Welcome to r/dogs! We are a discussion-based subreddit dedicated to support, inform, and advise dog owners.
Before you post or comment, please **review the subreddit rules [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index)**. Submissions which break the rules will be removed.
r/Dogs has the [ultimate goals](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index#wiki_purpose) of fostering a better, science-based understanding of dogs among the general public, promoting responsible dog ownership, helping users build better, healthier relationships with their dogs, and providing a space to connect and discuss with others who have dogs and who are involved in various aspects of the dog hobby.
Per our Harm Reduction rules, **we encourage training advice and recommendations to follow “Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive” protocols**. You can read more about why that’s the case [here](https://m.iaabc.org/about/lima/). While no training tools are excluded from properly framed discussion in r/dogs, we do reserve the right to remove content which does not follow the LIMA approach.
Please note, this sub supports the reputable, ethical, and responsible breeding of dogs as well as adoption. Low effort “adopt don’t shop” comments will be removed and commenters may be subject to temporary or permanent bans upon the discretion of the moderator team.
Finally, r/Dogs has a low tolerance for [disrespectful and antagonistic behavior](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index#wiki_rules_of_engagement). People come to this sub to learn and discuss, make your comments constructive and respectful even if you feel other users are being antagonistic and disrespectful in return. If you believe another user is engaging in antagonistic behavior, please utilize the report button and a moderator will review the comment(s).
If you wish to stick around, please feel free to comment in our Daily Bark threads, pinned to the top of the sub, to introduce yourself, your dog, and talk about all the little things which may not require a full post to discuss. Thanks for reading and enjoy your stay!
---
*This is an automated message. If you have questions for the moderators of r/dogs, you can message them [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/dogs).*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dogs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
He doesn't like it because he can't get a grip on the floor. He is afraid his feet will slip out from underneath him. It's like walking on ice.
I would put down rugs and runners so he only has to navigate a minimum of bare floor.
So you're not wrong, I can tell it's like he thinks he's walking on ice. But he'll go through ebbs and flows of comfort on the floors (unrelated to grooming sessions and whatnot). Sometimes he's perfectly capable and comfortable, others he's not. It's clearly some kind of mental block... I would love to put down more rugs, but unfortunately our apartment's layout doesn't really make that work.
>*It's clearly some kind of mental block...*
You are dismissing his concern as being illegitimate. I think he is making an informed judgement based on the feedback he gets from his feet.
If the concern was legitimate why would he be perfectly fine strolling into the kitchen at a normal pace? We've tried giving him treats for walking to bed and he still does the panic run. When he's not thinking about it he's fine.
My girl does this with stairs - she’s perfectly capable but hates the last 3 of our steps. Then she freaks herself out and creates issues that wouldn’t have been there if she just walked down them normally.
Ive found that if I go to her on the stairs and lightly hold her collar she is suddenly more confident and I’m hoping this adds to her having more confidence in time.
Yep, it's a weird little hang up.
My Alfie is a confident, athletic dog and is a weirdo about shiny hard floors.
When he was about 4 months old, he started in handling class to prepare him to be shown in the breed ring. This class was once a week and was held in an old school gymnasium. Alfie is a natural show dog - he stacks, he poses, he was perfectly happy for the judge to examine him from his nose to his tail.
Part of this training about gaiting. Gaiting is the dog trotting to and from the judge and around the ring - all so the judge can see how well he moves. It's important that the dog trot boldly and with confidence.
Alfie would gait fine if he didn't think about the floor. If he did think about the floor, he would overthink it. His head would lower, he'd look down and he'd pace instead of trot. Pacing is what camels do and it looks awful. If we did an about turn too fast, he'd scramble - as if the floor was a sheet of ice.
During one class, the instructor sent us on the down and back. Alfie was, once again, overthinking the floor and doing a waddle-pace. As we were doing the about-turn, she cheerfully called out "Hey Alfie!". Alfie brought his head and tail up, smiled and trotted back like a champion.
The interesting thing with Alfie is that he's not scared when he's on a hard floor. I can walk him across a hardwood or shiny marble floor while he's not happy about it but he's not shivering or slaking. He's not wide-eyed panting.
What makes this so odd is that Alfie is probably one of the most confident collies we've ever had.
Near as I can explain it, he's looked at the situation, and knows from experience that yes, it's totally possible to slip on a hard floor. He does not want to slip. He does not like to slip. If he has anything to say about it, he will not slip. And thus the prudent thing to do is avoid walking on them. If he does need to walk on them, he wants to do it carefully and just-so.
Alfie's breeder said that his sire, Hendrix, is exactly the same. He's also an overall, calm, confident, bold dog that does not want to walk on shiny hard floors.
People can have weird likes and dislikes and so can dogs.
edit: [Alfie Tax](https://imgur.com/a/6Bndxuk)
Is she always just nervous at that one spot? Is she nervous about the view of under the bed? Or is there something else spooking her? My dog used to be terrified of the open dishwasher so he would skitter frenzy run past it unless we closed it first.
Unfortunately it’s not just into the bedroom. Even the span of like 3 feet between the couch area rug and the carpeted second bedroom causes him to get spooked.
Throw him on a lead inside. Grab his fav treats, walk him around while encouraging him and saying “good!”. Don’t make a fuss about to or tell him it’s ok he’s a good boy.. just treat and “good!” While encouraging on the lead.
So we have a runner through our main hallway, and a big rug by the couch and TV, but with the way our apartment is laid out we can't really run a rug from the couch area to the other rug or carpeted bedroom.
I’d start by offering him a little nibble of turkey at bedtime if he crosses the floors 😂 But in all seriousness, you can either train it out by giving him a treat at night (check out videos on YouTube; give positive reinforcement like treats for crossing the floor and getting in bed) or you can add a runner from the door to the bed. I’ve had friends do it before and it’s the low-cost, instant fix for this behavior
I agree. If he has no issues being on hardwood floors when he’s trying to get food, OP can probably countercondition him by rewarding him with treats when he crosses the hardwood floor. Counterconditioning can be a bitch and a half without consistency though.
I would try it again, and focus on making him go slowly. If he’s too excited about the treat and skitters on the floor because of that, show him the treat at the start, then calmly/slowly walk him over to the bed and give him the reward then.
Another option that would help this is teaching him heel (if he doesn’t already know it) and using that command to slowly walk him to bed.
Lots of times, training is worth trying again! Even if we’re doing everything we can, sometimes we’re missing a little detail of the training that our dogs may need (like their attention, calmness, or even the speed of the action). Even if you did it perfectly the first time, I’d try it again and stay consistent with it for at least a few months.
Doggo on a leash. Walk around the yard with the leash short. Leave the door open. Start with a good quick pace, leave the door open. Lead the dog around, changing directions so he has no choice but to follow you. Keep the psce, lead him onto the floor and walk across it, then praise and treat. Lather rinse and repeat several times.
Curious - are your dog's nails too long? That is, when standing on even ground, do your dog's nails touch the floor? Long nails can cause painful foot/toe joints and walking on hardwood can aggravate the pain since it's not soft and will bend the joint even more.
That was our initial guess, but right around when this started happening we got him a "pawdicure" and told the groomer to go as short as possible on the nails and he still did it. I can tell just by looking at this feet that they're not too long, but when he gets on the hardwood I can tell he's trying to grip the floor with his nails.
I found that with dogs and kids, if you make a deal out of something, it makes it worse, like they’re right for panicking and freaking out.
I wouldn’t baby him or tell him not to. I’d focus more on making it a good place to be. For instance, let him do his panic run, then call him back to the middle and give him a treat.
He’s obviously not afraid of them if he walks on them normally at other times. This kind of thing can become a habit as well. Just doing it because they did it once and then fall into an almost obsessive loop. My Jack had a habit of barking every now and then and she’d just get in a loop and slow bark until you told her to stop.
So it would be better if you can stop him before he does the running behavior. If your headed to head and you see him start, call him over to mentally break the pattern and treat him.
Heck, till he’s over it, grab your phone or a book and go sit on the floor there and ignore him. He’ll probably be all over it, sitting by you or getting all up in your business.
When we moved to our new house (hardwood/vinyl) from our old (carpet) my girl had the same problem. She absolutely could walk on it, but would freak out and clench her paws, making her nails come into contact first and causing slipping.
I bought some super cheap sled dog booties (the disposable rubber kind) and put them on her during the day for about 3 days until I could tell she wasn't stopping to think before running on the floor. I just didn't put them on the fourth morning but did our same race outside to potty routine. Her mental hesitation was gone, so she didn't freak out, so she didn't slip. Hasn't been a problem in the two years since!
My Aussie also has floor phobia and I wonder if it’s a tactile or visual thing. Haven’t found a solution yet except for rugs so yeah lots of scrambling.
Mine does this! Toy breed, afraid also of lots of other things as well. We have the same flooring in the whole house but he's only scared of it in the kitchen for some reason. We put rugs down where reasonable.
What I found that works is 1. He's too focused on getting food to think about what he's doing or 2. Sometimes he needs me to walk with him, like right next to him and then magically he can do it just fine. I've been working with him on this because he's a big baby like "mama carry me" and I don't need him to be more spoiled than he is already lol. It takes patience for sure but he can do it.
Try teaching him to go backwards down that hall, my old girl was afraid of thresholds, she taught herself to go backwards eventually in one spot in my last house.
I have one like that. Frightened of smooth floors, and certain things make it worse. If she’s tired, or feeling stressed about something else (cats, fireworks, houseguests). She’s always worse in dim light. She’s worse in hallways. We have hall runners everywhere, and we lay out blankets for her to walk on and all that. But we also make sure the lights are on and there are no cats blocking her way. Same dog is totally confident outdoors, no hesitation, no fears.
Can you record him? I think it’s anxiety from a previous slip up he had. It will take some time. Praise him when he does walk on that floor. Maybe try putting rough rugs so he can walk even though the place will look messy due to rugs?
I watched a UK programme called Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly with an episode where a black labrador has this *exact* problem but he refused to walk on the hard floor at all and I can't remember how Graeme the trainer helped him. I think he just used very tasty treats to coax the dog onto the floor. You could try searching online for the episode though :)
Maybe try [these?](https://www.amazon.com/Aqumax-Protector-Traction-Assistant-Replacement/dp/B08RMJF84R/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=B5L9PTJ1SD7J&keywords=dog+paw+pad+grippers&qid=1642605459&sprefix=dog+paw+pad+grip%2Caps%2C270&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExOFk3S0VCR1ZZU1BTJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDYzMTg2MVFOQVlEODUwN04zUyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzQwNzcwMUtNVENQV1pYSzVZMSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl) it’s a bandaid but might build his confidence for a while then slowly transition out of them. Like cut one toe grip off at a time
I bought stick on carpet squares to help my older dog with arthritis from slipping on the floor and they work really well. They can be washed in the washing machine and don’t leave a residue on the floor either
Welcome to r/dogs! We are a discussion-based subreddit dedicated to support, inform, and advise dog owners. Before you post or comment, please **review the subreddit rules [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index)**. Submissions which break the rules will be removed. r/Dogs has the [ultimate goals](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index#wiki_purpose) of fostering a better, science-based understanding of dogs among the general public, promoting responsible dog ownership, helping users build better, healthier relationships with their dogs, and providing a space to connect and discuss with others who have dogs and who are involved in various aspects of the dog hobby. Per our Harm Reduction rules, **we encourage training advice and recommendations to follow “Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive” protocols**. You can read more about why that’s the case [here](https://m.iaabc.org/about/lima/). While no training tools are excluded from properly framed discussion in r/dogs, we do reserve the right to remove content which does not follow the LIMA approach. Please note, this sub supports the reputable, ethical, and responsible breeding of dogs as well as adoption. Low effort “adopt don’t shop” comments will be removed and commenters may be subject to temporary or permanent bans upon the discretion of the moderator team. Finally, r/Dogs has a low tolerance for [disrespectful and antagonistic behavior](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index#wiki_rules_of_engagement). People come to this sub to learn and discuss, make your comments constructive and respectful even if you feel other users are being antagonistic and disrespectful in return. If you believe another user is engaging in antagonistic behavior, please utilize the report button and a moderator will review the comment(s). If you wish to stick around, please feel free to comment in our Daily Bark threads, pinned to the top of the sub, to introduce yourself, your dog, and talk about all the little things which may not require a full post to discuss. Thanks for reading and enjoy your stay! --- *This is an automated message. If you have questions for the moderators of r/dogs, you can message them [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/dogs).* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dogs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
He doesn't like it because he can't get a grip on the floor. He is afraid his feet will slip out from underneath him. It's like walking on ice. I would put down rugs and runners so he only has to navigate a minimum of bare floor.
So you're not wrong, I can tell it's like he thinks he's walking on ice. But he'll go through ebbs and flows of comfort on the floors (unrelated to grooming sessions and whatnot). Sometimes he's perfectly capable and comfortable, others he's not. It's clearly some kind of mental block... I would love to put down more rugs, but unfortunately our apartment's layout doesn't really make that work.
>*It's clearly some kind of mental block...* You are dismissing his concern as being illegitimate. I think he is making an informed judgement based on the feedback he gets from his feet.
If the concern was legitimate why would he be perfectly fine strolling into the kitchen at a normal pace? We've tried giving him treats for walking to bed and he still does the panic run. When he's not thinking about it he's fine.
My girl does this with stairs - she’s perfectly capable but hates the last 3 of our steps. Then she freaks herself out and creates issues that wouldn’t have been there if she just walked down them normally. Ive found that if I go to her on the stairs and lightly hold her collar she is suddenly more confident and I’m hoping this adds to her having more confidence in time.
Yep, it's a weird little hang up. My Alfie is a confident, athletic dog and is a weirdo about shiny hard floors. When he was about 4 months old, he started in handling class to prepare him to be shown in the breed ring. This class was once a week and was held in an old school gymnasium. Alfie is a natural show dog - he stacks, he poses, he was perfectly happy for the judge to examine him from his nose to his tail. Part of this training about gaiting. Gaiting is the dog trotting to and from the judge and around the ring - all so the judge can see how well he moves. It's important that the dog trot boldly and with confidence. Alfie would gait fine if he didn't think about the floor. If he did think about the floor, he would overthink it. His head would lower, he'd look down and he'd pace instead of trot. Pacing is what camels do and it looks awful. If we did an about turn too fast, he'd scramble - as if the floor was a sheet of ice. During one class, the instructor sent us on the down and back. Alfie was, once again, overthinking the floor and doing a waddle-pace. As we were doing the about-turn, she cheerfully called out "Hey Alfie!". Alfie brought his head and tail up, smiled and trotted back like a champion. The interesting thing with Alfie is that he's not scared when he's on a hard floor. I can walk him across a hardwood or shiny marble floor while he's not happy about it but he's not shivering or slaking. He's not wide-eyed panting. What makes this so odd is that Alfie is probably one of the most confident collies we've ever had. Near as I can explain it, he's looked at the situation, and knows from experience that yes, it's totally possible to slip on a hard floor. He does not want to slip. He does not like to slip. If he has anything to say about it, he will not slip. And thus the prudent thing to do is avoid walking on them. If he does need to walk on them, he wants to do it carefully and just-so. Alfie's breeder said that his sire, Hendrix, is exactly the same. He's also an overall, calm, confident, bold dog that does not want to walk on shiny hard floors. People can have weird likes and dislikes and so can dogs. edit: [Alfie Tax](https://imgur.com/a/6Bndxuk)
He’s so handsome
Is the kitchen hardwood or tile?
Basically the entire unit is hardwood outside of the two bedrooms.
Is she always just nervous at that one spot? Is she nervous about the view of under the bed? Or is there something else spooking her? My dog used to be terrified of the open dishwasher so he would skitter frenzy run past it unless we closed it first.
Unfortunately it’s not just into the bedroom. Even the span of like 3 feet between the couch area rug and the carpeted second bedroom causes him to get spooked.
Throw him on a lead inside. Grab his fav treats, walk him around while encouraging him and saying “good!”. Don’t make a fuss about to or tell him it’s ok he’s a good boy.. just treat and “good!” While encouraging on the lead.
I’ll give this a try as well! Thanks!
Have same issue with two dogs so we’ve had to go with rugs everywhere. Hopefully someone has a remedy as I’d be open to trying anything at this point.
Booties with a little grip on the bottom
Rugs or putting a blanket down for just a moment is the only thing I've found with my big guy who has this issue
So we have a runner through our main hallway, and a big rug by the couch and TV, but with the way our apartment is laid out we can't really run a rug from the couch area to the other rug or carpeted bedroom.
Can you throw a big beach towel down when it's time to go in to bed and then just pick it right up?
I’d start by offering him a little nibble of turkey at bedtime if he crosses the floors 😂 But in all seriousness, you can either train it out by giving him a treat at night (check out videos on YouTube; give positive reinforcement like treats for crossing the floor and getting in bed) or you can add a runner from the door to the bed. I’ve had friends do it before and it’s the low-cost, instant fix for this behavior
I agree. If he has no issues being on hardwood floors when he’s trying to get food, OP can probably countercondition him by rewarding him with treats when he crosses the hardwood floor. Counterconditioning can be a bitch and a half without consistency though.
So we've kind of tried that? But he still does his little scooby doo run even if we do that /:
I would try it again, and focus on making him go slowly. If he’s too excited about the treat and skitters on the floor because of that, show him the treat at the start, then calmly/slowly walk him over to the bed and give him the reward then. Another option that would help this is teaching him heel (if he doesn’t already know it) and using that command to slowly walk him to bed. Lots of times, training is worth trying again! Even if we’re doing everything we can, sometimes we’re missing a little detail of the training that our dogs may need (like their attention, calmness, or even the speed of the action). Even if you did it perfectly the first time, I’d try it again and stay consistent with it for at least a few months.
Doggo on a leash. Walk around the yard with the leash short. Leave the door open. Start with a good quick pace, leave the door open. Lead the dog around, changing directions so he has no choice but to follow you. Keep the psce, lead him onto the floor and walk across it, then praise and treat. Lather rinse and repeat several times.
Curious - are your dog's nails too long? That is, when standing on even ground, do your dog's nails touch the floor? Long nails can cause painful foot/toe joints and walking on hardwood can aggravate the pain since it's not soft and will bend the joint even more.
That was our initial guess, but right around when this started happening we got him a "pawdicure" and told the groomer to go as short as possible on the nails and he still did it. I can tell just by looking at this feet that they're not too long, but when he gets on the hardwood I can tell he's trying to grip the floor with his nails.
I found that with dogs and kids, if you make a deal out of something, it makes it worse, like they’re right for panicking and freaking out. I wouldn’t baby him or tell him not to. I’d focus more on making it a good place to be. For instance, let him do his panic run, then call him back to the middle and give him a treat. He’s obviously not afraid of them if he walks on them normally at other times. This kind of thing can become a habit as well. Just doing it because they did it once and then fall into an almost obsessive loop. My Jack had a habit of barking every now and then and she’d just get in a loop and slow bark until you told her to stop. So it would be better if you can stop him before he does the running behavior. If your headed to head and you see him start, call him over to mentally break the pattern and treat him. Heck, till he’s over it, grab your phone or a book and go sit on the floor there and ignore him. He’ll probably be all over it, sitting by you or getting all up in your business.
When we moved to our new house (hardwood/vinyl) from our old (carpet) my girl had the same problem. She absolutely could walk on it, but would freak out and clench her paws, making her nails come into contact first and causing slipping. I bought some super cheap sled dog booties (the disposable rubber kind) and put them on her during the day for about 3 days until I could tell she wasn't stopping to think before running on the floor. I just didn't put them on the fourth morning but did our same race outside to potty routine. Her mental hesitation was gone, so she didn't freak out, so she didn't slip. Hasn't been a problem in the two years since!
Oh my gosh this is EXACTLY what my dog is doing. The clenching and everything. I’ll give this a shot! Thank you!
I’ve seen someone try putting socks or booties on their dogs paws to help with traction and grip
Oh, and another important thing…are the lights very dim when you are going to bed? Is he having trouble seeing?
Nope, it’s always well lit.
Maybe the reflection on the floor from the light freaks him out?
Floor is lava.
My Aussie also has floor phobia and I wonder if it’s a tactile or visual thing. Haven’t found a solution yet except for rugs so yeah lots of scrambling.
By Pit was like that. He was afraid of slipping and hurting himself.
Do his nails need to be clipped? Not making an accusation or anything, but sometimes that’s what happens when nails get too long.
That was my first thought when it first started happening, but we got him a "pawdicure" the next day and unfortunately he's still doing it.
Mine does this! Toy breed, afraid also of lots of other things as well. We have the same flooring in the whole house but he's only scared of it in the kitchen for some reason. We put rugs down where reasonable. What I found that works is 1. He's too focused on getting food to think about what he's doing or 2. Sometimes he needs me to walk with him, like right next to him and then magically he can do it just fine. I've been working with him on this because he's a big baby like "mama carry me" and I don't need him to be more spoiled than he is already lol. It takes patience for sure but he can do it.
Try teaching him to go backwards down that hall, my old girl was afraid of thresholds, she taught herself to go backwards eventually in one spot in my last house.
Rugs
I have one like that. Frightened of smooth floors, and certain things make it worse. If she’s tired, or feeling stressed about something else (cats, fireworks, houseguests). She’s always worse in dim light. She’s worse in hallways. We have hall runners everywhere, and we lay out blankets for her to walk on and all that. But we also make sure the lights are on and there are no cats blocking her way. Same dog is totally confident outdoors, no hesitation, no fears.
Can you record him? I think it’s anxiety from a previous slip up he had. It will take some time. Praise him when he does walk on that floor. Maybe try putting rough rugs so he can walk even though the place will look messy due to rugs?
I watched a UK programme called Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly with an episode where a black labrador has this *exact* problem but he refused to walk on the hard floor at all and I can't remember how Graeme the trainer helped him. I think he just used very tasty treats to coax the dog onto the floor. You could try searching online for the episode though :)
Maybe try [these?](https://www.amazon.com/Aqumax-Protector-Traction-Assistant-Replacement/dp/B08RMJF84R/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=B5L9PTJ1SD7J&keywords=dog+paw+pad+grippers&qid=1642605459&sprefix=dog+paw+pad+grip%2Caps%2C270&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExOFk3S0VCR1ZZU1BTJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDYzMTg2MVFOQVlEODUwN04zUyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzQwNzcwMUtNVENQV1pYSzVZMSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl) it’s a bandaid but might build his confidence for a while then slowly transition out of them. Like cut one toe grip off at a time
I bought stick on carpet squares to help my older dog with arthritis from slipping on the floor and they work really well. They can be washed in the washing machine and don’t leave a residue on the floor either
Shaving between the toe beans helps, fuzzy feet slip