Sudden Aversion To Living Room

[krissy]

Summit has developed a somewhat sudden aversion to the living room. I have noticed over the last week or two that he does not want to lie on his bed in the living room, and even had to be coaxed to join me on the couch. He also never gets up on the couch by himself when we aren't occupying it (if we were cooking dinner or something he used to be lying on his bed or up on the couch). He spends all of his time in the bedroom now even though in the evenings we are always in the living room.

 

Some recent changes:

- Summit graduated from his crate to being babygated in the bedroom, and is allowed on the bed while we are gone.

- He got a new Costco "orthopedic" bed which is in the bedroom where his crate used to be

 

I thought that because he had a new, more comfortable bed in the bedroom he was choosing to spend time in there on that one. But tonight I gave him a special dinner (every now and then he gets a raw turkey neck for dinner instead of kibble) and I always give it to him on his living room bed (covered with a towel). Well, he lay down and took it and then tried to get up and leave with it, so I made him lie back down... and then he refused to eat it and just looked sort of uncertain/uncomfortable. I thought the neck was just too frozen so I defrosted it a bit for him and tried again. He REALLY wanted that neck, but it was on his bed and he looked torn between leaving and eating it. He tried to run away with it again. I took it from him and put it back on his bed. He finally stands on the bed and starts eating it and eventually lies down. But as soon as it is finished he gets off his bed and runs away. So I take the living room bed and swap it for his orthopedic one from the bedroom because I still think it's an issue of a better bed. But when I go to call him, I realize he's in the bedroom ON HIS BED (the one I moved from the living room). I call him to the living room and show him that his comfy bed is out there. He retreats back to the bedroom.

 

So now I wonder if there's something about the corner his bed is in that he doesn't like? It's right next to the room where the rabbits live and he is afraid of them, so I thought maybe he was upset about that. The bed has been in that spot for the last 5 months that we've had him and the rabbits making noise has never bothered him. So I move the ottoman over and put the bed on the other side of it. I call him from the bedroom (where he is on his bed once again - still his living room bed) and show him the new placement of his orthopedic bed. He seems happier at first, and lays down on it, but doesn't relax and after a minute or two he gets up and wants to leave. I call him back and invite him up onto the couch but can't convince him to get up with me. He leaves and is now once again back in the bedroom on his livingroom bed.

 

So it's not an issue of one bed being nicer than the other. It is not an issue of the placement in the living room of his bed. And I don't think it has anything to do with his missing crate because he hadn't used it in a week or more and before that had been resisting being crated for about 2 weeks. Nothing else has changed. Nothing else has changed about him... he is still his usual self, no medical issues. What the heck is going on?

[rascalsmom]

I'll be interested to see if you get any suggestions. My Jack has developed an aversion to going to the family room in the basement, which he's done regularly since we got him over a year ago. For some reason, for the past few months, he will NOT go downstairs.

[Yamaha_gurl]

Whats the floor like in the living room, any different than the bedroom?

[krissy]

Whats the floor like in the living room, any different than the bedroom?

 

Yes. Bedrooms are carpet and living room is hardwood. We know that all the animals dislike the flooring from the kitchen to the bathroom for some reason. It is the same as in the living room but for some reason they don't mind the living room. The rabbits display it most obviously. They seem to have trouble with the footing, slip, their legs splay, they scrabble, and get out of there as quickly as possible. Summit will go into the kitchen (his food and water are in there) and he will follow all the way to the bathroom if we really call and encourage him, but has never gone down there on his own.

 

We called him back out to his bed in it's new spot in the living room and gave him lots of attention and treats, and he is now laying down... oh wait, nope, just got up and is wondering if he should leave or not. He decided to lay back down here with us, but he's just not looking completely relaxed and happy.

[Guest mbfilby]

Some greys suddenly develop a fear of certain places for "who knows why". Cy became fearful of our LR and we figured out it was because we had turned off the ceiling fan. What used to be a blurry thing was now a four bladed stationary weapon. We discovered he had a fear of the kitchen when we found he wasn't drinking water which was on the far end. We thought maybe he was spooked by the dishwasher at some point while going for a drink.

 

We solved (mostly) the fan deal by turning it back on. We got him back in the kitchen by giving treats in that area..

 

Try to find out if something new was added or even if something was moved..

[krissy]

Some greys suddenly develop a fear of certain places for "who knows why". Cy became fearful of our LR and we figured out it was because we had turned off the ceiling fan. What used to be a blurry thing was now a four bladed stationary weapon. We discovered he had a fear of the kitchen when we found he wasn't drinking water which was on the far end. We thought maybe he was spooked by the dishwasher at some point while going for a drink.

 

We solved (mostly) the fan deal by turning it back on. We got him back in the kitchen by giving treats in that area..

 

Try to find out if something new was added or even if something was moved..

 

He was spooked tonight by some dead leaves on one of the plants in the LR, the one right behind his bed. It was dry and crackly, and he touched it with his tail. But he has never looked at the plant prior to tonight with a "what on earth" look, and this living room issue has been going on for a couple of weeks. As far as I know nothing in the living room has changed.

 

He has been on his bed in the LR now for about half an hour, and is flat on his side now fast asleep. I will be sure to give him extra attention and treats in the living room from now on, but wish he could speak so I could ask him what is going on....

[greysmom]

It's probably something that only he can see/hear/smell/feel. They do sometime develop an aversion to a place they've been fine with before. It could be the heater is on, or the heater is off, or a curtain is open/close, a rug is moved, the rabbits are making more noise now that it's Spring-y, there's a squirrel or mouse in the wall, the plant is making a scary shadow. It's really hard to tell.

 

Or, he simply may like the bedroom better. Now that he's comfortable and settled in, no longer crated, allowed on the *really* comfy people bed he just might prefer to be in there.

 

Give him special attention and treats whe he's in the living room and relaxed and comfortable. Otherwise, I'd probably let him choose where he wants to be. If it gets to be a problem, just baby gate him out of the room for increasing time increments. He'll be uncomfortable at first, but should get better over time.

[Jerilyn]

My Lila has had two spells of being afraid to eat her food in the kitchen in the 8 months I have had here. She gets over it in about a week but I could not figure out what the issue was as she would still greet me at the door right there and go in and out with ease. This morning I solved it. As she was eating a piece of kibble flew out of her bowl and hit the cupboard then fell on the floor. And it made a noise.

I guess my point is that you may never know or it could be something so small that you didn't even notice. I wish I knew what was going on in that pointy little head...

[Yamaha_gurl]

I was going to say maybe he slipped, but if he's in the bedroom during the day then that can't be it. Maybe he is just displaying what his favorite place is...the bedroom. Or do you have an outside door near the living room? Perhaps someone was knocking on it and if freaked him out?

[greymatters]

Or, he simply may like the bedroom better. Now that he's comfortable and settled in, no longer crated, allowed on the *really* comfy people bed he just might prefer to be in there.

This is what I've been thinking about our own experience. After about 6 months with us, Merlin discovered the futon couch in our guest room upstairs. We had been keeping the door to that room closed due to ongoing renovations, but after the new windows were installed we opened it, and he went straight for that couch and never looked back! Shortly after this we also took his crate down for good, after gradually giving him access to more and more of the house when we were gone, using baby gates, etc.

 

He has never even tried to get on any of our other furniture - he seems to view the living room couch, our bed, etc. as our space. He has comfy beds of his own in various rooms throughout our house, but that futon couch in our guest room is absolutely his favorite spot now, and that's where he spends most of his "down-time" whether we're home or not. We try not to take it personally and figure that's just him being an independent houndie who likes to have his own (quiet) space. Makes those times, like right now, when he chooses to snooze in the living room with me instead of upstairs by himself even sweeter .

[krissy]

Or, he simply may like the bedroom better. Now that he's comfortable and settled in, no longer crated, allowed on the *really* comfy people bed he just might prefer to be in there.

 

I really don't think so. That was what I orginally thought and why I didn't worry about it, but he literally looks like he's uncomfortable. Also, he won't even get on the couch. He LOVES the couch. Yes, he's discovered the bed now and he spends most of his time when we are not home on the bed, but the couch is still pretty highly prized. Since we moved the bed, and gave him extra attention and treats he has finally settled and seems comfortable again. I also removed the offending dead leaf from the plant. I will just continue to encourage him to stay out here with attention and treats I guess. Who knows what the deal is. Good to hear it happens to others too though.

[greymatters]

So, one other thought - you indicated that you took his crate down around the time this started and that the crate used to be in the bedroom where he's now spending lots of time. Is it possible that he's retreating to that room in response to the crate disappearing? I mention this because when we took Merlin's crate down, he also hadn't been going in it much at all for a couple of weeks and we figured he didn't need it anymore. We also left a bed in the spot where the crate had been, and for the next few weeks he spent a LOT of time in that bed, way more time than he'd previously been spending in the crate or in that room in general. We wondered if he was sort of "claiming" his safe spot?

 

ETA that of course, as you say he could just have decided to hate the living room .

Edited March 17, 2011 by greygeek

[krissy]

So, one other thought - you indicated that you took his crate down around the time this started and that the crate used to be in the bedroom where he's now spending lots of time. Is it possible that he's retreating to that room in response to the crate disappearing? I mention this because when we took Merlin's crate down, he also hadn't been going in it much at all for a couple of weeks and we figured he didn't need it anymore. We also left a bed in the spot where the crate had been, and for the next few weeks he spent a LOT of time in that bed, way more time than he'd previously been spending in the crate or in that room in general. We wondered if he was sort of "claiming" his safe spot?

 

ETA that of course, as you say he could just have decided to hate the living room .

 

I suppose it is possible. He was really resisting being crated for about 2 weeks prior to us graduating him to the bedroom and was not using the crate. Having said that though, the day before I took the crate down I did find him napping in it, but I suspect that was because his bed was in the living room (we only had one at the time, so I would move it at bedtime into the bedroom) and he wanted to lay on the nice soft blankets in the crate. We've had him for 5 months but he was a bounce that came from a previous home of 2 years where he did not have a crate (I think they crated for the first little while that he was home, but he no longer had one after that) so I find it hard to believe that he's that attached to his crate... but it's possible.

 

Interestingly he has been fine this morning as well. Was laying on his bed here in the living room and then got up and looked to be invited onto the couch and came up right away and is now sleeping on the couch. Go figure. Maybe I was letting him be a little too much and he figured he wasn't getting any attention in the living room and therefore deduced that he wasn't welcome? Go figure. We will see what he does tonight as that is when he has been retreating to the bedroom the most.

[MaryJane]

I was going to say maybe he slipped, but if he's in the bedroom during the day then that can't be it. Maybe he is just displaying what his favorite place is...the bedroom. Or do you have an outside door near the living room? Perhaps someone was knocking on it and if freaked him out?

 

He probably slipped on the hardwood floors one night in the living room and nobody noticed. Put down some scatter rugs with non-slip backing and see if it makes a difference.

 

Some dogs are also nervous about the "shine" from floors that are slippery so even though they may not have slipped yet they seem to know that their footing is not going to be stable.