Puppy afraid of downstairs bathroom

[Foxtrot]

If her ball rolls in there she dithers around the doorway, lunges her nose in, if she can't reach it she'll stop and run back down the hall without it.

Nothing has happened to her in there - she was bathed upstairs and she runs up and noses around that bathroom fine.

She walks past it daily, eats beside the door, generally isn't bothered unless she has to go in.

Hard floors throughout downstairs, and laminate which she does skid about on a bit sometimes but it doesn't seem to bother her. The downstairs bathroom is tiled but I honestly can't otherwise think what's so frightening about it?

She sometimes does go in there but is always super hesitant, as if something is going to leap out at her from the corner.

What could it be?!

[JudyN]

I wonder if it could remind her of an enclosed space she was kept in in the past? Alternatively it could be all sorts of things - the floor surface might be subtly different to her, or it could be an effect of the shadows/lights, or something might have happened when she was in there or close to there on just one occasion - e.g. a raised voice, or something dropped, or the loo being flushed causing her to jump. It's interesting to speculate, but there's often little to be gained by knowing the cause of the behaviour. She may well get over her nerves, possibly with the help of a few treats being thrown just within the doorway, but I'm guessing it's not a problem if she won't go in there.

[emmabeth]

In a situation like this, the best thing to do is get down as close as you can to her eye level, keep in mind her vision doesn't see colour as well as yours does so things will be more shades of grey, yellow and blue than they are to you.

Most people know that bit, but also a dogs acuity is not as good as ours, so the definition of objects will be much less distinct - and, their depth perception is also not as good as ours is, so when you add all that together, a dog can easily not understand that a bunch of similarly coloured objects are separate items because they look the same colour and the dog cannot see that they are in front/behind another item.

Which is how dogs see monsters that are not there sometimes - so get down on your hands and knees and shut one eye and you will get a much better idea of what the problem might be!

[Shalista]

Also sound could be an issue? Dogs have a much better hearign than we do and bathrooms dont usually have furniture to soften sounds and it could be echoey in there.

[Foxtrot]

oh echoes good point. That sounds likely.

Oddly I came down and she was nosing around in there after her ball this morning, hmmm.

It's an old house, currently wondering if it's a ghost who only trots about in there in the evenings

[Ari_RR]

Floor (tiles)... smell... different light or less light... anything, really.
Is this an issue though?
I'd leave her be, praise/reward her when she finds the courage to venture in, and let her take her time making sure it's as safe place.

[Foxtrot]

Floor (tiles)... smell... different light or less light... anything, really.
Is this an issue though?
I'd leave her be, praise/reward her when she finds the courage to venture in, and let her take her time making sure it's as safe place.

Not overly it's just strange how she stops at the threshhold