# Fear of being on our main floor



## gallae96 (Jan 31, 2013)

Hi,

A few days after July 4th, someone lit a firecracker off while my boyfriend was taking our dog for a walk. She sprinted home and was quite scared for the rest of the night. She wasn't herself for a few days, but seemed more like herself as the days passed. A week after the 4th, we went grocery shopping and came back and she was very scared when she was out of her crate on our main floor. Shaking so much!! We almost took her to the emergency vet, but didn't because we were pretty confident is was anxiety/fear. After that night she would go upstairs in our bedroom and lay on the floor and our bed while we were hanging out on our main floor which is very strange. We left for vacation 10 days ago and she stayed at my boyfriends parents house and was her usual self. We returned yesterday and she was fine for about 5 min, but then ran upstairs and wouldn't come back down. We bought a pet gate last night to keep her from going upstairs but she literally jumps or tries to crawl under to get off the main floor. We decided maybe its not best to force her downstairs and let her roam and give her tons of treats when she comes downstairs. She wouldn't pee outside last night, as something still scares her outside too.

Anyone experience something similar? Are we on the right track with not forcing her to stay on the main floor and giving her treats? any more recommendations?

Thanks!


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## Ksana (Mar 30, 2013)

How old is your girl? V. goes through several fear stages in the first few years of their life.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Maybe have her down with you on lead a few minutes at a time.
Just go slow with her, and keep building on the time you have her on the ground floor with you. You might consider a thunder jacket, and make sure you put it on her a hour before you work with her.


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