Guest tubbys Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 our new little girl is terrified of Ceiling fans and this is going to be a prob because we only have 2 rooms in the house without one and it's how we cool our house down . She is always looking up at them with fear in her eyes, and if we turn it on she is out of the room like a bolt and refuses to come back in the room. Then it got to the point where she doesn't want to come in the room because of the fan and it's not even on .So we have resorted to babygates to keep her in the room with us and she will settle down but she wants to be on the dog bed thats the farthest away from the fan.So I contacted her previous parents and asked them if anything had fallen on her and they didn't know But they did say that out of no where she became afraid of the flags that are on peoples homes soo much so that she would have to cross the street and she also is scared of baloons. I some of you have some suggestions about how to help her get over this FEAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwnedBySummer Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I haven't had to deal with ceiling fan or flag fears. But Summer was terrified of the wood-burning fireplace, campfires and balloons. I also did what you are doing, by keeping her in the room with us during usage of the scary item -- in our case, a lit fire in the evening. She went from being terrified to sprawling on the couch before it, soaking up the heat. She won't lie right in front of it, though, and I doubt she ever will. And I no longer have to block her into the room. For her balloon thing, I bought a WWW harness so if it happened somewhere, I had better control. I did not try to desensitize her to balloons but, as she learned to trust me and bonded with me, she learned on her own that I wouldn't let them hurt her. I no longer need the harness when we are at a "high chance for balloons" venue. I assume your girl is not a spook or anything, she just has these certain things she's afraid of. Quote Lisa B. My beautiful Summer - to her forever home May 1, 2010 Summer Certified therapy dog team with St. John Ambulance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tubbys Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 No I don't think that she's a spook at least not yet it's seems to just really be the fans so far. I'm just getting really nervous for when it starts to get warm out.Oh the DRAMA!! . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolarik1 Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Um, my girl was deathly scared of ceiling fans. We found out that if they were on when she entered the room she was more willing to accept them...just don't turn them on/off with your pup in the room. Eventually when all the fans are on and your pup has nowhere to hide she will get used to them...Zelda will now not pay too much attention to them, but she will watch them. I swear, it's like they think the ceiling fans are going to come down and eat them alive. Zelda also used to spook at tree limbs swaying, flags flying on flagpoles, etc. A harness was great with her and now she spooks much less, but there are times when I'm like 'really Z? Haven't you spooked at this 100 times before?' Good luck, it just takes patience on this one. Quote Marble, Noah, Eden, Raya (red heeler), Cooper & Trooper (naughty kittens) Missing my bridge angels: Pop, Zelda, Mousey & Carmel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwnedBySummer Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Great idea to have them on before she enters the room. She'll get used to them, they are just really new and scary things. There is a fun picture somewhere on here that I can't find... someone's dog is afraid of the ceiling (not a fan, the actual ceiling I believe) and it's titled something about waiting for the aliens to come down and get her. All things will pass. Quote Lisa B. My beautiful Summer - to her forever home May 1, 2010 Summer Certified therapy dog team with St. John Ambulance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greytlucy Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 We had a greyhound that was terrified of ceiling fans. We found this out when we moved to Phoenix from Seattle and had a ceiling fan in every room but one in our new house(oddly enough she had been bred and raced in Phoenix and I assume the kennels has ceiling fans). Anyway, she was really really scared of them and would not go in a room where they ran. She was also afraid in the backyard where she could see the ones in our kitchen and in our master bedroom. She took to staying under the desk in the office which did not have a fan. Won't lie - it took a LONG time to get her past her fear. Over a year. It was distressing for us to have a dog so scared in her own home, we felt terrible for how scared she was. Slowly and gradually we got her past it. She liked to walk so we took LOTS Of long walks to get her out of the house and work to reduce her stress. I worked her on obedience several times a day in the office to build her confidence and help her bond with us(she'd only been with us for six months when we moved). I did Ttouch with her a couple times a day in the office. We did not feed her in there and made her come out for her meals. We turned the fans off in the kitchen when we did this. Slowly I started working her closer and closer to the fan in the bedroom, always monitoring her stress level. Eventually we could work by the doorway where the fan was visible...then just inside, then in the room, then under the fan. I did this on leash. Next I put up a baby gate and worked her off leash in the room(again always watching her stress level and knowing when to quit before she panicked). She did get over her fear and spent the next ten years sleeping in the bedroom with us year round, and in all the other rooms with fans. It seemed like forever at the time but looking back given how long she was with us, it was just a blip in time and worth the time and effort it took to get her past it. Definitely go slow, be patient and don't push to far too fast. Be sure to allow your dog to find a "safe space" to escape to and let them be there. (as the bond built our dog WANTED to be wtih us as well..........so that helped moved training along as having to stay in the "safe space" meant she also was separated from us and the fun things we were doing). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tubbys Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Thanks everybody for youre GREAT ADVICE . we'll see how it goes when it becomes warm out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jettcricket Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 My beloved angel, Jett, was also afraid of ceiling fans, but in time he got over it. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vsrenard Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 She'll get used to them. Our Brin was the same way. We just turned them on whenever and acted very nonchalant about the whole thing. She would always run away but after a few weeks, she wanted to be enar us so she'd brave being in the room. Now she gives the fan a suspicious look but then goes back to roaching. Quote Missing Zola, my hero and my heart; and Brin, my baby dog, my wisp of love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerlinsMum Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 She will get used to the ceiling fans. Give her time. Sagan had the same issue, and it took a few weeks, but eventually he got over it. Try to keep them on as much as possible and ignore her when she keeps looking up at them. Ask her to do something to distract her, and praise her/ give her a treat when she complies. The point is to engage her brain on something else that she considers pleasurable and interesting while the ceiling fan hums along in the background. Have the ceiling fan on when she walks into a room. Sagan used to freak out more when he would be lying down in the living room and the ceiling fan was suddenly turned on. He would run away as fast as he could. He still occasionally looks up at the ceiling with an uncertain expression on his face, even now, and he is terrified of flying insects (if there is one in the room we simply have to release it if we want a peaceful evening) but it happens occasionally and he doesn't fixate on the ceiling fan as such, or run away. Whatever you do, don't comfort her when she's freaking out about the ceiling fan, you will risk reinforcing her behavior. Good luck! Quote Kerry with Lupin in beautiful coastal Maine. Missing Pippin, my best friend and sweet little heart-healer 2013-2023 Also missing the best wizard in the world, Merlin, and my sweet 80lb limpet, Sagan, every single day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Snazzy_Chloe Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I would make a point of showing the hound how you control the fan by turning it on and off a couple of times a day for a couple of weeks - so the dog realizes that somehow it is a part of humans instead of some kind of a scary animal/bird that may come and swoop down and attack him. Also it may help to reverse the direction of the fan rotation so it is sucking the air up instead of blowing air down on top of him which will diffuse the air flow around the hound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WhiteWave Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 My first Greyhound, Casey, was scared of ceiling fans. The one in our old house didn't bother him, but when we moved, the ceiling in the new home was A-frame shaped and the ceiling fan freaked him out. It took a few months, but he finally got over it. I would start by having the fan off and feed yummy treats. And do that for a while. Then move it up to turning it on low and add yummier smelly treats. And work it up from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Oliver is 5. Retired racer. Ive had him since Jan. 2019. He was settling in nicely. Until I turned on the ceiling fan in my bedroom. He used to go into all rooms, which have fans. He quit coming in the bedroom, then The kitchen and now he noticed the living room fan. The living room is his den. His bed and food are there.. today is the first day he didn't eat. He is on anxiety medication. He doesn't want to come in the house. He pants and is so worried about the fan. Medication is fairly new(less than a week) so I know that will take some time. Im trying desensitizing. I touch the fan and give a treat... move it with my hand a teeny bit... nope not doing it.. he wants to hide run away and will not eat anything. Sigh... do back to just touching it I guess... I feel so bad for him. He was just getting a personality and then bam... shut down. He won't eat. I started feeding him in the living room after he quit going I n the kitchen..cause there's 2 fans in there. Im at a loss. If the fan is on well that's a new level of OCD/tear up the house trying to escape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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