Question for dog owners

[Nojoy621]

I have a black lab who is 10 months old.

we brought him home at 8 weeks, and we have always had multiple floor surfaces in our house, tile, wood, carpet.

out of nowhere starting a day or two ago, he is terrified of the tile floor in our mud room, where is food, water, and bed is located. He is fine standing on the floor once he gets in there, but getting him to cross the threshold, you’d think I was killing him.

anyone else deal with this? Why the sudden fear?

 

[snorko]

any change in the lighting or cleaning products used, any other changes in the area?

 

[MrsGungho]

nails to long, feet slipping on the floor?

My daughter has a dog that is terrified of the wood floor. Most of their home is wood flooring. They don't have any idea either.

 

[d.kaufman]

My mastiff is the same way. Sometimes she'll go right across but most of the time forget about it. She hates the hard wood floors. Shes been like this since a pup. Shes going on 3. We just put carpet runners down to solve the problem.

 

[IndyIN]

I'm not a dog expert at all, but have had a bunch of labs over the years. My black lab acted a little weird coming in from outside to our wood floor the other day. The hard icy snow might have hurt a pad temporarily... who knows, I couldn't find anything when I looked. Could your lab have had a bad experience out in the cold, and that is a trigger for him?

 

[HubertGummer]

nails to long, feet slipping on the floor?

My daughter has a dog that is terrified of the wood floor. Most of their home is wood flooring. They don't have any idea either.

My dog is the same way, has been for 10 years. Not even meat will tempt him to walk on laminate floors.

 

[FlatSixShooter]

My mastiff is the same way. Sometimes she'll go right across but most of the time forget about it. She hates the hard wood floors. Shes been like this since a pup. Shes going on 3. We just put carpet runners down to solve the problem.

Agree with carpets. Our sons dog has some trouble with "skid-fear"........he got the rubber "non skid" booties. She walks funny but it slows her down and she has no worries.


We are no experts either but have had 3 dogs over 40 yrs.

 

[Hoosier45]

Our black lab was the same way. Terrified of tile, hardwood, and concrete. His food and water was on the tile in the kitchen. We had to put a carpet runner down for him. Lost him last year after 12 years. Best dog we ever had. Damn I miss that dog.

 

[1911ly]

nails to long, feet slipping on the floor?

My daughter has a dog that is terrified of the wood floor. Most of their home is wood flooring. They don't have any idea either.

This was my first thought too.

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

Our Dalmatian mix we had would freak out intermittently about the laminate. No real rhyme or reason to it. No issues at all for the two we have now.

 

[Nojoy621]

Nails are good. I’m leaning towards the cleaning product. My mother in law was in town over the weekend to help my wife get the house together best we just moved, and she is a super cleaner....I’m betting that is the cause because the time line is perfect.

 

[churchmouse]

The Dog whisperer did a show on this syndrome. It was interesting but memory is not clear enough on how he convinced the dog it was OK to cross the threshold.

 

[femurphy77]

Our youngest lab is the same way. It just started suddenly one.day for no reason, we've had to put down carpet runners for her in the family room. I suspect she slipped and fell one day while playing chase with one of our other labs.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Our youngest lab is the same way. It just started suddenly one.day for no reason, we've had to put down carpet runners for her in the family room. I suspect she slipped and fell one day while playing chase with one of our other labs.

^^^ I would bet that's it right there. Like others have said, I'd put down a few non-slip rugs or runners.

 

[Bennettjh]

My girlfriend's dog is like that. Won't even consider anything not carpet. She put runners and rugs down. My dog, doesn't even phase her.

 

[amboy49]

I had a friend whose black lab was intimidated by the tile floor in his old farmhouse. The floor had alternating black and white squares. Apparently the dog thought the dark squares were holes in the floor. It would only cross the floor while stepping on the white tiles - it was actually pretty funny to watch.

 

[Rookie]

The Dog whisperer did a show on this syndrome. It was interesting but memory is not clear enough on how he convinced the dog it was OK to cross the threshold.

He did a few things. First, he didn't encourage the fear. Second, he walked the dog in other areas and continued right on through the marble floor. It took a few tries, but the dog figured it out.

 

[nighthawk80]

I remembered the episode as well. this article does a decent job explaining a few ideas:
https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Why-is-My-Dog-Suddenly-Scare-of-the-Slippery-Floor

 

[lovemachine]

I have laminate hardwood floors in most of my house. Last year I came home, and found my Rottweiler, who will be 10 this year, limping badly. He could barely walk. He became terrified of the floor, didn’t want to leave the living room which has carpet.

I later found out that he had got excited, probably the mail guy outside, and had slipped and fell. It took some time for him to heal, and get him used to walking on the hardwood again.

I now have area rugs and runners everywhere.

Hardwood floors are hell on dogs. They’re too slick.

 

[1mil-high]

Whatever you do don't try to force him into the room. Try to make the room where the surface is located a place that he wants to go, and he will rediscover on his own that it isn't all that bad. Dogs can also slip on slick surfaces if the fur between their pads is too long.