Dog won't walk on laminate / parts of tile floor

ec_pc

Hi everyone,

First time posting on pet forum.

We recently got a Bichon Frise rescue dog, she is 3 years old this month. Overall we are delighted with her, she is coming out of her shell slowly and is really starting to show some character. It's one day at a time but she is excellent with the kids. She's still a bit wary of me (male) and I guess that's her natural instinct for now.

Anyway, since we got her she has been very nervous of walking on laminate flooring, perhaps because of the 'click clack' noise her nails make. She would walk on the tiles and solid wood floor with no problem. However in the last few days she won't walk on the laminate at all and I noticed this morning she is sticking to the wall in the kitchen which is tiled. Before now she had no problem walking on the tiles.

We did bring her to the vet and got her mails clipped on Monday but this has made no difference. Vet said they were not long but gave them a trim anyway.

Has anyone any suggestions why she has become so nervous on these floors? We have put down some mats, but don't want them down on a permanent basis. We have been very encouraging to her.

cocker5

ec_pc wrote: »

Hi everyone,

First time posting on pet forum.

We recently got a Bichon Frise rescue dog, she is 3 years old this month. Overall we are delighted with her, she is coming out of her shell slowly and is really starting to show some character. It's one day at a time but she is excellent with the kids. She's still a bit wary of me (male) and I guess that's her natural instinct for now.

Anyway, since we got her she has been very nervous of walking on laminate flooring, perhaps because of the 'click clack' noise her nails make. She would walk on the tiles and solid wood floor with no problem. However in the last few days she won't walk on the laminate at all and I noticed this morning she is sticking to the wall in the kitchen which is tiled. Before now she had no problem walking on the tiles.

We did bring her to the vet and got her mails clipped on Monday but this has made no difference. Vet said they were not long but gave them a trim anyway.

Has anyone any suggestions why she has become so nervous on these floors? We have put down some mats, but don't want them down on a permanent basis. We have been very encouraging to her.

How long have you had her?

What I would say is .. kinda of ignore her to some degree as in don’t make a big deal re: the new floors .. just drop treats on the floor .. say nothing and let her walk on to get the treats.. it’s probably just a new sensation on her little paws and she’s unsure ..

My rescue wouldn’t walk on concrete or tarmac or carpet when we got him.. he would roll over onto his side and wee (he was very very timid) if we tried to push it gently encourage him .. so we got a trainer in to help.. and she said .. slow down too much expectations too soon.. a rescue dog needs weeks to decompress.. new home, new bed, new family, new everything and it takes months to process everything.. which is what we did ..

To get him to walk on tarmac we would roll tiny treats along as we walked .. so he forget about the tarmac and concentrated on the treats .. we didn’t make a big deal of anything .. just ignore the scared behaviour and roll tiny treats .. a few days later and he was no bother walking anywhere ..

It did take a good 7 months for him to feel super happy and comfortable in his new home .. now he’s faarrr too comfortable..

On her being wary of men.. same happened with us.. I’d suggest u do all the feeding times for a few weeks and she will learn you = nice things .. and she’ll come round

Time and patience is the key .. and she will be fine! Well done on giving her a new home!

seamus

This is relatively common. The dog is just doesn't like the feel of the solid floors on her feet. Either noise, or the cold, or the lack of grip has her spooked.

It's just a matter of de-sensitising it. Use high-value treats to encourage her onto the floor. Once she's there, sit with her and give her a treat and pet her so long as she stays there.

Do it a couple of times a day for a week and pretty soon she'll have forgotten she's afraid of it.

Cherry Blossom

I was in a neighbours house years ago with my terrier and she refused to walk on the laminate floor. I realised quite quickly that the issue wasn’t the laminate but the underfloor heating.

ec_pc

Thanks for all the advice! We have had many dogs down through the years, but I think they key message is to allow the dog time to get used to us. We are being patient but perhaps going too fast. I tend not to dwell on her previous life, but it's obvious that she needs to completely adapt to a normal life where she is surrounded by people that love and care for her.

She doesn't eat treats, no interest in them so far. In terms of food she stopped eating after about 2 days so we fed her chicken and gradually introduced dry dog food. Now she is back on dry food that we soften with water. One step at a time really.

We have underfloor heating everywhere so the floors are uniform in temperature. I think it must be the feeling and lack of grip she doesn't like. She will happily walk on mats all day.

Meathcat

Would you consider putting a cheap runner mat down to allow her to feel comfortable with it?