A dog owner has gone viral after revealing a surprising hack that helped her Yorkie overcome his fear of vacuum cleaners and blow-dryers.
In the video shared on TikTok in March under the username @candacce, she says that her pup used to be afraid of household appliances that made noise, but now thanks to this hack, he even lets her dry his fur.
Veterinary specialists PetKeen say that dogs have multiple reasons to be afraid of vacuums. Firstly, it's something that they have never seen before, so unless they are gradually exposed to it, they won't like it. It could also be that they have had a bad past experience with it, or maybe your dog is a working breed and thinks the vacuum is a disobedient sheep.
@candacce not to be dramatic but whoever gave me this tip deserves a nobel peace prize (sorry for the cracked screen lol) #fyp #foryou #fypシ
♬ original sound - candacce
"Someone on here said that, if you want your dog to stop being scared of the vacuum or the blow-dryer, you have to, like, discipline it," the poster said. "Just say, like, 'No! like it's not an inanimate object and like it's another dog, like I'm disciplining a hair-dryer.'
"Whoever told me this tip, thank you. I hope you find $100 on the floor this week. He used to jump out of my arms with the blow-dryer; he was so scared of it. I have a diffuser on it, so it's not so much air; he hates though. And then today watch this."
The next clip shows her pup allowing her to blow-dry his fur without hesitation after he sees her "disciplining it."
The poster continues saying: "I was able to, like, fight him for the back of his coat, but the front he would never let me do, and then now look. He would wiggle out of my hands, but now... I'm disciplining the blow-dryer, and he's like, 'Yeah, you listen to my mommy!'
"So if you have a dog that hates the vacuum or a blow-dryer, hey, I'm just saying you should try it."
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 1.7 million views and more than 253,700 likes on the platform.
One user, Candiedcicada, commented: "I tried doing this and my dog ATTACKED the vacuum to back me up. I guess that's halfway good but also damn." And Dominique posted: "Definitely works. I beat the vacuum and my dog stopped being afraid of it."
Pickle added: "Maybe he feels like you are in control and the dryer will listen to you so he trusts you to keep him safe."
Newsweek reached out to @candacce for comment via email. We could not verify the details of the case.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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Maria Azzurra Volpe is a Newsweek Lifestyle Reporter based in London. Her focus is reporting on lifestyle and trends-related stories, ... Read more
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