Watching your beloved pup acting weird and scared because of phobia for certain rooms in your home can stir some negative emotions within you. No one loves seeing their pets getting scared. Perhaps you may be wondering, why is my dog afraid of certain rooms?
Your dog is afraid of certain rooms’ due to traumatic experiences and fear. Temperatures of certain rooms may be too harsh on your dog. Also, new dogs are known to have phobia entering a strange room.
In this article, we’ll examine why dogs might be afraid of specific locations in the home. We will also discuss practical things that can be done to help a terrified dog around the home.
Reasons Why Your Dog Is Afraid Of Certain Rooms
There are five reasons why your dog is afraid of certain rooms in your home. Dogs are afraid because of traumatic memories, unfavorable temperature, phobia of a strange room, unpleasant odor, and disturbing loud noises. The five reasons are explained as follows:
Your Dog Is Suffering From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Dogs are known to suffer from PTSD just like humans. Your dog might have entered a certain room without your knowledge. It might have suffered a traumatic experience while exploring the room.
It is not uncommon for adventurous dogs to get cuts and scrapes in exploring a room. This can leave your dog with traumatic memories. When the dog sees the room from a distance at a later time, those memories replay in the mind of your dog.
Your Dog Is Sensitive To Extreme Temperatures
A dog can develop a phobia for a certain room at home if the dog finds out that the room in question is either too cold or too hot. Just like humans, dogs are warm-blooded, which means they require a relatively constant temperature to survive.
After exploring a particular room for some time, your dog may not find the temperature and humidity of the room favorable. Your dog may subsequently dread going into that room.
Your Dog Can’t Tolerate Loud Noises
Your dog might be terrified of some rooms within the house. This can happen if any room in your home is known for producing disturbing noises.
For example, a dog might be scared about going to the laundry room because of the disturbing noise produced by the laundry machine. Your pup may find it safe to avoid the laundry room at all costs.
Your Dog Finds The Smell Of Certain Rooms Offensive
Dogs are generally known for their ability to smell better than humans. When exploring a particular room, your dog might have perceived the odor of some substances that you may not have perceived that makes the dog terrified.
The horrible smell of a particular room can make a dog develop fear towards going near the room.
Your Dog Is Fearful Of Household Machines
A dog can avoid some specific rooms altogether because large household appliances can be found there. Dogs are known to be wary of any sizeable stagnant equipment.
Examples of such equipment are; refrigerator and washing machine. Your pup may decide to avoid such rooms completely. In this case, the room is not the problem, but the large appliances located in the room.
Why Is My Dog Suddenly Afraid Of My Room
Your dog is afraid of your room because your room likely contains objects or equipment, making your pup skittish. Probably you just got some new household appliances placed in your room, and you’re excited.
This may not be the case for your dog; that new equipment may be seriously freaking your dog out. It may begin to exhibit certain strange behaviors when you call out your dog to enter your room.
Why Is My Dog Suddenly Scared Of The Hallway
Your dog is suddenly scared of the hallway because he has separation anxiety. The hallway in your home may likely be the path to your study room.
Your pup knows that once you are in there, you might spend several hours without coming out. Since dogs don’t like being left alone, they develop separation anxiety when abandoned for several hours a day.
The thought of seeing you walk through the hallway may create phobia in your dog for that particular part of your home.
Why Is My Dog Suddenly Afraid Of The Kitchen
Your dog is suddenly afraid of the kitchen, most likely because of the flooring type being used in the kitchen. You may have carpeting floors in the house’s living areas and a hard surface floor in the kitchen.
Your dog might have adapted so well to the floor in the living areas. Stepping on a strange floor in the kitchen might create a phobia for your pup.
Dogs’ nails and long foot fur can make them slip on a hard floor. Sliding and slipping on the kitchen floor may create unpleasant memories for him. Some dogs also get scared of seeing naked fire. The gas burner may be the reason why your dog gets scared of going to the kitchen.
How To Help A Scared Dog Enter A Room
An effective way to make a scared dog enter a room is to start associating the room with positive stuff. You can decide to put your dog’s food and water inside the room.
If this doesn’t work, you can put your pup’s favorite treat inside the room. Try giving positive signals to him that the room is safe by petting and feeding him.
It is important to remember that you should not coddle your dog when he’s showing signs of fear; this would only encourage this unwanted behavior. Ensure the room you want your dog to enter is not too tight. A dog should be able to lie down comfortably wherever it is.
Things To Consider
When your precious dog is unnecessarily afraid of certain rooms in your home, there are some essential factors you should consider that might be responsible for this strange behavior.
Genetic Tendencies
If it seems your dog is extremely fearful, it is often helpful to look beyond the surface. Your dog should not take the whole blame for being skittish.
When a puppy has an anxious mother, the mother is likely to pass down the trait to her puppy. Understanding this factor can better help you to deal gently with your pup.
Pain
Another essential factor to bear in mind as to why your dog is overly scared of some locations within the home might be related to pain. When a dog is in pain, it may start to exhibit some strange behaviors suddenly.
Watching out for some signs of pain in your dog can go a long way in understanding the reason why your dog is terrified. A vet can help you fully comprehend whether the pain is responsible for your dog’s sudden fear or not.
Traumatic Experiences
A single lifetime scary event for a dog can impact her whole life. In response to the trauma, they avoid going anywhere near where they had the traumatic experience. If your dog suffered significant cuts in one of the rooms in your home, she might develop excessive fear and anxiety in response.
Recognizing Fear In Your Dog
To solve a problem, recognizing there is a problem is a critical way of solving the problem. We know how important it is for every dog owner to recognize when a dog is scared. There are classic signs to watch out for in a dog. These are:
● Fooling around and shivering
● Growling
● Tail tucked
● Ears standing backward
● Slow-motion movement
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