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Help, my Chihuahua is afraid of my CPAP Machine!
I have had my CPAP machine for 3 weeks I believe...My dog doesn't like it. He gets scared and runs away. I don't know if it's the hose or the mask, but he shakes and jumps off my bed. He's been my little sleeping buddy since my grandma died. He sleeps under the covers. I've been trying to be sneaky about wearing the mask, but he hears something and runs away to my sister's room or to the living room on his bed. My heart breaks every time he gets scared. I love him so much. I wake up next to him every morning since my grandmother died. I guess you could say that I'm now having a hard time getting to sleep because I have a little separation anxiety from him not being by my side.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike on
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First things first. Victoria, meet Maggie, my very own chihuahua-terrier-border collie mix:
Ok, as you can plainly see, she's not afraid of my CPAP, but I understand the chihuahua temperament a bit from my experiences with Maggie. One thing we do when Maggie is afraid of someone or something is to praise her and give her treats in the presence of the thing. Maybe when you're not asleep and you guys are just hanging out, you can invite her up on the bed and give her a treat. Then turn on the machine and give her another treat. And then keep the machine on and give him a treat. Then do another training session like that over and over until he gets the picture that the CPAP is not so bad after all. Did your dog freak out over the vacuum cleaner? How did you train him to get over that fear? Maybe you can borrow from that experience.
Also, it's the noise from the CPAP machine and/or your CPAP mask that your chihuahua is probably reacting to. Is it an old model machine and/or mask? Maybe you can get a quieter CPAP mask or CPAP machine and that would be less threatening to your little buddy.
Those are some suggestions from a fellow dog lover.
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Permalink Reply by Judy on
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IF you pick your Chihuahua up and sympathize you are reinforcing his fear. Its okay to pick him up and cuddle him BUT it is NOT okay to sympathize. Rather pick him up if you want but laugh at his fear or ignore his fear, be matter of fact.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel on
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I strongly suspect it is the sounds of the CPAP, and not the presence of the mask and hose. Try laying in bed with Blackieboy while you have the mask on, but no hose or CPAP. Then try mask and hose, then mask, hose and CPAP, but without turning the CPAP on. Finally, turn on the CPAP. As Mike suggested, you should praise Blackieboy and give him lots of treats during all these steps. Eventually, it won't bother him.
Daniel
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