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December 13, 2016

Tales from the Crate - Shiny Floors are Scary! by Karilyn Bentley #crazydog #dogproblems

The Kraken
The Kraken wants you to know that shiny floors are scary.

Scary shiny floors



Yep, you probably were unaware of that fact, weren't you? We were unaware until we moved in May of this year exactly how neurotic our baby girl (aka The Kraken) really was. Sure, we realized she was obsessed over ball-ball, frisbee and any other toy that can be thrown, retrieving it and demanding it be thrown again and again, until our arms fell off. We knew she refused to do the Teeter in Agility class (holy cow, it moves! What is the world coming to??), but we never realized the extent of her problems until we moved. Our new house has shiny laminate floors. Shiny laminate floors are scarier than the Teeter. Which is a bit of a problem seeing how The Kraken has to overcome her fear every day and walk on the flooring.

It's not going so well.

So, The Hubster and me did what any self-respecting owner of a neurotic dog would do, we Googled how to solve the problem. The top two videos were of The Dog Whisperer and a YouTube video of a trainer in a house with a shiny-floor-terrified dog. Who knew shiny floors were such an issue in the canine world? At any rate, we watched these videos, decided it was pretty easy and set about training The Kraken.

What happens in the videos: The trainer puts the dog on a leash, starts walking the dog on flooring it likes (carpet or outside), takes a running/fast walking start, leads the dog to the shiny floor and poof! the dog walks on the floor after a couple of tries. Looks easy.

Here's what happened: We put The Kraken on a leash in the carpeted bedroom where she frolics and plays like normal. We lead her to the bedroom door where the laminate starts. We step onto the floor only to almost fall on our faces since she has stopped in the middle of the bedroom, nails poked through the carpet, securing herself to the floor. She is not moving even if a hurricane blew through the room. She gives us a look like we are addled if we think she's taking one step out that door. Ignoring that look (along with the one that tells us of an extremely hot place we can visit), we pick ourselves up off the floor, circle around and try again. This time she's on to us and as soon as we aim for the bedroom door she has once again attached herself to the carpet. After a few more tries of this, we decide she can just be afraid of the floors.

End result: She still sits at the bedroom door and whines, as if that will help the floors change into carpet. BUT, she no longer requires us to walk beside her. She can now creep along the wall to safer flooring materials. Sometimes she will come in the kitchen and sometimes she suddenly becomes afraid of it (can't figure this one out). She had a setback when we got the puppy, but just this week seems to be doing better, but still won't go into the kitchen. It seems that time is wearing down her neurosis. Sort of. Will she ever learn the dog door (which is located in the pantry off the kitchen)? Good question. Check back later.

In the meantime, Demon Kissed, the second book in my Demon Huntress urban fantasy series is reduced price at Amazon. If you haven't had a chance to read it, check it out! And check out Demon Lore, the first book in the series, too! The third is coming out next year!

Until then, Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!!
Karilyn
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13 comments:

Liese said...

Oh, how funny (for me the reader--not the dog)! I had no idea that dogs could be afraid of shiny floors! At least she's learning to compensate some (walking against the wall).

Is the puppy afraid? Maybe that will help her overcome.

Funny story and GREAT BOOK!

Best, Liese

tena said...

We were in obedience class with a door that was scared of shiny floors and the teeter in agility. Poor puppy. I can just imagine your dog putting it in 4-paw-lock. Our dog used to do that around outside garbage cans. (One blew over on her as a pup.) She did finally get over it, but she still eyes the garbage cans suspiciously if it rocks. Good luck, I'm sure she'll over come, the new pup should help.

Vicki Batman, sassy writer said...

OMG, that's so hard. I had a big dog that was afraid of stairs and one day, he planted himself at the top. Someone carried down the 100+ pound beast. And my doodledoos scamper on the hardwoods, not carrying if they do the slip and slide. One even slams into the dishwasher all in the name of fetching squeaky.

Kathy Ivan said...

Loving all the Tales From THe Crate stories. Yes, shiny floors are hard on poor puppies. Just imaging if the whole house had those and no carpeting. How would The Kraken survive. LOL

Glad you're enjoying your move to Colorado, though we miss you. And people need to get the book(s). It's a great series.

chris keniston said...

yep- I had a big old german shepherd who hated the wood flooring upstairs - We wound up putting down carpet runners so he could walk without fear - and the funniest thing is our bedroom was wood too but different not slick and so he would always back into the room and then turn around - I guess his hind feet don't slide out as easily. So funny.

Karilyn Bentley said...

Hi All! Thank you for the comments!! Apparently shiny floor phobia is a thing for dogs. Kraken doesn't mind tile but doesn't like the smooth tile (it's shiny!). She never had a problem with wood floors in our old house, but they weren't as slick or shiny. And the puppy LOVES to slide across the floor and into walls. He has no problems at all. It's funny/odd how our dogs react to wood floors! Thank you for stopping by and commenting!! :)

Barbara Bettis said...

Love tales from the crate. I'm still chuckling at your smart, stubborn Kraken. Not having dogs inside, I never realized one would be alarmed at shiny floors. But I guess my walking on smooth ice would be something like! Good luck. And--nice floors, BTW :)

Sandra Dailey said...

My big Christmas tree is on a shiny floor. The skirt lays in the path of my fur friends route from the back door to his bowls. He runs just that fair, then slides the rest of the way. He's going to miss that when the tree comes down.

Karilyn Bentley said...

Thank you for stopping by Barbara! You are correct, it would be something like walking on ice. But I don't find shiny floors nearly as slippery! (and thank you for the floor comment!) :)

Hi Sandra! That's funny about your fur friend! He will miss it when the tree comes down! Thank you for stopping by!

Sylvia said...

Love these stories about your dogs. They are always entertaining, though I'm sure not to you as you have to deal with the issues. Both of your dogs are so sweet - though big. Hope she gets over her neurosis.

DeeDee Lane said...

Your dog has the cutest face! I hope you have a happy holiday time! And some good writing days.

Karilyn Bentley said...

Thank you Sylvia and DeeDee! I'm glad you like Tales from the Crate. :)

Robert Smith said...

I appreciate your writing skill. Please keep on working hard
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