# Puppy won't walk on laminate floor - Any Advise?



## littledigger (Dec 29, 2009)

Our puppy won't walk on laminate floor. We have laminate flooring in our hallway and kitchen, and our puppy charlie won't leave the living room carpet to walk on the laminate. Her training toilet pad and food/water is placed by the back door in the kitchen and although she eats there, she hates to spend any time there. She will freeze, start to shiver and cry very hard. I left her there today to try and teach her that no harm will come but she cried for such a long time that it stressed me out too much and i had to pick her up. I know that scooping her is bad but she cried for so long. i don't want to stress her out and make the kitchen an ingrained fear. what should i do?


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## sullivan (Aug 29, 2008)

Carpet runners.... alot of dogs dont like laminate as its to slidy for them.


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## Colsy (Oct 3, 2008)

I have 7 dogs and i have non slip carpet runners all through my house.
Its very important as your puppy may slip,and this could cause damage to his young bones.
Hope this helps.


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## k8t (Oct 13, 2009)

Hi

Runners are good ideas, also you can buy paw wax, which is used by the show fraternity to help their dogs get grip in the ring.

Basically it comes in a tin and you rub a little on their paws - a bit like vaseline, but it is slightly tacky, so helps with the grip. Just a thought, as it may help with the confidence.

From a training point of view, don't push your puppy to step on the surface, if he backs off, let him or instead of improving with time, it may get worse.

The showing forums may have more advice on paw wax!

Kate


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## littledigger (Dec 29, 2009)

wow, thanks you guys for the advise. Sometimes you just need some confidence boosting yourself when it comes to working these things out. It all makes sense when you here it from someone else, she can barely walk on carpet without falling over, let alone a slippery laminate floor. Now i can help puppy charlie. i'll sort the floor out asap. Thanks again, i'll post an update soon.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

hey, digger! :--) 

as has been said, laying down runners with decent traction will help the pup to get footing, and thus confidence. 
the clear textured runners will let the floor be seen, but the textured surface will give her a grip. 

with a Doxie, its especially important that she NOT slip + slide on floors - she can injure that doggone long back, 
 which could create all sorts of problems. 

its a bummer, but tile floors, laminate + hardwood floors are all easy to clean (good for ppl!) :thumbup: 
and slick, with poor traction; they tend to make dogs slip, fall and spraddle as they teeter across them (bad for k9s!) :thumbdown: 
so easy to clean is sadly not always dog-friendly. hmy: 

congrats on the cute pup! 
--- terry


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## littledigger (Dec 29, 2009)

Thanks Terry, i think i can get the clear runners easily from our local DIY shop. Like most experienced pet owners will say - it's also the owners that need training and i'm actually not at all bothered about changing the way i live to make life better for our pup. Thanks again, Nick


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

When we got laminate flooring one of my dogs refused to walk on it and she never did learn. It was highly embarassing when we took her on holiday with us and realised that we were spending our time between two houses that both had laminate flooring. She is a big dog so couldnt be carried - luckily the relative and friend were both happy for us to put something down on the floor for her. Not so good at another relatives who had varnished wood floor and was very non dog minded. We had a nightmare night there trying to get her from room to room.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

hey, digger! :--) 
how is it going now with the slippery surfaces? 
any better? will the pup explore a few steps off the runner? 
all paws + fingers crossed, 
--- terry


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## alysonandhedley (Oct 29, 2009)

We dont have laminate, but we bought a couple of carpet type runners from Morrisons just to protect our new carpet in a couple of places, and also we have one on the hard floor in the kitchen. These are the sort of carpet that you can scrub, which is useful. I wouldn't think that the clear plastic carpet protector runners would be any help over the laminate.


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

alysonandhedley said:


> I wouldn't think that the clear plastic carpet protector runners would be any help over the laminate.


Some of them also smell terrible - I bought one once and never used it, it stank of 'plastic' which could also be rather nasty for a dog, being closer to the ground than we are.

Why not see if a local carpet shop has offcuts that could be used for runners - some shops will also bind the edges to make them into proper rugs. That way, you could choose a very hardwearing and cleanable type of carpet in case of accidents.


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## alysonandhedley (Oct 29, 2009)

MerlinsMum said:


> Some of them also smell terrible - I bought one once and never used it, it stank of 'plastic' which could also be rather nasty for a dog, being closer to the ground than we are.
> 
> Why not see if a local carpet shop has offcuts that could be used for runners - some shops will also bind the edges to make them into proper rugs. That way, you could choose a very hardwearing and cleanable type of carpet in case of accidents.


Yep Ive had a stinky one too, a sort of solvent smell. Cant do you any good.


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## littledigger (Dec 29, 2009)

leashedForLife said:


> hey, digger! :--)
> how is it going now with the slippery surfaces?
> any better? will the pup explore a few steps off the runner?
> all paws + fingers crossed,
> --- terry


No update yet. We have been hit with extraordinary high snow fall here and i've not ventured too far. I am also thinking of changing the floor, so when the weather improves i will take her to the shop and try here on various surfaces. I fear that our charlotte will be like Blitz's pup who never walked on laminate. I am going to get busy with D I Y soon anyway. We need a new back door to accomadate a cat flap, a raised deck for her to walk on as the step down to the ground is too steep. I'll keep you updated soon. it looks like other pups suffer this too.


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## LittleFluff (Jun 5, 2008)

Awww bless, Kez has blips with our laminate - if there's food, or someone to bark at or another dog to protect her home from she runs on it, but if she has one of her moments and decides she doesn't like it anymore she'll refuse to walk on it and tip toes about looking annoyed! I think it's something they dislike but tolerate. Carpet runners are a great idea, I keep meaning to get one for our hallway. Hope it works for you, bet your pup is keen to get exploring


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## littledigger (Dec 29, 2009)

Blitz said:


> When we got laminate flooring one of my dogs refused to walk on it and she never did learn. It was highly embarassing when we took her on holiday with us and realised that we were spending our time between two houses that both had laminate flooring. She is a big dog so couldnt be carried - luckily the relative and friend were both happy for us to put something down on the floor for her. Not so good at another relatives who had varnished wood floor and was very non dog minded. We had a nightmare night there trying to get her from room to room.


Hi Blitz, Does you dog refuse to walk on any other surfaces and is she nervous of some but will walk on them anyway?


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## littledigger (Dec 29, 2009)

LittleFluff said:


> Awww bless, Kez has blips with our laminate - if there's food, or someone to bark at or another dog to protect her home from she runs on it, but if she has one of her moments and decides she doesn't like it anymore she'll refuse to walk on it and tip toes about looking annoyed! I think it's something they dislike but tolerate. Carpet runners are a great idea, I keep meaning to get one for our hallway. Hope it works for you, bet your pup is keen to get exploring


Hi Littlefluff, our pup is really keen to explore and will get as close as she can to the laminate. Today she put 1 paw on the laminate to test it, but she decided it wasn't for her and turned around to catch a ghost in the air! lol.


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## littledigger (Dec 29, 2009)

SOLVED

This morning, our puppy Charlie was soooooooo hungry that she walked onto the laminate flooring to follow me into the kitchen for her breakfast. She looked scared and walked it very gently but the need for food outweighed the fright of slipping on the floor, also she is getting stronger as she grows. Of course, she got lots of attention and praise for her strength and she now goes from room to room, albeit with trepidation. Well happy.


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