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12-15-2017, 07:00 AM | #1 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: May 2014 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 48
| Afraid of the fireplace Hi, My 3-year-old yorkie has always been nervous of the fireplace in the family room when the gas fire is turned on. It rarely is so it hasn’t been a problem. However, this week he’s decided that he’s afraid of the fireplace entirely (despite it not having been turned on this year — we fiddled a bit with it to get it to work and it won’t so we’ve got a repairperson coming on Monday so we will have the fireplace if the power goes out and we need it for heat). We’ve checked and there’s no gas smell. The fear is keeping him from going into the family room entirely where we usually sit. We’ve put a gate up occasionally so that he must spend some time with us but does it sleeping in the farthest end of the room. He’ll come into the family room to eat his dinner and then leave fast. For a while our other Yorkie stayed with him and we were dogless essentially but the other pup (a year old) has decided there’s nothing to fear and is back in our laps. We miss him! And I’m pretty sure he misses us! Any idea what we can do? Thanks. Linda |
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12-15-2017, 07:12 AM | #2 |
Yorkie mom of 4 Donating YT Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: LaPlata, Md
Posts: 23,247
| Treats. Get on the floor and give him praise and treats. Start at is comfort places and slowly start moving back toward the fire place a little at a time. You may have to do this over a couple of days.
__________________ Taylor My babies Joey, Penny ,Ollie & Dixie Callie Mae, you will forever be in my heart! |
12-15-2017, 08:08 AM | #3 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Canada
Posts: 1,903
| Omigosh, poor lil baby. Sometimes when they develop fear, they need a lot of attention and love to reassure everything is safe and okay. I would agree to start with some treats. Having him eat dinner in the living room is good too. Try to associate as many good things as you can with that space. I'm curious how his fear suddenly came to be. They can sometimes be such strange little babies.
__________________ ~ laughter is an instant vacation ~ https://scottieandcasie.com/ :: Custom Pet Portrait Paintings |
12-15-2017, 08:22 AM | #4 |
Donating YT Addict Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Oakland County MI
Posts: 6,190
| wow that is strange even when it is not on, are you sure it's the fireplace. i will say we have a natural wood buring fireplace and Lola is afraid when we light it, we do everthing short of pinning her down to keep her with us on the couch. However if there is food involved or we start throwing her toy she is fine, she will even run right in front of it to chase her toy but as soon as we stop playing she hightails it upstairs. I had a thundershirt for her and that seemed to help a bit but I someone managed to lose it and now as I type this I just realized we have to fly unexpectely to NY on Sunday and she usually wears the shirt and now i don't have it, better start shopping quick............ LOL glad i posted on this thead
__________________ Lola my amazing little yorkie-pom Donna |
12-15-2017, 05:47 PM | #5 |
Action Jackson ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Maryland
Posts: 17,814
| Aw, I'm sorry. Jackson is super quirky too like that. He HATESSS any kind of alarm sound (smoke alarm, etc) or even the beep that comes from smoke alarm when it's dead. I found him one morning in the corner of my bathroom shaking. I hadn't even heard the light beep coming from the smoke detector and slept through it. It was telling us batteries were dead so a light beep every... 60 seconds maybe? I felt awful I hadn't noticed sooner. Yet today we had people working at our house downstairs using a big electric saw thing to cut wood for framing and after their usual barking (alert, there's a stranger in the house!) they went and slept and the noise didn't bother him at all. But yeah I would say a lot of positive reinforcement, taking things slowly, and I guess... if he wants to relax somewhere else, let him.
__________________ ~ Brit & Lights! Camera! Jackson! CGC ETD TKP ~ Follow Jackson on Instagram: https://instagram.com/jacksontheterrier |
12-15-2017, 09:15 PM | #6 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: May 2014 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 48
| Thanks, everybody! As a puppy Monty was afraid of the fireplace because of the glass front and the mirrored image of the dog that he'd see when he approached it. Then I turned on the flame one time to remove the mirroring and he freaked out and since then has hid when we had the flame on. However that was all. Otherwise he was fine. However, a few days ago we fiddled with the fireplace during the day and then in the evening there was the noise of the snow hitting the chimney and the occasional boomish noise from the furnace turning on which echoed a bit in the chimney. I suspect that did it. Anyway I've been busy with treats and lots of praise today. Luckily too the younger dog has decided his older brother is being silly and has begun to spend time with us again (for a day or so he stayed away with the older dog) so we're no longer entirely dogless. I think it helps having the other dog now behaving calmly as if nothing is wrong (he's even actively trying to get his older brother to play with him in the family room). I'm also using the dog gates to keep the two dogs with me in the family room in the evening. There's room for the older pup to "escape" into an area where his bed is so he isn't trapped. Tonight he even emerged a bit to get treats and work on tricks a bit and even played a bit by the edge of the room. Later in the evening he even jumped up on the couch before he seemed to recall -- "Oh, I'm supposed to be afraid and have to go". Fingers-crossed that the improvement continues. I miss his company! Linda |
12-16-2017, 10:18 AM | #7 | |
Yorkie mom of 4 Donating YT Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: LaPlata, Md
Posts: 23,247
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__________________ Taylor My babies Joey, Penny ,Ollie & Dixie Callie Mae, you will forever be in my heart! | |
12-16-2017, 10:08 PM | #8 |
Banning Thread Dictator Donating Member | Their quirky habits never cease to amaze me and make me smile. One of mine went through a period where he was afraid of his water bowl. I switched types, switched locations, anything I could think of. Nothing worked. He finally mostly grew out of it. Along with treats, I'd suggest a distracting game. Toss a favorite toy in the room. Gradually, toss it closer to the fireplace, but don't rush it. Honor his bubble and slowly try to break it down. Oh, and get video! You will laugh about this someday!
__________________ Mike ~ Doting Dad to Jillie, Harper, Molly, Cooper, Eddie (RIP), Lucy (RIP), Rusty (RIP) and Jack (RIP). Check us out on YouTube |
12-17-2017, 11:36 AM | #9 |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 13
| My Lily loves the fireplace. I sure wish she had that problem! lol I have to keep her away so I don't know how to help you there! Good luck, poor baby.
__________________ In Loving Memory of Jaxon Alexander Kelley April 14th 2013 - June 1st 2013 |
12-18-2017, 06:19 PM | #10 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Southgate, MI USA
Posts: 238
| Afraid of the fireplace My dog does not like the fireplace. She also doesn’t like campfires. I think it’s the crackling and popping sound of the firewood. It sounds like fireworks to her, which she is terrified of. She is not afraid as much when I burn a duralog. Just think, the dog doesn’t get the concept of fire in the house. Probably thinks the place is going to burn down.
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12-21-2017, 09:11 PM | #11 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: May 2014 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 48
| Hi, An update on my pups. I’m no longer dogless. Both have decided to return to the family room despite the fireplace and are back to trying to push each other out of my lap. It took a fair number of treats and some nylabone dog toys over a few days for the older dog to willingly enter the famly room but now he acts as if there never was a problem. Thanks for the suggestions! Linda |
01-27-2018, 10:11 AM | #12 | |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Sunny, Alaska
Posts: 34
| Quote:
__________________ Kashmere & Denim = | |
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