As I've posted before I live in an apt. complex, people come & go and due to some previously very loud neighbors Princess is not at all desensitized anymore.
The neighbors are quieter across the hall, but others still come & go and of course I can't/don't expect library quietness.
I've been trying to reinforce Princess being quiet & using the "No Barking" command to quiet her down and it really works a lot if I'm in the same room with her. She'll look at me to see how she should react I guess & I'll tell her "No Barking", etc. However, if I'm not right there she takes off for the door in a frenzy.
So here's where the potential evil may step in. I got the vacuum out a few days ago & just left it in the dining room hoping to get her used to it (not running), using treats, praising the vacuum
, playing by it but as soon as I'd touch it she'd run for my bed.
She's afraid of anything motorized, even the electric hand mixer.
So, the
may have kicked in, though I thought I was just using her fear to my advantage. I put the vacuum a few feet in front of the door. Now she'll take off running to the door barking like a maniac, see it, then turn & go back to what she was doing. I have never tormented her with the vacuum, just so that is clear, and I hope this doesn't constitute as that now.
My thought was I could have one of two positive results, maybe both.
She would just teach herself eventually to stop running to the door barking. And the extra exposure may also get her used to the vacuum as it's usually behind closed doors.
Am I an evil mommy?