he is scared of almost everything, barking at people and even sometimes he attacks the vacuumcleaner...

otherwise he is really good dog, knows alot of tricks and always obeys me, comes when i call/whislte etc..

what to do ?

All dogs hate the vacuum If they arent introduced to it when young to desensatise them, They just see i loud thing and wanna eat it


When the vacuum is turned off, Sit little treats on and around the vacuum to get used to it. After this is done withjout the dog being tense / quickly grabbing the treat n jumpin back move on to:
Turn the vacuum on, Make a trail of treats getting closer to the vacuum ( not on it yet ) once done with ease:
sit sweets on the vacuum
Vacuum on, Sit sweets around the house and just vacuum without paying any attention to the dog.

This should help the dog get used to the vacuum, For funz i put sweets in a box to see if my dog would stick his head in while the vacuum was on but he was fine. This worked for me, Im hopin to start usin the vacuum on him instead of him droppin hair all over lol

Let me know how that goes also what else is he scared of?

This post was edited by Sire on Jun 29 2013 04:42pm

i mean basicly anything, if something moves he flinces, i think he would love to explore everything but he is too afraid and always backs off, for example flat iron, milk jar, pans etc...

Got a forest near your house? If so take your dog to it and let him / her off lead to be a dog and follow its nose, Curiosity should take over. Its very important that you dont give attention when your dog jumps or gets a fright as this may encourage the behavior.

What size of dog? Nose reach your hip? If so when walkin with the dog keep a treat loosely in your hand and let the dog try get it ( like a relaxed fist, So the dog can taste it but not get it ) For now just keep your dog excited and curious

How old is the dog? If its just a pup then chances are he will still be gettin used to things.

its lagotto if you know that breed, middle sized i say. he is 4 years old now, we are taking him to forest and lake to run and swim 1-3 times each week...

ill try not paying him any attention when hes scared, that might work

was he abused when he was little?

never had a dog that wanted to eat the vacuum cleaner, they all stayed away from it (as far as possible) sometimes barking from a distance



my previous dog was not scared but was suspicious of people (quite common in that breed) and barked at any person running
if the barking is not a real nuisance then you should probably let it be

few times by his mother, we had this dog the day he was born. human has never harmed this dog in any way as far as i know, he is 4 years old and has been afraid all his life, he also is afraid of new people, especially if they are trying to pet him etc.


its more like he attacks it when he feels its too close to him and i think he does it because he is so scared, he charges at it trying to bite and then quickly backs off.
the barking is rather annoying, he does it sometimes inside the house if somebody is walking in the hall or something. he barks alot to other dogs and is scared of them if they come close ( showing teeth and growling )

your dog just needs a gf man

the sound a vacuum cleaner makes is discomforting to dogs (they are more sensitive to noise and hear higher frequencies)
guess he has not been socialised properly, you should be able to rectify that (slowly) by letting him meet dogs which are not threatening