Is it possible to be scared of a piece of furniture?
 

This is kind of a long story but I need some help. My mom recently had to move out of her house and into a much smaller place. I took 2 of her Rocker recliners and had them setting in a space in my house right near the living room until I could get rid of a couple of our old chairs. I had them covered with a sheet to keep them clean.
My dogs have climbed on them, ran by them and in general ignored them for weeks. NOW FOR THE PROBLEM.
Just last week I finally got rid of my husbands old recliner because it was horrible and replaced it with one of the chairs from mom's place. It seems like since I made that change one of my chihuahua's (Giacomo) refuses to go into the chair with my husband. He won't climb up for petting or anything else. Now Giacomo will ONLY sit on my chair which is the same chair I always had. Prior to this he was always a daddy's dog!!!:eek: This really bothers my husband because he misses his dog. It appears that Giacomo does not want daddy to have the new chair. Any ideas??
We have tried petting and talking to him and even treats. He will snatch the treat and then run off and if he feels like your going to force anything he goes completely outside and just sits with his tail down!
HELP

Id give Him some more time to adjust to it. Maybe the chair has a funny smell to Him or something. Use treats and encourage Him, toys to if He likes that. I bet if Your Husband sat on the floor kinda leaning on the chair He could get Him back into His lap and just keep getting closer and closer to sitting in it

The furniture doesnt scare him but he is not used to the change in your livingroom. Some yorkies take longer to adjust to change

My guess is that the chair is a different color to him, so it is new intruder to his territory????
Or it has smells of other animals on it that he is just sure is crouched under there waiting to pounce on him if he gets close enough????
Like suggested before, have the hubby sit in the floor and engage him until he feels comfortable with it...

Do you think he got caught up in the recliner part somehow, when he was by himself? Or, did he fall off of it maybe?

I wonder if once your hubby's scent is more on the chair, it'll be less unfamiliar.

Whew ! that's not my Daddy's chair ! I suggest when you change the sheets on your bed to cover the daddy's chair with the dirty sheet for a few days. Don't try to get Giacomo in the chair. You sit on Daddy's chair during the day a few times and hold the other dog. Most dogs will accept new furniture will in about 5 days. The more you 'try' to get them like it, the more you smell upset. Just relax and let it happen.

I like the idea about the sheet and I will definitely try that. I know he hasn't been hurt on the chair and this chair has been about 10 ft away for 3 months now, so it really is weird. The only other thing I can think of is that the old chair was leather and the new chair is fabric.

I think the sheet idea may make it more comfortable for his senses and I will for sure try it and let everyone know.

This particular dog always has responded differently to all the other dogs to many things and he is spooked easily. Has been that way since I got him at 11 weeks old.

He is beautiful though and can be very loving.