The Scary Vacuum Cleaner

We have a central vac but I don’t use it in the sewing room. At a previous house, I used it in the sewing room and pins poked holes in the vacuum hose and . . those things were a bit pricey and Vince was not happy so since then, I’ve had an inexpensive vacuum cleaner just for the sewing room.

We had straw out on the back patio so we could walk without slipping on the ice. The straw breaks down after a while and it’s dusty and gritty and gets tracked into the downstairs garage, which we walk through to get inside, then it gets tracked onto the tile floor and I’m sure onto the carpet.

I keep the upright vac in the sewing room but yesterday I went out, raked all the straw off the porch and put it into my garden beds.

I guess Cooper has never seen an upright vacuum cleaner. I got it out of the sewing room and decided to vacuum the carpet in the downstairs family room since I was going to vacuum the tile floor and then vacuum the garage. Cooper was in the crate and I realized he was afraid of it so I took him and put him in the bathroom, which is where I put him when he eats. I gave him a little food so he’d be occupied during the 3.5 minutes it was going to take me to vacuum the carpet and tile.

I let him out, then I went out and vacuumed the garage. I left the vacuum cleaner in a corner by the door into the house.

Later Vince took Cooper out and he said “Something has happened! Cooper will not walk into the garage and he’s always done it before.” I said “Does he not want to go into the garage from inside or from outside?” Vince said “Both! I had to pick him up and carry him both times.”

I wasn’t thinking about the vacuum cleaner and said “I don’t know!”

Then later, I went to take Cooper out and he stopped and wasn’t taking another step towards the door. I picked him up, carried him out. We played outside for a few minutes, came back in and again, he stopped at the outside door . . wasn’t going any farther – not going into the garage! I picked him up and as we got to the door to go inside, and closer to the vacuum cleaner, he was trying to get farther away from it and I realized . . he’s afraid of the vacuum cleaner!

I told Vince what had happened – made sense. I’ve now put the vacuum cleaner back in the sewing room so Cooper can go outside without having to get past that evil, scary thing. Poor baby.