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OT - dog behaviour

GoobieGoobie Posts: 3,515
edited February 2011 in Trying to Conceive
We got Indy in October from the SPCA. He is 95 pounds of big, dumb, lovable goof. he has always played rough when given the opportunity, but has been gentle about being rough if that makes sence. Starting on Friday, he pooped in my living room. We thought maybe it was because we were talking about going out, and he thought he was going too, got all excited, and then we went grocery shopping and did not take him.

Friday night we went out for coffee,and AGAIN he pooped on the floor.

Saturday no pee or poo on floor, but when we went out we left him in the kitchen again with the baby gate up.

Sunday was my neices birthday, so we were at my sisters for a few hours in the evening, came home smelling like 2 different dogs. Floor was clean when we got home (we confined him in the kitchen, and he had access to the bathroom too, one of his favorite places to lay!) That night he pooed three times and peed twice on the living room floor while we were sleeping.

Last night we made him sleep in our room with us, I let him out for half an hour before I had to go to the bus stop (I work for the school district as a crossing guard). Was out for less then an hour, came home to more poop and a HUGE pee on the living room floor. I told him "bad dog, get outside" and he ran the other way. I went over to him, reached for his collar to lead him out of the room, and he bit me :*( Took the skin off my knuckle and around the nail on the first finger on my right hand, it bled quite a bit and now it is all swollen and bruised (an hour later). He will stay outside or in the kitchen all day, I can't trust him around my daycare dude today.

Why would he suddenly start this behaviour? Will I have to put him down? Take him back to the SPCA? He doesn't get to off-leash run as much as I would like him too (twice a week for an hour a time) but we do walk him daily, and play outside where he can run and jump on his tether. No changes in food or anything either, and the poops are huge and solid, so it is not like he is showing sign of intestinal upset. I am so upset by this, I love this beautiful lug, but with little ones around, this needs to stop or I have to re-home him :*(
tt125c22.aspx

Need to update a ticker, Silas Anthony Jordon born Oct 11, 2013. 6th baby, so much love!

Comments

  • cocobaycocobay Posts: 1,318
    edited November -1
    Have you taken him to the vet? Is he up to date on all of his vaccines? Has he been in contact with any other dogs? Dogs don't just start acting out for no reason. There has to be something behind this that has caused him to break all of the house training rules. If he is going inside that means he is not going outside. Maybe allow him more time outside. Maybe he can't control it. My best bet would be to take him to the vet to get a physicians oppinion. If they don't see anything wrong maybe get a trainer to come work with him. I really am against putting dogs down unless there are no other options or the dog is sick and is suffering and will never recover. If you don't want him and can't handle the special needs he may require, I would suggest bringing him back to the SPCA, they will find him a suitable home again.
  • GoobieGoobie Posts: 3,515
    edited November -1
    Thanks Courtney. he has an appt with Dr Rob tomorrow afternoon, they were really cool about getting him in as soon as possible. We spend at least an hour walking every day, and he spends as much time outside as he wants in the backyard, where he IS tethered, but on a 40 foot tether, so lots of room. I HATE the thought of putting him down. He is up to date on all his boosters, and the only other dog he has been around is Wish, who is also up to date on things. Receptionist at teh vet said sounds like maybe separation anxiety, but they'll check him out tomrorow. And yes, first option if we cannot get him back to his well-behaved-but-dumb usual self would be to re-home him. He's an odd one, he's big and needs lots of room, but thinks he is a lap dog and loves to sit on our laps or lay with me on the couch and cuddle... I just love him so much!
    tt125c22.aspx

    Need to update a ticker, Silas Anthony Jordon born Oct 11, 2013. 6th baby, so much love!
  • chandraandamandachandraandamanda Posts: 676
    edited November -1
    Our dog does just start acting like that sometimes (not the biting, but the going potty in the house). Granted, it isn't really for no reason. What we have figured out is that if things get hectic or she hasn't had much attention, she avoids going poop outside, then goes in the house. The thing is--once she does it it ruins her outside potty routine and she keeps going in the house. We then have to make sure she is within eye-sight when we are home and put her in her crate when we are gone until she has consistently done all of her business outside for a few days. Then she stops going in the house. I don't know about the biting though. No matter what, that wouldn't be okay here either. What we love about our dog is that she will take anything from us or the kids--or other people's kids. Any obvious changes in your household? Good luck at the doggy Dr. I hope things work out.
    theowlandtheoctopusblog.blogspot.com
    Amanda and Chandra
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  • Autumn&RyanAutumn&Ryan Posts: 157
    edited November -1
    Hmmm....it really does sound like some sort of separation anxiety but biting is not ever okay! Our dog has only ever pooped on the floor when she had intestinal issues going on and also with the one heat cycle she had before we got her fixed. I think the hormones of going into heat made her weird and she had an entire week of accidents. Never again, we got her fixed the next month.
    I don't really have any suggestions I just wanted to say good luck. I hope you can fix the problem without having to re-home him :(
  • Hopeful2010Hopeful2010 Posts: 134
    edited November -1
    Ha, I literally just got done shampooing the spare bedroom carpet due to our big lug. I woke up this morning and could swear I could smell something but thought it was in my bedroom and could not find it. I looked all around and thought it must of been gas from him or something. Went downstairs a few hours later and walked passed the spare bedroom and glanced in and there it was. It happens very rarely but every once in a while it does happen. Usually some intestinal issues or didn't go out at the right time before bed. We have 4 dogs and let them all out right before bed and we kennel them all except our biggest one. If they eat to late in the evening and haven't been given enough time for food to make its way through it happens.

    Not too long ago, like maybe 2 months all 4 dogs were extremely sick with both ends. We were constantly shampooing carpets, laying a tarp down under all kennels and such to catch as much as possible. I was a shampooing fool I felt like. We even had (TMI, for some) an absolute explosion out the bottom end where it went about 4-5 feet and hit the wall. Anyways the vet said something common amoungst them all, it had to be. So we fed pure pumpkin and yogart to balance out their insides and switched food. Immediately everyone was fine. We have contacted the dog food company and they will not answer questions and are not willing to test the food for what could of caused it.

    Anyways, there are so many things that can cause it from illness to behavior issues. Hope your vet has some suggestions.
  • rharris80rharris80 Posts: 43
    edited February 2011
    I agree with the separation anxiety. My dog once tore our $2400 sofa one day when we accidently left him out - in addition to the cloud of cotton in our living room, were several piles of poop and pee. Talk about anxiety! We were very upset when we got home and when we went to put him outside, he too show some aggression. But I put that in check right away.

    Crate training can be very beneficial for a dog with separation anxiety. It actually becomes their space to relax. Whenever my older dog sees us getting ready to go, he'll go right to his crate and lay down. We make it very comfortable for him. :-)

    Also, another great way to establish your alpha role is to tether the dog to you while in the house. So where ever you go, he goes. This will also help you keep an eye on him while in the house. He has free roam while outside and if he's not tethered to you inside, then he's in the crate. This worked wonders form my younger dog, Bella when we were trying to house train her.

    Edited to add - what time do you feed your dog? How often do you feed him? We had to change our younger dog's feeding schedule because she couldn't hold in her poop throughout the day. Maybe he's having a problem with that? Also - when he is outside, does he eat the grass? If so, this is a sign of an upset tummy.
    Becky
  • Autumn&RyanAutumn&Ryan Posts: 157
    edited November -1
    Also, I wanted to mention that sometimes switching foods can cause intestinal problems that may not be obvious. They don't always get the big "D". We feed our dog Eukanuba for Labrador retrievers (yup, she's a lab) or Nutro Max.....always dry and always in the morning. She doesn't get table scraps unless it is a dry ham bone. She also only gets water to drink, never milk or any other dairy products.
    My husband hunts and she once got a hold of an elk leg. OH..MY..GOSH....let's just put it this way, she was SICK for days and made us so sick she had to stay in the garage due to the explosive a** syndrome (that is what I call it anyway) and HORRIBLE gas! Since then he skins his kills elsewhere, never here where she could get ahold of any part of the carcass!
  • cocobaycocobay Posts: 1,318
    edited November -1
    We feed our dogs Science Diet and will never feed them anything else. My vet told me that anything sold in Walmart is bad for your dog, and anything advertised on TV is bad for dogs. All of our dogs have super sensitive stomachs and would never be allowed to have table scraps. Science Diet is pretty steep in price about $40 for a 35lb bag and they go through that in a week, granted we have 3 dogs. You can only buy it at pet stores or the vet's office but it is totally worth it to know they are healthy.
  • GoobieGoobie Posts: 3,515
    edited November -1
    OK, gonna try to answer all I can here. My boys eat nothing but holistic, organic, whole food dog food. It is a salmon and fruit mix I can buy from walmart, but it is what the vet and the groomer reccomend. It is also the only one that doesn't make me little dog barf, and since they share food, Indy is on it too, and seems to not only like it, but he doesn't get sick or the runs from it. Very little people food... sometimes some leftover rice or vegetables, maybe once a week. Dog cookies a few times a week, not daily. I tried Science Diet since that is what came with Indy from the SPCA, and it made him throw up and have runny poops, which is why I switched him to the same food Wish is on.

    I am thinking crate training will be one of our first things to try. I made him an appointment with Dr Rob tomorrow afternoon to rule out anything medical, and until then I will just watch him closely. The few times we have went out and left him confined to the kitchen he has not pottied in the house, it is only when he is left in the living room. He pees and poops in the same places in the living room... thankfully on the hardwood, so I pick up, wipe up, wipe with cleaner, then mop first with cleaner/bleach water, then with vinegar water, then with clean water (I am anal about my floors being clean, I mop 2x a day even when there is no dog yuck on them!) When he pees some runs under the couch, so I move the couch every time to wash under it, and I used Oxy-Clean to wipe down the couch in case there was any splash on it (the kind you use in your laundry, the blue gel stuff). But crate training is not undesireable to me, and I know it can make them feel safe. Wish has no need for a crate, he hates/gets scared in small spaces, so I let him roam free, but I may have to confine Indy when we go out.

    I feed the boys twice a day - half at 11am when I feed my daycare kids lunch, half when we eat dinner at 5pm. They both go out at least twice after dinner, and then again right before bed for at least half an hour (11 ish) Then they both go out from 7-730am when I am getting ready for work (so I can sweep, vaccuum and mop my floors one more time before daycare kids come over!) I do NOT go out with them in the first thing in the morning pee outing, but I am outside with them just about every other time through the day.

    He DID act scared sort of when he bit me... ears were back, tail was down (I think) he had backed into the corner. And I did yell at him, I was mad! I know he is extremely skittish of loud noises, he HATES the vaccuum, a back massager I have, a cell phone on vibrate, anything that buzzes or makes noise like the vaccuum he runs from the room from. Possibly being abused in the past has crossed my mind, Tim and I have talked about it. Wish was very abused in his former home, and I had a LOT of work with him to get to where we are now. With Wish, I knew when i got him he had been abused and his bad behaviour was apparent from day one. With Indy, he has been awesome up till now... I mean, he barks at anything going past the house (and I live on a busy street, so thats bothersome but not a big deal, we're working on it) but has always been gentle. he will jump on Tim when they are playing and swipe at him with his paws, but not when he is playing with me, and will not jump on or swipe at the kids at all... he lets my daycare kids sit on him, will lay down so they can cuddle up to him, and absolutely ADORES my eight year old daughter.

    Change... lots of change in my house all the time. I have my kids 5 days, then they go to their dads for 3 days, this same 8 day rotation for the last year. Then we have Tims son every weekend from saturday morning till Sunday evening. This has been happening since November. Tim works one 13 hour day shift, then has 24 hours off, then works a 36 hour straight shift, then is off/home for four straight days. I have Saturday Sunday off and work 730-5 monday through friday, with other peoples kids in our home.

    Loki - our shelter is a no kill shelter. I know this. If they have to put dogs down for one reason or another they need to take them to a vet, have it signed off... when we were getting Indy in October they had three adorable puppes that were so imbred they were mentally damaged... all three were blind to some degree, one was totally lind and deaf, they were viscious, attacking each other, and all had internal issues as well. They were 4 months then, and the Vet said they had maybe 4 months of living left before their internal organs shut down they were so malformed. But our shelter could not put them down, they actually hd to get ahold of the lady who had brought them in and have her take them to the vet to put them down. She was also charged with backyard breeding. So, I know that if he DOES have to go back to the SPCA he will not be put down. I am hoping to train him, and if that is not possible, then I will try to re-home him to friends who have an acreage.

    So, where I stand right now is I am taking him to the vet, I will try crate training, or at least confinment training until I can get a crate for him. Until then he will be confined to the backyard or the kitchen when I have to go out. Tonight I plan on doing the floors before bed, then gating off the living room so they stay clean so in the morning I can go out with them to make sure he does his business outside before he comes back in... hope it's sunny to sit outside with my coffee! And then when I go to the bus stop in the morning he will stay in the kitchen.

    Thank you to everyone who has responded so far, I have read everything and will re-read throughout the night - right now daycare dude needs me!
    tt125c22.aspx

    Need to update a ticker, Silas Anthony Jordon born Oct 11, 2013. 6th baby, so much love!
  • GoobieGoobie Posts: 3,515
    edited November -1
    UGH thats terrible! Yes, all shelters in our area are no kill shelters, I think the closest one that will put an animal down is about 5 hours from here. not sure about the ASPCA but most Canadian shelters are no kill. It is so sad :(
    tt125c22.aspx

    Need to update a ticker, Silas Anthony Jordon born Oct 11, 2013. 6th baby, so much love!
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