Unknown Fear

Hi everyone,
Oz is a fit and healtly Hungarian Viszla. He's nearly four years old. Last Thursday he came down for his breakfast as normal but wouldn't come into the kitchen. I sat on the floor and coaxed him in a few steps but he was shaking, tail right
down between his legs and he was shaking like mad. He went and laid in the door way still shaking. I waited a while and he came in very slowly sniffing the air and floor as though he was frightened. He ate his food but slipped a few times while he was stood still. Later on he was fine about going in there but I noticed he was slipping on the floor but from a stationery position not when he was moving about. I clipped his nails and made sure he doesn't have over grown hair between his pads but we have laminate flooring upstairs and he has no problem on that. I've put food on the floor on a night to see if we've got mice but no sign of anything. He's not as bad now but he's still very un sure about the kitchen still, but it's worse on a morning and he still slips, it's as though something makes him jump but what can it be? Sorry to go on I've tried to get everything in in one go! He's moving and running about as normal.

Poor Oz, sounds like something has upset him
What about if you put down a mat that he can stand on to eat his meals?
Sometimes their legs splay out as they eat and may be it is that, that he doesn't like.

Hello Sarah it could be any one of a number of 'things' that have suddenly made Oz associate going in the kitchen with feeling fear/pain.

If the floor is involved, maybe he recently went in the kitchen with wet paws or when the floor was wet during the recent bad weather and slipped. When he is on the floor upstairs his feet are more likely to have dried out no slipping or fear association in that area.

Finding the cause of a new fear problem can be difficult. If you think it may be due to the kitchen floor there are a few things to try. A none slip mat to stand on when eating as Nippy suggested, drying Oz's feet when he has been out, keeping him out of the kitchen when the floor is wet, buying some paw wax which will help him to grip on the floors

Thanks for the replies, I have been putting a mat down for him to stand on to eat and he will stand on it. I wondered if he'd slipped badly and he was frightened of doing it again but he seems more scared in the mornings than any other time. I have noticed that when he goes for a drink he backs out of the kitchen rather than turning round. We've just come back from a walk and he was fine about giong in and out of kitchen. It's a mystery, I'll see how he goes on.

Do you feed him first thing?

Does he have a drink in the mornings from his bowl (and is bowl in kitchen)?

If so, the combination of actions may be the trigger.

ie, maybe he fed, drank then slipped and now a fear of the combination or part thereof at that particular time of day is the trigger.

All just guessing, of course.

I'd try covering the whole floor in there with rugs, mats, bits of carpet. If he doesn't do it when it's down, I'd gradually clear the space of them but leave them down around the feeding/drinking area

Yes his water is in the kitchen and I feed him when I get up. But some mornings he goes downstairs when my husband gets up and goes outside for a wee. He's been the same then when there's no food and he knows he doesn't have food then but he's been really scared to go in the kitchen. That's why we thought it could be mice and he could smell something strange. His fear is alot stronger on a morning than any other time but he is cautious all day.

Have you tried covering as much of the floor as possible to see if it makes a difference?

No but I will give it a go.

Try this.

"This video is a how to on how to change your dogs emotional response to something they are frightened of. The example in the video is my dog Kiko who suddenly became fearful of crossing the kitchen floor. Common issues with dogs can be- shiny floors, stairs, man hole covers, grates, metal, wet grass, a crate they had a bad experience in… the list goes on. This same technique can be used in all those situations."

http://dogmantics.com/2010/04/04/kik...cker-training/

Yeah, yeah, I know, always plugging kikopup