We had a small cooker fire on Christmas day and i think that this has made my Bichon Frise very scared of being downstairs.  He has started to run upstairs under our bed and will not come down, not even for treats or for walkies!

He sits in the conservatory under the table shaking and takes ages for us to calm him down.  He has to sit by us and will not sit alone on the floor as he used to.

I am really worried about him, he has never done this before and we have had him for nearly three years.

Has anyone got any advice please??

Hayl000

Hi

I would act perfectly normally around him - same normal routine etc. If he is getting extra fuss/attention then its just confirming his fears to him IMO :)

Just try to be completely normal with him and ignore any "scared" behaviour. He'll soon settle.

I'd also stop him going under the bed adn ignore him when he is shaking - giving him attention is again giving him something to shake about :)

Thats what I would do. We've always ignored fireworks etc and never had a problem.

Good luck

Hi
Thanks for the advice.  I will try and be as normal as possible but i do find it hard not to give him lots of attention though when he is like this!
Hayl000

I'd get the vet to give him a full check out before doing anything else. Shaking or shivering can be a sign of pain in dogs so its better safe than sorry.

Hi
Thanks for this, think i will get him checked over just in case.

If he  gets the all clear .
Then I agree with Chloe to ignore the behaviour.

One of my girls hates the ironing board in fact she is terrified of it to the point that she runs and hides when I go in the cupboard all because (its old) it squeaks loudly when I open it (need a new one) but dont think it will make any difference to her now as its in her head.
I just carry on doing what I'm doing and let her go wherever she wants to go she then comes out when she thinks the coast is clear.

Roni