Hello, Its been a while since I last posted here. MoJo is now 1 year and 7 days old. She has had issues in the past with not eating and shyness, but she is slowly coming around. Her eating habits are strange to me. She eats just a bite or 2 in the early afternoon. Then at night (3am ish) she eats all of her food. Just the other day after her early am feeding she started to act strange. She came up to the bed and just sat and stared and wanted to be right by me. I mean extremely clingy. This continued until last nite. She didn't eat early this am, but just now (about an hour ago) she started this weird clingy thing again. I mean following me into the bathroom sitting/laying on my feet. Anywhere I stand she is either in between my legs, or right next to me. She actually did this clingy behavior with my husband. She usually isn't like that with him at all. Anyway, does anyone know what this is? She had her 1st heat in February 2008. Maybe she is getting ready for her 2nd?? Or, could it be when she eats she has a stomach ache. I don't know, am I over reacting? Extremely clingy. As I type this she is lying under the desk on my feet. Oh, MoJo is a GSD and my very first pup. I love her so much, but sometimes I just do not understand her.

Any Thoughts????

Thanks,

Susan

Are you leaving dry kibble out for her, as in free-feeding? I think you will find on here that most people think this is not the way to feed a dog. What kind of food do you feed her? Does she have digestive symptoms (bloating, gas, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation)?

The way she is acting reminds me of the way my dog does during thunderstorms. Is there anything special going on at the time the dog acts this way? Thunder, large truck going by, fireworks, airplanes? Noises to scare her?

Hi Susan,

I wouldn't know much about females (only ever had boys), but I would think 4 months wouldn't be enough time between heats. Not to say this isn't related to hormones...

Does Mojo exhibit any other signs while she's acting "clingy"? Like panting, drooling, pacing, etc.? When she starts to act "off", have you given her a little once over to feel her belly for sensitivity/soreness? Has she eaten or drank any water after she skipped last night's meal?

~Natalya

 Quote: natalya zahn

Hi Susan,
When she starts to act "off", have you given her a little once over to feel her belly for sensitivity/soreness?

I feel so much better. The second my pup acts even *slightly* out of the norm, the first thing I do is run my hand along her belly to see if it feels hard, and if she displays discomfort.

If this were my dog, I'd have the vet give her a good once over.

If the vet gave the dog a clean bill of health, I'd stop free-feeding her.

Put the food down in the morning, and call your dog to the bowl. If she doesn't eat it within 15 minutes, pick it up. The same thing in the evening. Put the food down, 15 minutes later, pick it back up. If the dog is still actively eating (actually has her head IN the bowl, chewing and what-not), at the 15 minute mark, give her a few more minutes, but the second she walks away, the bowl gets picked up.

The first few meal times, she'll probably be confused, especially when she returns to her bowl and finds it gone... but she'll learn.

Then, I'd make sure the dog was getting plenty of exercise, and a lot of obedience work. A tired dog is a happy dog, and the obedience work will likely satisfy your dogs desire to be near you and receive affection/attention.

It is possible she's going into another heat. Both of my girls are. One had her last heat in January, the other in December. Usualy mine act loopy just as you described. Distances between Heats can be really odd in dogs that don't eat well.

Off topic:

Mod note:

Your photo signature is gigantic; please re-size it.

It forces many people to scroll way right on any thread you post to.

Thanks!

In the event it's heat related...
when my girl is about to go into heat, she stops eating for up to 2 days or so. I still maintain the same 15 min to eat thing, but offer her a few more chances throughout the day to eat, and I tone down what she gets to be easier on her stomach when she does finally eat.
As for refusing, a healthy dog will not starve itself to death. I can truly say this (now) because I've seen it. The ex-fighter that I have seemed to have every intention of starving himself when I first got him, and I went through h*ll trying to get him to eat. He seemed to have been programmed to eat only after fighting. Eventually his hunger won out and I was able to work him through it.
Free feeding will help to eliminate that issue, and after 2-3 missed meals, the dog will learn to eat or lose it.
Also - When dealing with a nervous or clingy dog, try not to coddle or fuss over the dog. The more you give affection when the dog is in that type of mindset, the more strength you give to that mindset. You may be saying, it's OK, there's nothing to worry about, but what it comes across to the dog is it's OK to act scared. Whenever you give attention, you are reinforcing whatever behavior the dog is doing at the moment you give the attention.