What is up with my dog?!
WHY!? What is up with my dog? (Oh, and I checked---no full moon or anything...) |
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| I think you "buried the lead" in this story.
The lead is barney1 wrote: we are in a thunderstorm
I'm not there of course, but that could be an issue. If' it's just an all-the-time thing... well, teenagers will be teenagers..! Ummm how old is he? lol |
| The thunderstorm was actually pretty inconsequential. It was mostly raining...and really only one incident in the many many many annoying things he is doing lately. These things have been happening over the last few days...
Barnold is nearly 17 months old. |
Sounds like he needs a date  |
| lol--he probably does! But we're not stooping to Elissa's level and buying a wife for him yet...
(see dogs in trouble, young female in tehachapee thread if confused) |
Panda say "good"...she still likes being Barneys favorite  |
| My dogs have come to associate any precipitation with thunder. It snows and they worry about thunder. All rain can bring thunder. Of course around here.......like you Darcy.......we haven't seen a drop of anything from the sky since......when.....October?? Anyway, could be your boy is like my Paige and MO and has become his own weatherman......predicting the weather when the pressure falls.
good luck |
I haven't gotten there yet with Beaureguard, but it sounds like a teenage sheepie. Can't wait.   |
| What's he like when you're not around; sounds like he just looking for attention. If you're reacting to his behavior, you're reinforcing it. |
| He probably is looking for attention, although nothing has really changed in our schedules to make him need any more. The only thing that I can think of is my husband is in a difficult medical rotation which has long, hard, weird hours and that might be throwing him off a bit. Usually my husband feeds barney at night, but I've been doing that lately.
I try to ignore his behavior most of the time, it is just hard to sometimes. Like when he he going crazy at dinner time and is knocking into things so hard he almost tipped over the kitchen island--that type of thing... My husband is done with this rotation on Friday, so hopefully things will be back to normal after that, although his next rotation is OB/GYN, which doesn't exactly have the best schedules either!  |
| Maggie gets hyper every once in a while. I put her in her crate with a toy and she settles down pretty quickly. . . Maybe that would help Barney? Maggie seems comforted to be restrained. Otherwise, she is at loose ends and tends to escalate into destructive behavior. . . But 10-15 minutes in the crate and she's good again. |
| Putting him in his crate might help, but he HATES it, so that might actually start off more bad behavior. I guess the things that are bothering me most right now are when he comes in from outside he just whines and bocks and then he starts to chew on the baby gate and bump against it with his shoulder. He'll also lick and lick and lick the gate. And the other one is his dinner time craziness. He is usually ok until I turn on the water to wash off the spoon...it is so weird. If I look at him he is just waiting there, not even moving, waiting for me to turn on the water so he can bark and run and growl... it is very odd. He's always been weird at meals, but it is getting really weird... |
| Have you tried plenty of excercise? I noticed that when my sheepie is tired, he just goes and lays down (until he gets his second wind...tee,hee) |
| That's one thing that he isn't getting enough of at the moment, but I don't really know what to do about it. It is dark by the time I get home from work and we don't have any streetlights in our neighborhood. Last night I tried to teach im how to catch in the living room, which seemed to help, and tired him out from leaping a bit, but I don't know what else to do...he doesn't just run around the backyard on his own...and all this tennis balls are under the porch where I can't reach them...
Any suggestions? |
| Exercise around here includes the "Sheepie 500".... having Mulligan race back and forth between Joan and me, usually on different floors, too! Taht way the chase includes a flight of stairs for each "lap."
Unfortunately, the grip is so good on the carpet that he occasionally tears a paw pad a little bit, right at the hair line. 
Just thinking about it, maybe we should trime the hair completely away in that area and that might prevent the pulling? Duh? |
| Do you have a basketball, soccer ball or a kickball that you can kick around in the backyard? The two sheepies I've had love to chase them around. |
| Kick it around in the dark?
Also, it helps to have more than one person because Barney likes to chase it and then come back to me. He's not one for retrieval |
| Oh, I just play one-on-one with my sheepie, but I just installed the screw-in flood lights where my porch light was. |
| One other thought. Try the 5 minute rule. Quote from Jan Fennel: "All dogs go through their different rutuals when they are reunited with their owners. ... Whatever they do, it is crucial that the owner turns a blind eye... Failure to do this means the dog has been acknowledged...has suceeded in getting attention. Even by saying "stop it", an owner is allowing a dog to achieve its aim. If not engaged, it will eventually take a time out. [To this end I have put the dog in another room for a spell - when he quits down, let him out. If he repeats the behavior, back he goes]. Jan continues "The dog will signal its resistance is over by relaxing or walking off and lying down. The important thing now is that nothing happens for at least five minutes." The Dog Listener, pp 58-59. This works not just for separation anxiety, but for uncontrolled greeting of guests as well. |
| Thanks for that info George. I always have the 5 minute rule in the back of my mind. I used to rush right in to the kitchen because I was afraid that Barney would have to go right then after having been inside all day, plus the excitement of me coming home. I don't do that anymore, but either way, he's never been crazy when we come home. He just comes over to us and says hi...no jumping or crashing then.
Would this 5 minute rule work for meal times? We've tried taking his food up for a bit when he goes crazy but it doesn't stop it next time, even if we consistently do it. The thing is, he hardly ever acts crazy when my husband feeds him, which I know is a dominance thing, but I really don't know what to do about that. I don't want to feed him his kibble piece by piece. I try not to let him push me around, but he's nearly as big as me. Like last night: I let Barney out for last call. He did not want to come back in. Usually I just have to open the door and call him and he'll come. But not lately. He'll just go about what he's doing and ignore me. Sometimes I'll turn off the outside lights, thinking he'll come to the door then--he won't. And last night my husband was hearing this whole exchange...the Barney come heres...for like 10 minutes. He said to just go out there and get him. Thing is: I can tell when he'll growl at nip at me, and he was acting that way last night...he'll be perfectly fine but if I go to grab his collar he'll snap at me. My husband says I need to show him who is boss...but I don't want to get a bite in the process, and I know it might be headed that way... |
| The 5 minute rule works great whenever our seepies go crazy for attention. It's difficult sometimes because they like to bark, push and do anything in their power to get your atention, but if you manage to do that, you have a well behaved sheepie.
Also, I vote for excercise too. Our home is under renovation and expansion. We have workers all day and I was getting ready for a lot of noise and destruction, but we play with them every day when we come for lunch and from work and that has reduced their anxiety to very manageable levels. 20 minutes romps and fetch sessions will do wonders for an anxious dog. |
| Mealtime: When you put the food down, does he eat first then get excited - if so then try to ignore him; leave the room if necessary until he calms down. Then when you return, give him no attention for 5 min. If he goes crazy before he eats, remove the food until he settles down.
Coming in from outside: My Barney has started that lately. He'll come to the door, when I open it he walks away. I have begun enticing him in with his favorite treat. First showing it to him and then dropping it on the floor away from the door so he has to come in to get it. Once he got used to that routine, I kept the treat in my hand. When he came I make him sit facing me as in a recall, then give him the treat; my next step will be to wait till he comes in, then get a treat for him. At each step, I praise him profusely and pet him before he gets the treat. Eventually I'll skip the treat and just give his the praise. I may have mentioned the Maggie is still somewhat defensive on occasion when I reach for her collar - remember as a rescue she had been tied up 24/7. Usually a slight nudge to her rear end, like you do when you approach a horse, reminds her I'm her friend, and simultaneously reach for he collar presents no problem. However on occasion she will curl her lip and show her teeth. When that happens I gently wrap my hand around her upper jaw and with my thumb and fingers push her lips between her upper and lower her teeth so that she know if she bites down she'll bite herself. She immediately calms down and accepts me as dominant. If you're leary about trying this, do it with a thick leather work glove on. However if you're really afraid he bit you, better to avoid the situation; if he bite you, you loose your dominant position. I think all these suggestions from us may work in some situations, but if after some persistance on your part they don't, get the professional help of a behaviorist or trainer. The money will be well spent. |
barney1 wrote: .......He is usually ok until I turn on the water to wash off the spoon...it is so weird. If I look at him he is just waiting there, not even moving, waiting for me to turn on the water so he can bark and run and growl... it is very odd.
Have you considered "NOT" turning on the water until his meal time is over? Sounds to me like he's associating the water with "FUN". Do you have a spray nozzle at the sink? If so, have you considered spraying him in the face when that behavior starts? (Just a little something to catch him off guard - to distract him) Or, has someone already done that, and he enjoyed it, such as with the outside hose and now when he hears the water he associates it with that? I know mine would run, jump, play and try to catch the water in their mouths when we sprayed them with the hose (or, was trying to just use the hose). Just pulling at straws here. Good luck. |
barney1 wrote: lol--he probably does! But we're not stooping to Elissa's level and buying a wife for him yet...
(see dogs in trouble, young female in tehachapee thread if confused) Hey!!!! I didn't buy Pepsi a wife. I got Rags for Billy because he has to put down Harley. Billy happened to be right besides me when I was reading the post. He said that's not very nice and it's not true. lol I was going to adopt Sheppie a male... so there 
Rags just came along at the last minute and Sheppie was still unavailable. I also knew a female dog would be more loving towards her Daddy. Besides Sheppie had just gotten neutered and might have been territorial. Don't worry Steph.... I still love you....and Rags sends kisses to Barney |
| I know Elissa! I was just kidding!
Ooh, Rags sends kisses to Barney? He likes that!! He says, How you doin' to Rags... |
| Awww you guys are so great! A little misunderstanding like that could cause a flame war on other forums.
Thanks |
Ron wrote: Awww you guys are so great!
A little misunderstanding like that could cause a flame war on other forums. Thanks Ron, We are Sheepie people and we have wonderful senses of humor. I knew Steph was kidding.... Of course Billy insisted that I get the facts straight. lol |
Poor Panda....she never got the "joey" from barney....looks like she might have competition....  |
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