Jump to content

Hardwood Floors?


Recommended Posts

I've had Eli for a little over a month now, and he's settling in quite nicely! He's still skittish about things, but he's curious - after something makes him jump, he'll go up to it again and sniff.

 

That being said, he's now terrified of walking on our hardwood floors. And that's a huge problem - our whole house has hardwood flooring. He'd been perfectly fine on these floors up until tonight - he'd walk on them, stretch on them, stand still on them, etc. Tonight, he was trying to stand up from his bed and it slipped a little - his foot slid a little bit, so he dug all of his nails in and skidded like Bambi over the ice. I caught him (he went dead-weight underneath me), put his feet back underneath him, and waited for him to relax. Once he'd gotten himself together, I let go and he immediately dug his nails down and skidded again. He got to his crate and is now refusing to come out - even for his most favorite treat.

 

I'm hoping that he'll forget about it overnight and be okay tomorrow, but I wanted to ask if anyone's dealt with this with their Greys before, and what you did to help them overcome it? Putting down a bunch of runners or more carpet sadly isn't an option. Help?

 

ETA: So, I should have searched the site before posting this, because I just did and found a lot of helpful stuff xD Feel free to ignore this if you want - I'll try a few of the tips I saw in the other threads.

Edited by Roo

Mom of bridge babies Regis and Dusty.

Wrote a book about shelter dogs!

I sell things on Etsy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest SusanP

Runners are not that expensive. You can get rubber-backed ones at Walmart, Target, Kmart, etc... We have them along our dining/kitchen area for our older greyhounds, who began slipping and doing the splits on the linoleum at around the age of 8 or 9, and also for our 3-legged lab, who is terrified of slipping and won't even walk on an uncarpeted surface. In fact, we are in the process of getting carpet in the dining area with a carpeted runway along the edge of the kitchen to the (carpeted) stairs to our family room/ back door. It may look funny to have carpet going through a kitchen, but it will make a huge difference to the dogs, and I am getting tired of all the runners.

The obvious advantage of runners, though, is that you can throw them in the washing machine.

Sounds like you will probably need to do *something*,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have one runner in the middle of the room (he's using it to get from his crate to his fluffy bed). More runners are out of the question at least till next month - I spent all the dog-money in my budget this month (minus the bit I put in the vet fund) on 6 months of good flea preventative - I'd tried a Greyhound-friendly cheaper brand last month, but hated it (instead of soaking in, it spent two weeks greasing up his back <_<), so I opted to get the more expensive, also Greyhound-approved type that is less disgusting.

 

But! He was mostly over it this morning - still walking cautiously, but not with a panic like he was last night. He slipped once and started skidding, so I hooked him up to the leash and paced him back and forth. The way our house is laid out, we've got a runner covering most of the exposed floor in our living room, a hallway runner, a little rug in the entry way, and a bigger rug in the other room. The bits of exposed hardwood are about a foot to a foot and a half wide, so they offered a nice little challenge without being overwhelming. We walked back and forth from the back door, weaving our way through the house and over the terrifying shiny floors. He slipped once but I kept him going forward and he didn't panic. Afterwards, he even stood still on the hardwood floor voluntarily - woo! I love my boy :inlove

 

ETA: I probably should have specified yesterday that our whole-house hardwood flooring isn't entirely exposed - we do have rugs placed around! If we didn't, I definitely would find some money somewhere to get some little rugs for him so he could venture out. I was feeling a bit sad last night - he'd freaked himself out so bad that he was curled up in his crate, sulking, and when he stepped out (even onto a rug) he hung his head down low and just looked depressed. He'll do that occasionally - scare himself to death over nothing and then hide the rest of the day. We're working on that, too - he's gotten better now and when he freaks out over small things, he'll dart back, then inch forward and sniff it and be okay. Progress!

Edited by Roo

Mom of bridge babies Regis and Dusty.

Wrote a book about shelter dogs!

I sell things on Etsy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have runners and if I have a dog staying who seems to need more than that I put a couple extra dog beds out or even a towel down. For some reason they don't freeze walking on the towels. Note: I have dark brown dog towels that double as throw rugs in the kitchen. Nice when giving treats and I can just take them outside and shake them out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like others have mentioned, you can get VERY inexpensive rubber backed carpets at Walmart/Costco.

Please...for your dogs mental health...get some!

 

Nancy...Mom to Sid (Peteles Tiger), Kibo (112 Carlota Galgos) and Joshi.  Missing Casey, Gomer, Mona, Penelope, BillieJean, Bandit, Nixon (Starz Sammie),  Ruby (Watch Me Dash) Nigel (Nigel), and especially little Mario, waiting at the Bridge.

 

 

SKJ-summer.jpg.31e290e1b8b0d604d47a8be586ae7361.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like others have mentioned, you can get VERY inexpensive rubber backed carpets at Walmart/Costco.

Please...for your dogs mental health...get some!

 

In case you missed my update post - he's just fine. I worked with him for a bit today and he's now walking all over the hardwood floors without any issue whatsoever. He even crossed the patch that made him slip last night - the one he wouldn't go near this morning.

 

I resent your suggestion that I'm not getting little rugs because I don't care about his mental health.

Mom of bridge babies Regis and Dusty.

Wrote a book about shelter dogs!

I sell things on Etsy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Teague used to do this. He was totally fine at my parent's house on the hardwoods, and then all of a sudden in the middle of the night he started whining because he was afraid to walk on them. I know a lot of people probably don't agree with this but I just put his leash on and walked him onto the floor and calmly waited. He slipped and freaked out for about 5 seconds and then relaxed. As soon as he did this I gave him treats and walked him all the way across to the carpet. I walked him back and forth across the floor, and he was totally fine after maybe 3 times. He had a few minor regressions but I did the same thing and he has been fine since. Personally, I would rather get him over this than have to cover everything in mats. Having said that, my own hardwood hall has a carpet runner for him because I think having ALL hardwoods everywhere might be a bit daunting. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad your boy is doing better now.

 

Hard floors can be an ongoing challenge for many hounds. If your hound continues to be cautious, another option (until finances permit) might be to check your closets, garage, storage for any long forgotten rubber-backed bath mats. Many new adopters have borrowed used rubber-backed mats/rugs from family, neighbors, or purchased at garage sales.

 

Beyond being able to walk safely and confidently through a house, eventually Greyhounds often do indoor "zoomies." Cheap rubber "rug grips" (home depot, etc.) can be placed under runner rugs to prevent serious injury from rugs sliding out from under the hound. This could save a very expensive surgery (or worse).

 

I'm glad you were there to help your boy when he slipped, and happy he's feeling more confident again today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beyond being able to walk safely and confidently through a house, eventually Greyhounds often do indoor "zoomies." Cheap rubber "rug grips" (home depot, etc.) can be placed under runner rugs to prevent serious injury from rugs sliding out from under the hound. This could save a very expensive surgery (or worse).

 

I'm very familiar with indoor zoomies - our last girly was an expert! Everything got her going, especially laughter. Haha!

Mom of bridge babies Regis and Dusty.

Wrote a book about shelter dogs!

I sell things on Etsy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wait it out - it'll be fine. If the dog has been fine for a month, one little incident shoudn't cause an issue. I wouldn't coddle her. She'll brave it out and find the way to the food and the door and the people. It's not like it's day one with a new dog. Just open the crate, act happy, and go about your day.

 

ETA: I responded before I'd read the rest of the thread. Glad everything worked out.

Edited by sobesmom
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...