CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Behaviour & Training => Topic started by: Petepreston on September 07, 2010, 09:19:26 AM
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Can anybody recommend a vacuum cleaner that is good if your puppy is one of those that chases it and barks? I'm quite sure its the noise Posie doesn't like because that's how she behaves even when I don't move it. It just has to be switched on.
She's a working Cocker and our floors are mostly laminate so pet specific isn't a requirement, at least, not from the a hypo-allergenic or molting point of view.
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Most of my floors are wood, laminate or ceramic tiles.
I have a Dyson Animal cylinder and I love it. :luv: I like Dyson as they go on forever and you can get replacements for nearly all the parts.
Other members on this forum also recommend Miele Pet vacuum cleaners.
If you go to the Shopping topic and type in vacuum cleaners in the Search, you should get up lots of other previous discussions of which cleaners are recommended. :D
I have two workers and they are act very differently when the cleaner comes out (every day). One watches it from a distance, the other actively follows it around.
Have you tried rewarding your puppy when she is calm around the vacuum cleaner? I have never had a problem with my two girls but I am sure other members will have had similar experiences to you and hopefully one of them will give you advice as to how to stop the barking/chasing. :D
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I have a Miele cylinder purchased this year. To say I LOVE it is an understatement.
I've previously owned Henry's, Electroluxs, dyson. The Miele is brilliant. :D
It has a quiet setting too which I use around the cats to avoid alarming them too much! ;)
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Love, love, love my Miele, and yes, I know, I need a life!! :005: Co-op electrical have them at a good price...
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See I would say avoid a Dyson, as I found mine was VERY loud. Smartie has a big fear of the hoover, but since I traded to a lovely pink Hetty (Henry's sister!) she seems to be coming round to it.
Apart from being smiley all the time, it now comes with a boost button, which makes it super sucky. I find I don't so much need it with my wooden floors, but its good for carpet.
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Have you tried rewarding your puppy when she is calm around the vacuum cleaner? I have never had a problem with my two girls but I am sure other members will have had similar experiences to you and hopefully one of them will give you advice as to how to stop the barking/chasing. :D
I agree with vixen.
What we did with Alfie when he was very young was have my daughter hold him while I did it, stroking him and telling him he was a good boy, while he got accustomed to the noise (did the same with the washing machine, mower etc), and rewarding him with a treat when he was still and calm. Are you using a clicker at all in her training? That could be very useful here. Does she start barking and chasing when she just sees you getting the vacuum out, or only when it starts up? Has this been going on right from when you got her?
You've mentioned elsewhere that her training is going well, in which case you could also use the "Sit" and "Stay" command while the vacuuming is being done (ie away from the area you are vacuuming). Nowadays Alfie doesn't need anyone to hold him, I just sit him on his bed out of the way and tell him to stay.
I have a Dyson DC24 which is wonderfully lightweight and has an easy switch to lift the rotating brush so that you can vacuum hard floors. It's a *little* quieter than my old Dyson DC1, but not much. We have been working on getting Alfie accustomed to different noises since he was 8 wks old; we're wondering how he will react to fireworks, what with Halloween and Bonfire Night coming up in 6 weeks or so.
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I have recently acquired a Sebo Felix. We have stone floors throughout the ground floor and a kind of marble mix hard flooring everywhere else - oh and lots of stairs as well ph34r just a few rugs here and there, so a cleaner which I could transport easily up and down stairs as well as being quiet (ish) was important. I have found the Sebo exceptionally quiet even on its high setting which is what I use all the time. The height of the handle can be adjusted as well, plus there is a carry handle for easy stair operation. The Sebo takes a bit of getting used to as the cleaning head swivels in use to get around static furniture and corners - so anyone with weak wrists forget it... ;) Both my dogs are very used to all our household machines - they will sit and let me vacuum around them :shades: as they are just too lazy to move...even my blind dog is cool and chilled out...but this is the least noisy machine I have ever used and it works for us.
What may be useful is just to get the machine out and wander around the house with it from time to time (not putting it on) to get your dog used to seeing it - then progress with very short operation. Volunteers at our dog re-homing centre do this when they have a dog going to a new home to help introduce to home life after being in a kennel - it works very well.
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Thanks for all the replies.
I would reward her for being quiet around the machine, but that never happens. She doesn't seem scared but does get hyperactive. Her tails wags like crazy and she chases the sweeper (it's a cylinder type), all the time barking and pouncing at it. She'll even bit it a few times. She's much the same with the lawnmower but resorts to trying to bite the cable instead. With the mower she barks at it even when it's not switched on, whereas the vacuum cleaner is left alone when not switched on. The hairdrier gets the same treatment.
The one thing that all items have in common is a high pitched whining sound from the motor so I'm sure that's what's bothering her. We tend to keep her in a different room when possible.
Our vacuum is an old Hoover (8 years old?) and I've read that most manufacturers make quieter models although I can't find any actual noise level figures. Miele is the front runner from my research - reliable, sturdy, powerful and quiet setting available. Dyson seem to have a mixed review, many people love them, many people return them or buy another brand and leave the Dyson in the cupboard. I got access to Which? reviews and Miele had 80% of the top 20 rated machines. Dyson didn't make it into the Top 20.
Thanks again for the help and input. Time to suck it and see, so to speak. Miele it is. I think.
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Miele all the way. Not sure about the noise but with my Miele (the yellow one?) you can turn it down to do curtains etc which makes it much quieter. Maybe you could try her with it on a quieter setting working up to the loudest.
Having said that Giz is 'scared' or the hoover (and the mower) and will just run away when it comes out, i've never really worried too much about teaching her otherwise. I guess as a working cocker running away from something scary isn't great but it only seems to be the hoover and mower that do it :huh:
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As long as the work Giz should be doing isn't the hoovering and lawnmowing, eh?
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If you can afford Miele, then go for it, but they're way out of my price range.
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I would reward her for being quiet around the machine, but that never happens.
Didn't you say elsewhere that she has learned "Sit" and "Stay"? Am I thinking of someone else maybe?
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Alfie didnt used to like the hoover, he would leave the room when it came out. We never took any notice, and eventually he got used to it and will now stand right at the front of it or at the side of me/whoevers hoovering with no problem (i can even hoover his back using the nozzle :005:). If we make a big deal of them making a big deal surely it would just get worse? JMO :D xxx
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What may be useful is just to get the machine out and wander around the house with it from time to time (not putting it on) to get your dog used to seeing it - then progress with very short operation.
Great advice from Saffaroo!
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Have read this thread with interest as I haven't managed to get Alfie used to the Dyson or the mower but am going down the line of helping him to cope with it rather than buy another machine as I don't think it would make any difference with a quieter one, he starts barking and jumping at it as soon as I put my hand on the handle of it to undo the flex. If any of my sons are around they take him into the garden to play. If I'm on my own, I put him outside with his Kong. It's not a longterm solution I know, but he often barks so much it's hard to get a second to reward him when he's not barking. The boys have tried holding him and reassuring him when it's switched on but he barks when being held too. I've also tried stroking him and moving the Dyson slowly beside him when its off but will keep persevering.
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A Henry would probably be better as the bit you use isn't the bit making the noise and there's no moving parts to see.
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We're ready for a new machine anyway siam.
I haven't been making a fuss of her when she barks at these machines but she hasn't calmed down at all, and as I said, she goes nuts when she sees them even if they aren't switched on.
It's not a big problem. The lawn gets cut once a month in the summer and the vacuum once a week at the moment. She doesn't get in the bedroom when my wife uses the hairdrier but Posie will sit outside the room and bark just as much as if she's in the room. There's no distracting her.
She does sit & stay quite well, mooching, but not well enough to cope with this situation. She's only 16 weeks old so good but not perfect - other than in looks! ;)
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She does sit & stay quite well, mooching, but not well enough to cope with this situation. She's only 16 weeks old so good but not perfect - other than in looks! ;)
Well, they are all different, but my pup is only a couple of weeks older than yours, and he's learned to cope with the vacuum cleaner, the mower (and the hedgecutter) by obediently sitting and staying (and laying down) on his bed with a treat, at first with someone with him, and now on his own - and that's despite being half working cocker half terrier! However we started very early with him (right from 8 wks), and trained him to be calm rather than removing him from the situation. But if you're happy doing what you do, and continuing to do that, no problem!
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Have read this thread with interest as I haven't managed to get Alfie used to the Dyson or the mower but am going down the line of helping him to cope with it rather than buy another machine as I don't think it would make any difference with a quieter one, he starts barking and jumping at it as soon as I put my hand on the handle of it to undo the flex. If any of my sons are around they take him into the garden to play. If I'm on my own, I put him outside with his Kong. It's not a longterm solution I know, but he often barks so much it's hard to get a second to reward him when he's not barking. The boys have tried holding him and reassuring him when it's switched on but he barks when being held too. I've also tried stroking him and moving the Dyson slowly beside him when its off but will keep persevering.
siam, it might be an idea to ask about this in the Behaviour thread, as more people are likely to see it. :D
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. The lawn gets cut once a month in the summer and the vacuum once a week at the moment.
I wonder if the frequency that the machines are used has anything to do with her behaviour?
I have always had dogs and I vacuum EVERY day. It is just something that is part of my routine as if I didn't, with two dogs it could quickly get out of hand. :o From the day my pups came home they have seen and heard the vacuum.
Maybe if your puppy saw and heard the vacuum cleaner every day it would become part of her routine as it is for my girls. Remember the saying about familiarity! :005: :005: :005:
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You might be right about the machines not being used very often, vixen, but I'm on crutches at the moment so other than switching the vacuum on every so often there's not much chance of it being used every day. It's like almost everything else I need or would like to do more often.
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You might be right about the machines not being used very often, vixen, but I'm on crutches at the moment so other than switching the vacuum on every so often there's not much chance of it being used every day. It's like almost everything else I need or would like to do more often.
I wasn't being judgmental about your vacuum cleaning and am sorry if it came across this way.
I was just suggesting that if your puppy was exposed to it more often she would get used to it.
My sympathies are with you at this time as it must be extremely difficult managing to get round on crutches and having a young puppy at this same time.
Best wishes for your speedy recovery. :bigarmhug:
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Not at all vixen, though you would be quite correct. The vacuum came out no more than once a week before Posie arrived. It's getting owrse now because she is constantly bringing in sticks from the garden and then demolishing them. That and muddy paws from the digging.
When I get the new vacuum I might leave it out in the open for her to get used to, but she doesn't have a problem with the old one when it's switched off, unlike the lawnmower.
Thanks for all the advice. Much appreciated.
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What may be useful is just to get the machine out and wander around the house with it from time to time (not putting it on) to get your dog used to seeing it - then progress with very short operation.
Great advice from Saffaroo!
Thats what I did. I also switched it on and didnt move it so that they can get accomadated to the noise and the movement seperately.
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In ten years our dog has always got hyper over anything with a motor! The vacuum cleaner gets her walking slowly round the dining table as soon as it comes out of the garage. When it's switched on she does laps at increasing speed. The mower and strimmer have the same effect in the garden, as do drills etc
After years of trying to get her calm around these items including a behaviourist visit, I now let her get on with it. The exercise does her no harm!
If pushed we can make her lie down and watch, which she does in very excited fashion, panting and holding a toy. At least she is safe in the garden like this!
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When I get the hoover out here, it usually works like this: I open the cupboard door in the hall where said devlish machine is kept safe, muddies watch which way I take it, (cupboard is mid-way between bedroom and lounge) then they go and sit in the room I am not using it (after all it might gobble them up :005: ).
When I have finished in one room, they carefully bypass the beast and go and sit/lay in the other room.
They don't bark or create - they just keep out of it's way.
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That's a great compromise.
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It sounds like she wants to play with it! Dougie is the same, he jumps at the hoover, jumps back, barks at it, and wants me to chase him with it, he is the same with the hairdryer, he just loves a carry on. :005:
I have gone through quite a few hoovers since having dogs, but recently got a Henry, and it is really quiet - although, Dougie just thought it was a new pal for him, especially as it has a big smiley face! :lol2:
You can either just put up with her trying to play, or gradually desensitise her to it. :D
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Douglas now associates my Dyson with food as I often train with it on.
His was a confidence issue, where he would run away and hide if it went on.
i taught him to target the dyson up right and not switched on with his nose, i also got him doing lots of tricks which could be rewarded firstly in another part of the house when it was switched on and eventually in the same room, I always hoover up now with my treat pouch on and toss really yummy treats at him and leave the choice up to him if he wants to approach or not.
Seems to have worked as when i put the hoover on the other day he wandered into the room and started playbowing which was one of the tricks we worked on rather than heading for the hills.
sessions should be kept very brief to start with.
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Update: we bought the Miele 4212 Plus and I couldn't praise it highly enough. On the "quiet" setting it is still quite loud but very powerful and I tend to use it on the lowest setting when I want some peace. Even at the lowest setting it is powerful enough to clean hard surfaces and light cleaning of carpet. My rug has never been cleaner than when I use the higher settings.
The only thing I would criticise it for is that it's too powerful. On full power it lifts the carpet and will pull a 7'x4' rug around the room, making it heavy to use. Hardly a bad point given that it's adjustable.
As far as Posie's concerned, it's just as bad as the old machine. She still barks at the cleaning head, even when the machine isn't switched on and sometimes when I'm not even using the vacuum.
I opted for the model that didn't have the turbo head as I'd read reviews saying that the rotating brushes could damage softer materials. As it happens, it is more than powerful enough anyway.
Oh, and the excellent wheels make the machine feel far lighter than it is when moving around. Not sure how it will be on stairs 'cos I can't do them yet.
I hope this helps somebody else.
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Do wat I do - don't vacuum :D OH does the vacuuming about once a week, give or give a few days (and I'm not on crutches Petepreston, I just have a life ;) ) and I take the dogs out while he does it.
Alternatively, buy one of those robotic vacuums and leave it to do it's stuff while and the dogs are out.
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We came very close to getting the robot. ;)
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Henry, it looks like a little dog!! Sophie hates it but you can hoover Charlie with it and he doesn't seem to notice!
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Just got the irobot 563 pet vacuum cleaning robot
Fabulous.
The girls sleep upstairs with us- so I set it to work its magic at night