If you cannot simply put your dog in your yard or in
their crate while you vacuum, there may be a solution:
reassociating the vacuum with good things instead of
just a loud, scary noise.
While you are in the process of retraining your dog,
do not vacuum your house while your dog is home! Ask
a family member to vacuum while you take your dog for
a walk or vacuum while the dog is at the groomer.
To desensitize your dog to the vacuum you need to reassociate
the vacuum with good things. The easiest way might be
to fix the dog's bowl of food, turn the vacuum on in
one part of the house, and feed the dog in another,
"safe", area of the house.- Where he can still
hear the vacuum but he doesn't show signs of being afraid.
Do this every day at mealtimes, gradually placing the
bowl nearer and nearer to the running, but not moving,
vacuum. Never move so fast that the location of the
food in proximity to the vacuum visibly frightens your
dog. This may take days or weeks or even months depending
on your dog's personality. Eventually, you'll have your
dog eating right next to a running vacuum, and then
the next step would be to more the vacuum while he's
eating. Eventually you'll have a dog that associates
vacuuming with food and happily eats while you vacuum
your home undisturbed.
