looking for attention and praise.


No advice - but this can't be too uncommon. I've seen quite a few clips
on "Funniest Animal Videos" of dogs attacking this evil monster.

I have one dog who has attacked vacuums from day one. We had to replace
a vacuum with a cloth bag with one with a plastic shell around the bag.
But she seems to enjoy it so much - it's right up there with attacking a
broom, snow shovel and power washer spray. So with all of these, I
tolerate it for a few minutes, and then put her on the other side of a
door. (One winter we gave her her own plastic snow shovel, which she
proudly carried around the yard for several months.)

FurPaw
  #3  
Old June 25th 04, 07:34 PM
Alan Walker
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

FurPaw wrote:
Alan Walker wrote:
Attacking the vacuum is
accompanied by the sort of behaviour they normally exhibit when they
are proud of something they've done, they'll get in close and snap
at it then wag their tales and look at me, and once I put it away
they're all over me looking for attention and praise.


No advice - but this can't be too uncommon. I've seen quite a few
clips on "Funniest Animal Videos" of dogs attacking this evil monster.

I have one dog who has attacked vacuums from day one. We had to
replace a vacuum with a cloth bag with one with a plastic shell
around the bag. But she seems to enjoy it so much - it's right up
there with attacking a broom, snow shovel and power washer spray. So
with all of these, I tolerate it for a few minutes, and then put her
on the other side of a door. (One winter we gave her her own plastic
snow shovel, which she proudly carried around the yard for several
months.)

FurPaw


I'd love to let them have their fun but with a Dalmatian, a Doberman and a
Westie making coordinated attacks the vacuum has already needed patching and
looks likely to have a limited life if I can't stop them.

Alan


  #4  
Old June 25th 04, 10:14 PM
Sunflower
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Posts: n/a
Default

Crate them while you vacuum, preferably in another room.


  #5  
Old July 5th 04, 04:11 PM
Heather Morrison
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Default


"Alan Walker" wrote in message
...
Hi,

A long time ago I inherited an old Collie, Roz, who was a lovely peaceful
and friendly bitch apart from a tendency to attack the vacuum cleaner. I
ignored this as she was otherwise wonderfully behaved and couldn't do much
damage. We later got a Doberman bitch, Jasmin, who watched and barked a

bit
at the vacuum but otherwise was OK, I let this go as the noise wasn't a
problem when I had the vacuum going and, again, her behaviour was

otherwise
not a problem.

Last year Roz passed away at the age of twenty and we took on a young

Westie
and a Dalmatian. All the dogs are well behaved all day, both around the
house and out on walks, none have shown any signs of agression or

excessive
barking.

The one exception to this is the vacuum cleaner, they have all become

quite
aggressive towards the vacuum cleaner, growling when it's out of the
cupboard and attacking it when it's switched on. I've tried shutting them
out of any room I'm cleaning but they get distressed and noisy and scratch
on the door, something they never normally do. Attacking the vacuum is
accompanied by the sort of behaviour they normally exhibit when they are
proud of something they've done, they'll get in close and snap at it then
wag their tales and look at me, and once I put it away they're all over me
looking for attention and praise.

All three dogs are trained to obey basic commands such as 'sit', 'stay'

etc
as well as 'no' which means stop whatever they are doing. The only time
they don't reliably obey these commands is when attacking the vacuum.

All advice gratefully received,

Alan



Alan,

Some vacuums produce a high pitched sound that irritates the dogs. Also, the
motion of vacuuming can stimulate the dog.

I would crate the dogs while vacuuming until you can train them to not
attack it.

Start by taking the vacuum out without the dogs around. Bring one dog at a
time in to see the stationary vacuum not turned on. Let them sniff and
praise and reward them. Make them sit by it and praise and reward them.
Continue this til they seem relaxed. Next turn the vacuum on and repeat the
training..no movement of the vaccuum. Continue and when comfortable start
with movements of the brush without it on. Put the dog on a sit command and
as long as it sits while you move the brush..praise the dog..next step..well
I think you can guess...turn it on..and repeat.

This will take time especially since the dogs have already developed a
pattern with the vacuum. Good luck!!

I used my vacuum with a special attachement to groom my bouvier. She learned
to love it like a deep massage.

toodles

HeatherM


 




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