Pets make great companions, and they also provide some excitement and entertainment in the house. There are some things that household pets like dogs, cats, and birds need to get used to. From fans to small appliances to toothbrushes, sometimes it’s hard to tell what can frighten a pet. Here are some hilarious stories of pets afraid of everyday household items.
1. Garbage Bags
“I had to go pet the bag so we could walk past it to go home.”
“Yup, just happened to us last night. A half full garbage bag was on its side getting inflated by the breeze and my dog was on alert like he just saw a cobra.”
“For years mine was afraid of when you fluff a plastic bag to put out in your garbage can. I would pick up a bag and he would fast walk away from me to avoid it.”
“Have a cat who is afraid of white garbage bags. Used to hide when changing out the garbage”
2. Farts
“My sister’s dog was afraid of farts – even their own. Was hilarious!”
“I knew someone whose dog would turn around all scared if he farted.”
3. Ceiling Fans
“My dog is terrified of ceiling fans. On, off, doesn’t matter. If she notices one, she has to check every few minutes to see if it’s still there and scares herself all over again.”
“My Maine Coon boy cat was terrified of the ceiling fan only when it was on. If it was off he didn’t care. Otherwise he was afraid of nothing.“
“I had a long-haired siamese that pushed out the screen and leaped out of the window to chase away a full grown black bear, but wouldn’t come out from under the bed if the ceiling fan was on.”
“We have lived in our house for over 3 years now and have a ceiling fan in the bedroom. Every time my cat comes into the room he stares at the ceiling fan like it’s going to jump out and attack him.”
4. Vacuum Cleaners
“My cat Charlie used to be terrified of the vacuum. He would find a bed to hide under and stay for hours. ”
“Vacuums and brooms being ironic since he’s (bird) the main contributor to the mess on the ground that needs sweeping all the time.
“Ah yes but my boy cries at just the sight of a vacuume I’m afraid. Before it even turns on haha and it’s a cordless one so it’s pretty quiet in general however he is the most jumpy out of everybody else maybe he’s just part chicken”
5. Brooms
“My dog is scared of brooms even though I know she was never abused or anything because we got her as a tiny puppy. My dad’s birds also hate brooms though. It’s very strange.”
“Same with my dog. And it extends to all things cleaning supplies. He’s terrified of the broom, the dustpan, trash bags, the vacuum cleaner (only one that makes sense), the bloody vacuum cleaner attachments….It’s so bizarre. Whenever I’m cleaning he hides on the balcony.”
“My dog hates my broom. He will stand there and bark at it. Even if it hasn’t moved in days.”
6. The Netflix Intro
“My dog too, Netflix intro! She ran out of the room once when it played and she wouldn’t come back until the tv was off.”
“My dog loses his mind barking and growling at the big red N that pops on the screen when opening the Netflix app. We thought it was the “dun-dun” sound setting him off at first, but muting the TV gets the same result.”
7. Balloons
“My birds are afraid of balloons, especially when the balloons fly. One is afraid of vacuums and brooms.”
“My grandma came down in the morning and was wondering why the dog (a large American bulldog) was sleeping in the living room and not on his bed in the spare room like he always did. It turned out her birthday balloon had drifted over there during the night and he was too scared to be near it.”
8. A Heater
“I have a heater that has an oscillating function. When I turned it on one day, my one year old Chihuahua decided that this was an attack on him and started growling and barking at the heater.”
9. Roomba
“We got a Roomba a couple years ago. When we first turned it on, my chihuahua mix immediately jumped off the bed and peed in the spot it had just cleaned.”
“Nala the pit bull puppy is terrified of the robot vacuum”
10. Water Bottles
“The crinkle of a water bottle can send her flying.”
“Mine will wake up from a sleep under the blanket and haul to another room as if the water bottle is out to get her it’s so weird. ”
11. Flying Litter
“My horse and I went for a ride alongside the highway. A big semi truck was coming, and I was convinced that would freak her right out. Nope – didn’t even blink. But then a tiny plastic wrapper blew past her. And I learned just how fast she could go. Which was really fast.”
12. Phone Notifications
“You know the default notification noise for the facebook Messenger app? Every show seems to use it as the sound effect for when someone gets a text message. Well my dog HATES it, runs away to hide in her bed or under my office desk any time she hears it.”
“the iPhone message “ding”. He runs away and it stresses him out every time he hears it so we put our phones on silent at home.
13. The Laundry Basket
“No rhyme or reason. Have to keep it hidden in a closet and the moment I bring it out to take it down to the laundry room he hightails it like life depended on it.”
14. Cardboard Boxes
“Boxes. Doesn’t matter how big or small, he cowers away from boxes of all sizes shown to him.”
“My jack Russel is scared of yellow unopened boxes”
“Cardboard box. I was taking one of my dogs on a walk and we were walking by a house where their garbage bins were out. They had a box resting against the bin. A wind came and slightly moved that box just as we were passing by. I’ve never seen her jump so high and she started growling and barking at the box. It never touched her or came close, but that event apparently traumatized her so much that even today she is still scared of boxes, and won’t go near them.”
15. The Air Fryer
He used to go to the bedroom when the air fryer would beep.
16. Plastic Bags
“The clear ones, even if they’re super small and staying still.”
“i have 2 kitties with severe anxiety issues. ones a long haired blackish brown female whos afraid of plastic bags and garbage bags.”
17. Buckets
“My sweet boy, bruce, is afraid of buckets. Specifically plastic buckets. We have no clue why – we raised him since he was a baby, he wasn’t traumatized by a bucket ever.”
“My dog is terrified of buckets. No idea why, but she will bark at buckets non-stop until she’s removed from their vicinity. So buckets became an anti-dog measure. She won’t go past them.”
18. Flies
“a fly. literally a fly.”
“House-flies” , how hilarious. It’s fun to watch when he runs away from it all over the house.”
“My long haired dachshund is afraid of flies. Every time there is a fly in the house he hides under a bed on the second floor for hours or tries to run away from home. All because a fly once bumped his forehead.”
19. Snow
“Small bits of snow falling off the roof. He doesn’t care when huge bits that make the house shake fall off, but gods forbid a snowball falls.”
“When my husky was just a puppy we let her out in the backyard the first time it snowed. As soon as she touched it she started yelping like she was in pain and ran back inside.”
20. Ketchup Bottles
“We’d pull it out of the fridge, turn around and she’d like either run away whimpering or stare, whimper and then pee herself. We never teased her, or laughed about it, since it was always confusing to us but he had had her since she was a puppy so no one knew what triggered it.”
Is your pet afraid of anything that isn’t on this list?
This post originally appeared on reddit.