My bitch is acting weird

Associate
Joined
7 Nov 2004
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299
Hi all,

Recently my dog has started living with me in my new rented apartment.

Originally as a young pup to adulthood she lived in this area. But my family moved away and I was temporarily homeless at the time so my dog lived with my mum in the country.

Anyway now I have a place that allows pets she's been with me since September 2013.

The problem is my place has no Garden and we're surrounded by concrete. My dog is incredibly fussy about going toilet on the concrete and demands grass 99% of the time.

This is a real pain in the arse for me. I will walk her around the block in the morning (when I KNOW she needs to go) and we will walk the whole circuit and she still hasn't gone and we're now back home.

What I've also noticed is she holds her urine when we do walk on grassy places and empties her bladder out in stages like she wants to mark 100 different spots. I know she has NO trouble in emptying everything at once because occasionally she will do this on concrete if she really needs to.

Anyway recently she's started acting even weirder. She pants a lot and shakes/trembles and always wants my attention.

When I'm on the PC like now she demands she sits curled up at my feet under the desk near all the cables which is really annoying / restrictive and dangerous.

When I tell her to go away to a new spot she just stares at me and disobeys me which results in me losing my temper because she's being defiant and I man handle her to move.

Today she left her dinner (meat which she normally scoffs) halfway through walked to the other side of the room and began watching me, panting and shaking.

As soon as I show her some attention or ask her whats wrong she comes to my feet again.

She's at my feet right now and this time I've just let her stay against what I want and she's quiet and calm, no more panting etc?

Can someone please help me because this kind of behaviour is not what I want and I'm finding her really irritating.

For some reason as well she's recently stopped chasing balls that I throw for her on fields.

She will do it twice and then stop. She's not injured in any way.
 
Associate
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Location
Darwen
Hi all,

Recently my dog has started living with me in my new rented apartment.

Originally as a young pup to adulthood she lived in this area. But my family moved away and I was temporarily homeless at the time so my dog lived with my mum in the country.

Anyway now I have a place that allows pets she's been with me since September 2013.

The problem is my place has no Garden and we're surrounded by concrete. My dog is incredibly fussy about going toilet on the concrete and demands grass 99% of the time.

This is a real pain in the arse for me. I will walk her around the block in the morning (when I KNOW she needs to go) and we will walk the whole circuit and she still hasn't gone and we're now back home.

What I've also noticed is she holds her urine when we do walk on grassy places and empties her bladder out in stages like she wants to mark 100 different spots. I know she has NO trouble in emptying everything at once because occasionally she will do this on concrete if she really needs to.

Anyway recently she's started acting even weirder. She pants a lot and shakes/trembles and always wants my attention.

When I'm on the PC like now she demands she sits curled up at my feet under the desk near all the cables which is really annoying / restrictive and dangerous.

When I tell her to go away to a new spot she just stares at me and disobeys me which results in me losing my temper because she's being defiant and I man handle her to move.

Today she left her dinner (meat which she normally scoffs) halfway through walked to the other side of the room and began watching me, panting and shaking.

As soon as I show her some attention or ask her whats wrong she comes to my feet again.

She's at my feet right now and this time I've just let her stay against what I want and she's quiet and calm, no more panting etc?

Can someone please help me because this kind of behaviour is not what I want and I'm finding her really irritating.

For some reason as well she's recently stopped chasing balls that I throw for her on fields.

She will do it twice and then stop. She's not injured in any way.

Im sure she is sorry for inconviencing you so much i mean who wouldnt be upset about being forced to live in some crap hole with someone who doesnt care after being in a loving home in the countryside?? I wonder what could be wrong with her. Honestly some people shouldnt have pets
 
Man of Honour
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It sounds like she's just not enjoying the change in surroundings, it's going to be a massive shock for a dog to go from being in the countryside with plenty of greenery and I imagine quite a quiet atmosphere to moving back into an apartment in a concrete jungle.
Also you getting angry with her will not help.
 
Soldato
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14 Dec 2013
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2,589
You should not lose patience with an animal because it is distressed.
A dog cannot convey its emotions or tell you what is wrong like a human, I don't mean to state the obvious but it easy to forget this.

Best advice is to consult your vet or a dog behaviour expert. She may be anxious about being moved from a home with open gardens and country surroundings to a more built up area. Taking her back to your mum's and seeing if she settles there could also be worth a try.
 

4T5

4T5

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Sounds to me like she is becoming Owner obsessed which is quite tough to deal with. If I am right then you will need to start mixing her with other dogs. Does she mix much at the mo ?
When she does her business what are her stools like ? How strong is her urine ? Does she smell ? How many hours is she left alone ? How noisy is the flat when you are not there ? Do you leave music on for her ? Do you Groom her very often ?
 
Soldato
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It does sound like the dog is suffering from some anxiety problem, perhaps wanting for attention.

I would definitely seek the advice of a vet, as the only advice you get here is likely to be speculative without seeing the dog in person.
 
Associate
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Darwen
Sounds to me like she is becoming Owner obsessed which is quite tough to deal with. If I am right then you will need to start mixing her with other dogs. Does she mix much at the mo ?
When she does her business what are her stools like ? How strong is her urine ? Does she smell ? How many hours is she left alone ? How noisy is the flat when you are not there ? Do you leave music on for her ? Do you Groom her very often ?

i imagine she is stuck in the house most of the time on her own, we she does go out its a rushed walk to the nearest bit of green patch so she can goto the toilet then rushed back to the house were the op can roll a spliff and watch jeremey kyle?
 
Soldato
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has she been spayed? This could be a phantom pregnancy brought on by an environment change.

No point having a go at the OP, he is probably trying his best, says he throws balls on fields etc etc, dogs can be irratating, I've had mine for 10 years and she is my whole world, but still can be a pain in the backside when she starts her nesting and attention routine (and we have moved house 6 times, she has had to spend long periods with my parents when I have been away and goes through a kind of phantom pregnancy, or similar symptoms, every time about 6 months after the event)
 
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Caporegime
Joined
22 Nov 2005
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45,167
I'd take the dog to the vets for a check up.

in my experience when pets start acting funny it's because something is wrong and they are asking for help. even cats do it.

one of my cats had cystitis and started constantly purring and bugging me all the time and doing that thing like they are trying to get milk from their mother with their paws.

I thought nothing of it , the cat then started just laying on the floor in high traffic areas of the house having given up on me.
a few days later the cat started sleeping in the litter tray just peeing and not moving from the spot.

he got drained at the vets and some tablets for the infection.

made a full recovery.

had another cat with an enlarged heart that started doing the same thing almost but it would just lay down on a spot and struggle for breath, stupidly we left the cat overnight rather than trying to find a vets open late.

the next morning the cat was laying in it's own pee and frothing at the mouth.

it turns out the cat had an enlarged heart that we didn't know about, it was becoming to weak and for whatever reason the cats lungs started to fill with fluid.
at the vets they stuck 2 giant needles into each side of the cat directly into it's lungs and pulled all the fluid out.

they wanted to keep him over night for a few days but he didn't make it but even if he did they said his lungs would just slowly keep filling up with fluid and he would need constantly draining every couple of days for the rest of his life.

seriously if your pets start acting weird or more loving than usual it's very likely they are trying to tell you something is wrong.

but in your case it might just be that you don't walk your dog enough and spend enough time with it.
do you ever play fetch or anything when you take it for walks? are your walks always a nip around the block as fast as possible like it sounds?
 
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Soldato
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Im sure she is sorry for inconviencing you so much i mean who wouldnt be upset about being forced to live in some crap hole with someone who doesnt care after being in a loving home in the countryside?? I wonder what could be wrong with her. Honestly some people shouldnt have pets

i imagine she is stuck in the house most of the time on her own, we she does go out its a rushed walk to the nearest bit of green patch so she can goto the toilet then rushed back to the house were the op can roll a spliff and watch jeremey kyle?

Wow. Sounds like you've got a bit of an axe to grind.

There's no evidence that the OP is mistreating the dog. Getting irritated/exasperated with her is no indication of how he treats her, he is just explaining how the situation has made him feel.

How about toning down the inflammatory comments and instead formulating a constructive reply with any advice you can offer on the situation, rather than just berating the OP? He obviously does care, or he wouldn't be attempting to seek advice to remedy the situation.

Edit: I just saw the sentence about man-handling her. Definitely not advisable, but it could just mean guiding her away by the collar.
 
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Soldato
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Sounds like typical signs of anxiety and stress. Dogs are incredibly perceptive of people's behavior and to be frank it sounds like she's more of an inconvenience to you than a loved pet as she should be.

Sitting at your feet she wants attention and you tell her to go away, then when she doesn't you shout at her and forcibly move her? You're going to wind up with a dog with major behavioural issues.

Do the right thing and send her back to your mums.
 
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OP
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7 Nov 2004
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299
Thanks for the replies guys.

I take her out twice a week on long walks off the lead through the forest which she loves. I'm very busy in the day and can't dedicate hours an hours towards dog entertainment.

She gets 2 walks a day every day without fail.

I really doubt it has anything to do with the surroundings as she's been here with me since September 2013 and she's just started this weird behaviour this week.

As I said before she grew up here and spent the first 4 years of her life here with no problems at all.

She spent 2 years in the country and being my dog she always got walked twice a day whatever the weather and I know for certain she never got this treatment when living with my mum so if anything she should be happier.

With regards to corrections I don't believe I've done anything wrong.

I've never hit her ever in her life and she tends to get away with murder. She sleeps on my bed at nights and is allowed on the sofa.

But she knows what certain verbal commands mean and where she's been ignoring them and disobeying them this week I've been left with no choice but to physically move her by the scruff as a type of correction for her actively choosing to disobey.

The only thing is what I was saying earlier where she's intent on sitting by my legs under the desk where there's lots of live computer cabling. I tell her to move and she doesn't.

I can't afford the vets at the moment. Things are really tough right now. I'm fairly certain this is anxiety or some emotional issue. She's an incredibly emotional animal, more than most and she's always needed more time and patience than your average dog.

She's 6 years old now and it's only recently (last 2 weeks at most) she's been doing this.
 
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