acting very strange - suddenly afraid of/aggressive towards ironing board

hi all sorry its been a while ... can any of you offer some advice with my little problem ? millie (nearly 3, westie) is acting very strange she has suddenly taken a severe dis-liking to my ironing board (yeah me to !!!, i hear you all cry) she really attacks it , barking and snarling and this morning she went to bite it, missed and got me! i keep it in the utility , where she has accesss to it but it dosnt bother her there , but when i bring it into the living room she goes mentle .... ive asked the kids if they know anything about this (if they have seen the board fall and hit millie etc , but they havent ) millie is not normally terriotrial could this be it ?

thanks for any advice

julie

At Millie's age an out-of-the-blue reaction as you describe is most likely to be associated with some sort of trauma connected with the object. If the board hasn't fallen on her, or hit her as it is being folded, is it making a different noise when you put it up? I ask because my ironing board suddenly developed a loud squeak which, althought it did not scare the dogs, certainly made them regard it with bewilderment and curiosity.

I would just leave the board up in a room which she frequents until she has become accustomed to its presence & realizes that it poses no threat ( just as you would with a puppy).

thanks.. the problem is when putting up and down ,cos i leave it it in the living room when im in between wash loads (!!) and it never bothers her then she even lies under it , im gonna test your theory on the noise side cos that sounds about right

julie

If the board is not squeaking, has anyone 'crashed' it open or closed? A sudden loud noise associated with the object could be the answer.

Hi Millies Mum good to see you...

May I just add something to SBs comments
...it does not have to be the ironing board itself that upset Millie, it could be something that looks like it or sounds similar to the noise it makes that she associates with something she does not like/that has scared her.
I will give you an example..Amy developed a dislike to some of the box files in my desk it suddenly occur to me that the noise they made when I opened and closed the inner clip was similar to a pair of nail clippers I once used on her,they had a spring and made the same sort of sound.

I got around her dislike by leaving the files out as SB suggests with the ironing board ..and ignored them pretended they were not there so she got used to having them around and realised they would not harm her, then after a while I put treats on a file and Amy learnt it was 'friendly

I'm with Millie here - I hate ironing boards too

Benji has a fear of metal objects. We have two stainless steel trays and he always runs if he sees one. He is also frightened of tins of toffees e.g. Roses, Quality street and if we put one on the living room floor he will hide in his crate in the kitchen I think I know why this is though because when he was a small puppy my dozy son nearly dropped one of the metal trays on him and it clattered as it touched the quarry tiles on the kitchen floor and now everytime he sees or hears anything metal he runs.