Very odd behaviour

Hi,

This is my first post and I apologise in advance if I am in the wrong section or have started a new post incorrectly.

We have a black labrador who is 6 today, he is a very well behaved dog both in and out of the house and usually no problem.

Earlier this week we had a burst pipe under our kitchen floor, the tiles had to be lifted and some concrete broken to get through to the pipe, our dog was fine with all of the commotion whilst the work was being completed but is now behaving very oddly. Basically, we have had to leave the hole in the kitchen so that the concrete can dry out but Tobey will not go anywhere near it and seems terrified of it. He has to pass it to get in and out of the house and once he is out he won't come back in, we can tell he wants to but he will get one paw in the door but then keep looking at the hole, even if he goes out of the front door which is nowhere near the hole he still doesn't want to come in. He has even started stalling on his walks to prevent coming home. My husband says that he is not even this scared when he goes to the vets. To me it seems like he senses something in the hole but we can't see anything other than the pipe.

If anybody has come across similar behaviour I would love for you to shed some light on what the cause might be or if there is anything we could do to help (othe than fill in the hole, unfortunately not an option until the concrete is dry). Thanks for reading.

Just an idea,
If possable put a couple of picture hooks on the walls at opposite ends of the hole & get a cheap shower curtain & string it across infront of the hole.
'Out of sight, out of mind'

Just clutching at straws to be some help.

I'd do what Shani suggests and hide it in some way if possible. Even if it's just something propped up against the wall covering the hole.

How do you act when he's being frightened? Rupert's horribly fearful of anything new or different (god forbid we move furniture around!) and I've found that the more fuss I make about the fact he's upset the worse he gets. I don't completley ignore him but I don't do the whole "oh it's okay, nasty chair in a different place won't hurt you" thing either. He can come to me, hide behind my legs or lean against me and he'll get acknowledged but not babied.

I generally clicker train him not to be afraid of new things but with a hole in the wall I'd probably end up with him getting his head stuck in it.

Was he in the kitchen when the pipe burst---and did you react strongly by rushing around or shouting?

It might be that he is worried. If something untoward happens and we are frightened or worried in a place which we have previously thought was safe it is a lot worse than if it happens elsewhere.

As he is a lab can you feed him gradually closer to the area, start him off at a comfortable distance then gradually get closer.

rune

Can you put a rug over it? And a chair to block it ? (or someone will disappear down it and confirm the dog`s worst suspicions)

Bless him ~ they do get spooked by some silly things sometimes. And once they're frightened it does sometimes escalate.

Unfortunately we can't tell exactly what it is about the hole & the drying concrete that has scared him. It could be a smell that you're not conscious of, it could be dampness, novelty, his home being "invaded" by the concrete monster.

But it doesn't really matter what has caused the fear ~ the main thing is to try to find a way to disguise/cover/screen the hole until you can get it filled in, or alternatively would it be practical to keep Murphy out of the kitchen until you're back to normal?

I've got a black lab x & she's become scared of some silly things. When I open the freezer part of the fridge freezer, she would run & hide. I had no idea why, especially as I'm usually getting food out of it! Then one day I realised that i get frozen fish for the cats from the freezer, then bang the fish blocks on the tiled floor to separate them & she doesn't like the noise. I've now managed to overcome this by stopping the banging & introducing treats with the freezer door open.

I hope you get the kitchen back to normal soon ~ for your sake & Murphy's.