# afraid of sewage grates



## Moose (Oct 2, 2010)

I discovered today while on a walk with Moose and the kids, that he's afraid of sewer grates on the road. The ones that you can look down and see the water. I didn't have treats, but I worked him through his initial terror, and got him comfortable enough to sit on the grate for a few minutes, and we walked over it several times. I demonstrated first, that I wasn't going to fall in ! 

Anyone else have this problem? how are you correcting it ?


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

> Anyone else have this problem? how are you correcting it ?


Some problems you just go around. I wouldn't even try. If the rest of the parts of the walk is good - keep it good. Let the dog win that one. : 

RBD


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## Mischa (Feb 17, 2010)

If you already got him passed the initial terror, it should be much easier to walk through next time.
The easiest possible way to do it is for you to pretend that he isn't afraid at all. Walk right over it like it's another concrete sidewalk. Don't slow down as he does, keep him moving at your pace and he'll make it through.

If he's in a state of terror right off the bat next time, then do whatever worked to get him calmed down, and then walk over it like it's nothing.

I don't like seeing my dog afraid of silly things, so I do my best to get her through it every time something pops up. The dog winning, is the dog not being afraid of the grate.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Yup. Savannah is afraid of sewer grates. She is also afraid of pit style dock plates (where forklifts drive to load trucks in warehouses) and open grate stairs. She also is a bit reluctant to go up stairs that have an open back on them.

She has to acclimate to so many things, that I put this list as a low priority. We'll get back around to it in the next year or so. I liked that you demonstrated first, then got him to walk over it several times, and then had him sit on it. We'll try it that way and see how it goes.


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## finch (Sep 19, 2011)

Finch met this "grate"-style bridge on a walk the other day and she bravely went over it 4 times! We could have avoided it easily, but I decided to let her try. The first time I pulled out treats and she followed me very slowly... she turned back a couple times but was so tempted by the treats that she kept starting over. Once she got half way across, she seemed to know she was in it and needed to make it all the way across. She followed me back over much more confidently, but still slow so she could place her paws safely. We continued on our walk and returned to it 15 minutes later and she went over it slowly but confidently 2 more time, no treats except for at the end. 


We have some metal floating boat docks near us that I had her walk on when she was very young, probably 3 months old, so this type of things wasn't totally unfamiliar - she was just worried about her feet in the holes!


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## Kailua (Feb 12, 2009)

One of my dogs avoids the sewer grates all together. His paw slipped through one time and he didn't like it. I don't make him going over them since it's an avoidable situation.


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## Moose (Oct 2, 2010)

I won't just avoid it, and let him "win" by not going near them, because Moose has so many anxieties. This is a simple thing for him to get used to and NOT be afraid of, while his other anxieties are harder to get a handle on. I agree that him winning, will be when he doesn't even think twice when having to walk over an open grate. Especially when I'm walking pushing a stroller, and a tricycle, and have my other 2 kids on their bikes- it's not safe for him to have a panic and dart , as he usually darts into a bike tire and tosses a kid off onto the road. 

he was comfortable after I got him sitting on it, so we'll do them again on Monday and see what happens. Thanks everyone, I figured he couldn't be the only one, but sometimes I wonder about him.


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## Moose (Oct 2, 2010)

*Re: afraid of sewage grates *UPDATE**

Update!

Took Moose out with my 6month old [in stroller] tonight, and he freaked out over the first grate he noticed, but after I showed it to him- he stuck his nose in every single hole, sniffing and wagging his tail. We then walked successfully over 6 more grates, with a tiny bit of hesitation but no more panicks. yaaay Moose! I wonder what it will be like in daylight lol.


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## raps702 (Dec 19, 2010)

I remember when Axel was a small puppy (he's now 16 months old) and we took him to puppy class (socialization) the trainer alway's got us to walk our dogs on different surfaces throughout the classes so they would not have the fears when they got older, and part of our homework was to take them on different surfaces outside during walks. Axel has never had an issue with grates or any other surfaces due to teaching him when he was small. (thanks to puppy classes)

Good luck


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