My 4.5 year old dog goes nuts over the vacuum cleaner. Is there any way to train her that the vacuum isn’t for lunch?

There are a few of approaches to this. You could desensitize her to it gradually, first with the vacuum far away and not switched on… using food and obedience to get her to ignore it. This is the approach I would take with a young dog that didn’t have a lifetime of rehearsals with attacking the vacuum. Since she’s had at least 2 years of practice with the unwanted behavior, it’s a longer road to go.

You could teach her to avoid the vacuum through correction. The type of correction you would use would depend on your dog and the methods you were most comfortable with. 

You could put her in a safe location away from the vacuum when you are using it. Simply control her access to it. put her in a crate or another part of the house where she can’t be stimulated by the vacuum.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Rhodes