Have you been in the room with your dog, and it completely ignores you for the ceiling fan? You are not alone in this, as many dog owners have this same complaint. It scares some of them that their dogs see ghosts and others just feel neglected by their dogs.
So, why does my dog stare at the ceiling fan? This happens because they are captivated by the turning light and shadows of the fan. Also, the cold air they feel from their top can make them curious. Furthermore, they could be sick.
Read further to know if dogs are normal to stare at the ceiling fan or not. Also, how to stop it if you get uncomfortable with the behavior.
Is It Normal for Dogs to Look up at the Ceiling Fan?
For some dogs, it is normal. But, for others, it is not. They are many reasons your dog could stare at your ceiling fan. But, unfortunately, they have both bad and good reasons, and your dog might just be on any of the sides.
If your dog is on the bad side of the reasons, then it is not normal. But, if it is on the good side, then it is normal. You need to know that dogs don’t react the same way humans do. So, some of their actions might seem strange to you.’
Dogs have many unique habits. The longer they stay with you, the more you get acquainted with these behaviors. You may even get to understand the reason for the behaviors they exhibit. But if a new habit steps in, you may have to be worried.
Although, we advise that you first visit your veterinarian before you take any further steps. Before you visit a dog trainer, it might result from diseases your dog has contracted.
Staring at the ceiling fan is common for dogs. They can exhibit this trait anywhere. It could be a picked-up habit or just something they do to keep themselves busy. Your guess might also be right. They could see a ghost.
Why Does My Dog Stare at the Ceiling Fan?
They are several reasons your dog will stare at the ceiling, and they are:
1. Picked up Habit
Your dogs can learn a new habit from other dogs they associate with. If you’ve stayed with your dog for a long time, you already know your dog’s habits. You know how it acts, what it can do, and what it cannot do. Also, you know its response to a particular situation.
When this same dog does things it didn’t do before; probably after it started mingling with your neighbor’s dog, it has picked up a habit. That habit could be to stare at the ceiling.
But sometimes, they don’t pick up the habit from other dogs but develop it themselves. For example, this might have started when they were puppies, and their owners didn’t stop it. So, they grow with it. Also, they may have just started looking at the ceiling a few weeks ago, and their owners overlooked it. Gradually, it becomes a habit that they now worry about.
2. Tensed Situation
When your dogs stare at the ceiling fan, they may want out of the room because it scares them. TIn addition, they could detect noises they find unpleasant, provoking fear in them.
Also, your dogs might not exactly be looking at the ceiling fan as it seems. Instead, they may monitor an insect hovering around the fan. Probably because they want to catch it, or it makes them feel uneasy. Anything that provokes fear in dogs either makes them run or static.
3. Shadows and Light
In some houses, the light bulbs are close to the fan. So, when both light and fan are on, it produces a turning shadow of the fan in the room. This can make your dog stare continuously. The light and shadow they see can keep them glued for several minutes, staring at the fan.
The event could hypnotize them. Unfortunately, your dogs are not always interested in the view. Sometimes, they fear the shadow.
4. Cold Air from above
Curiosity cannot only kill the cat; it can kill the dog, too. For example, your dog can get curious about the direction of the chilly breeze it is feeling. It will trace it to the ceiling fan and stare. Most dogs do this when the space has been a little unconducive, and they feel a sudden cold air.
Sometimes, they might just be curious how a fan produces the air when the windows are closed. Such may occur in dogs that spend most of their time outside. When they stare for too long, they get used to it and do it all the time.
5. Dementia
If you think dogs can’t have dementia, then think again. Like humans, dogs can have dementia, and staring at anything for long is one sign of dementia. In addition, research has shown that, as dogs grow older, their brain cells die.
Symptoms of dementia may include disorientation, sudden irritability, loss of appetite, dirtying the house, and changes in sleep patterns. Also, the brain of the dog that has dementia and its functions will get affected. For example, it can make the dog lose while staring in a particular direction. In this case, the direction is the ceiling fan.
5. Growth in the Eyelid
Growth in the eyelid is a very discomforting feeling for anyone, even dogs. It makes their lookup. They may not be staring at the ceiling fan, as you think. They may just be looking up, trying to get comfort from the posture.
This growth is difficult to detect because it mostly hides under the upper eyelid. Most times, your dogs are the reason for this growth as they excessively paw and scratch their eyes. Experts have said that such growths are common in dogs, and most of the issues are not cancer-related.
It’s better to attend to this growth earlier before it escalates to something bigger and becomes harder to cure. After that, their eyes get too heavy and lazy to look around, so they just stare in one direction. We advise that if your dog stares at anything too much, you should have them checked by a veterinarian.
6. Epilepsy
It might interest you to know that dogs can have epilepsy like humans. Precisely idiopathic epilepsy. According to Science Daily, about 5.7% of dogs worldwide are suffering from this condition. Unfortunately, they don’t know the precise cause of this sickness; only they can inherit it.
Idiopathic epilepsy does not affect all breeds of dogs. At least not as much as they affect Beagles, Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retriever, Shetland Sheepdogs, and Vizslas. This ailment shows when the dog is around 6months to 5years.
You know your dog has the infection when you see them exhibit signs like restlessness, house soiling, habitual complaints, shaking, disorientation, and drooling. The drooling is what makes them stare at any object or particularly the fan, for long.
7. Gastrointestinal Disease
Research has shown that if your dog is staring at your ceiling fan incessantly, it may have a sickness in the Esophagus, stomach, beginning part of its small intestine, or its mouth. All these parts make up the top gastrointestinal or GL system.
The excruciating pain that dogs will feel when they have this illness makes them stretch their necks and lift their heads. When the sickness starts newly in the dog, they’ll take that posture just a few times. But, when it last in their system, the dog becomes more static in the posture. So, you may think it is staring at the fan, but it is just taking the position because of its ailment.
Also, when your dog gets infected with the gastrointestinal disease, it will start losing weight, regurgitating, dry heaving, having painful swallow, anorexia, gagging, fly snapping, and drooling excessively.
8. Partial Seizure
This seizure is not as critical as convulsion. That’s why they call it a focal or partial seizure. It looks like daydreaming, but worse. It only affects a part of the brain, so its effect stays on one part of the body of the dogs that have them. They mostly stare at anything without expression. This can begin as something simple and gradually grow with the dog to get worse.
9. Tick Invade
This makes your dog stare at the ceiling fan for a while. When dogs are staring, there is probably a tick around that is disturbing them. So, the staring results from them trying to get relief from the tick.
Ticks crawl through the snout to the dog’s fur. They are usually tiny that you can’t see them easily. So, it’s hard to even detect that it is the reason your dog is staring.
What Can I Do about It?
They are several things you can do to stop your dog from staring at the ceiling fan. First, you can see a vet and also a trainer if necessary.
1. Visit a veterinarian for a checkup and treatment.
Since most of the reasons your dog is staring at the ceiling fan are medical issues, see a pet doctor. This should even be the first thing you do before taking any other step to avoid taking a wrong approach.
Even if you don’t detect any ailment in them, we still advise you to take your pet to experts for a proper checkup. They might find something you couldn’t. Also, give your dog preventive medications against these diseases that can make it stare.
2. Visit a dog trainer
After the vet, then you can visit a dog trainer if the problem has nothing to do with medicine. Mostly, it might be a habit, and a trainer can help train your dogs to get rid of such habits.
3. Monitor your dog’s environment
The environment in which your dog grows has a lot to do with its behavior. Their environment can influence them to act strangely or goodly. So, make sure they learn only positive things from their environment.
Conclusion
Dogs are not humans, and no matter how much effort you put into training them, they will never be humans. So, when your dog acts weirdly, do not panic, do not ask why does my dog stays at the ceiling? It could be normal. But if the weird actions persist, then you can see a pet doctor.
Dogs, as man’s best friend, are sensitive. They can tell when you are mad at them for a particular action. So, you can train your dog to stop staring if the issue doesn’t require medical attention.