Suddenly fearful of the bed

So I've had Norris about a year and six months now. He is probably 6 or 7 years old. We've worked through most of his fear issues with random objects. A lot of it was just giving him time to adjust to living in a house when he'd never really been in one before. But now he's developed a strange new fear. Fear of my bed! Norris used to be on my bed pretty much all the time. Over this weekend, I think it was on Saturday, I was facing away from Norris looking at my computer (my computer is on his crate next to my bed, and I sit on my bed and basically use the crate as a desk/other shelf) and I heard a small yip! as if something suddenly hurt Norris and/or scared him, and he jumped off the bed, had his tail low and kind of walked around in a crouch as if he was scared of something. Since then he has been afraid of getting back in my bed, and has been mostly hanging out in his crate. He did not get on my bed at all on Sunday, got on it once on Monday, and twice today. All those times he only stayed on my bed for five or ten minutes and then got back on the floor again. So he CAN physically jump on the bed, and it doesn't appear to hurt him in any way. He is eating, going to the bathroom, and behaving normally otherwise. I'm just really confused by this behavior.

Has anyone dealt with their dog having a sudden fear of something they used to love? One of my theories is that perhaps he got a shock from static electricity in the blankets or something. Norris is a sensitive dog, so I could see something like that scaring him. Sometimes he'll act like he wants to get on my bed, like he's about to jump up, but he doesn't. I tried putting treats on the edge of the bed, and even feeding his meal by putting the kibbles on the edge of the bed, and he'll eat it, but it hasn't seemed to help. Do you think that with time, he'll forget about whatever scared him and get on the bed again? I'm sad he won't get on the bed anymore and cuddle. I can't sit on the floor with him for a long period of time, my knees and back muscles aren't the best and it hurts. >_<

I just want my dog to stop being scared.

I'm sorry. Sounds like something Jackson would do. I do recall a few years ago, my lamp on my night stand next to my bed fell over and really freaked him out and it took him a few days to even want to come into my room. I was throwing high value treats into the room and he would go get them and then go right back out. I just let him go at his own pace and kind of "ignored" him in a way. Left the door open at night. He slept elsewhere for a few nights and then he was ready to come back in. I can't recall exactly how long it took.

I find with Jackson, usually ignoring him and not trying to find out what is wrong, is sometimes best. I think I, often unwillingly, make him more nervous about a 'scary' situation. So now I'm more of a "you're fine, brush it off" kind of attitude. OR I'll show him what it was... like one night my water bottle popped really loud from just air letting out or w/e, but it was a super loud pop, so he jumped off the bed and then I said "look, it was just this" and then kind of popped the bottle again so he could SEE what that noise was and it seemed to make him get over it faster.

I know it's more difficult when you don't really know for sure why he's suddenly scared of the bed. But I would say keep feeding him on/by the bed and see if he comes around in the next few days.

Awww, poor Norris. That does sound to me like he got shocked or something. Maybe caught a toe or toenail on the blanket and pulled on it. Meg would react the same way to something like that.

And any time she's had something like that happen, she has gotten over it eventually. I can't think of a single time where she got scared of a place/thing that she didn't get over with some help (well, not true. The electric fence at the barn she never really got over, but I also didn't try to help her get over it. I preferred she avoid it.)

I'd keep doing what you are doing with the treats and food. Maybe do some really simple, light-hearted, treat heavy training on the bed. If he's got good footing to land on while getting off the bed, I'd even reward getting on the bed by throwing the treat off it, releasing that pressure. That was something that helped Meg when she didn't want to approach something. Rather than luring him up and treating him on the bed, call him up. If he starts to approach click/praise/whatever you do to mark good behavior, and throw the treat behind him. Then he gets a double reward (the cookie and the release of the pressure from the scary thing), plus he needs to drive back to it for another reward. Gradually up the ante - touching the bed, front feet on the bed, jumping on it - while still rewarding away from the bed.

I know how much it sucks when your dog is scared. And obviously I don't know Norris, but I bet he will get over this pretty easily with your help. And it will be just one more victory he has over his fears that will make him braver in the long run.

Thanks guys for your input.

Wouldn't you know it, right after I posted this thread, Norris randomly decided to jump up on the bed and he's still laying on it. I guess he just needs time and patience to get over this fear, just like the others.

ETA: He just got off the bed for a drink of water, and then went into his crate and won't get back on the bed again. NORRIS IS SO WEIRD.

Any chance it could be painful for him? Sore muscles or something?

I don't think there is anything hurting Norris. I felt all over his body and he didn't display any behavior suggestive of pain, and believe me, Norris is NOT a stoic dog! I figured out, though, that part of the reason he wasn't getting on the bed was the placement of his crate. I moved it farther from the bed and now he will jump up. The position of Norris' crate was never an issue before. Dogs are weird. -___-