 Re: Strange behavior and/or depression?!?
[Re: Michael_Wise ]
#241711 - 05/28/2009 07:31 PM |
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hi all i wanted to bring this up again, because my dog's obsession with staring at the door has seemed to increase!
well we went to my parents, in a quiet beachy area, and she seems so relaxed there, and then we come back here to the city, and she seems really on edge all the time. and she won't stop staring at the door! i don't know if she is hearing things outside or what, but i can't hear anything myself. i try to engage her, throw her favorite toy around, and she might get excited to do that for a couple minutes and then go back to the door. i think i have to move!
any ideas of how to break her of this habit? even if i call her name, she will kind of move her head a little like she heard me, but won't even look at me. i think she is a little nuts.
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Re: Strange behavior and/or depression?!?
[Re: Michael_Wise ]
#241715 - 05/28/2009 07:43 PM |
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What times of day is she doing this?
Have you kept a journal of when she does this, and events leading up to it?
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Re: Strange behavior and/or depression?!?
[Re: Aaron Myracle ]
#241753 - 05/28/2009 10:49 PM |
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Alyssa makes a great point. a log would really help.
You don't know her past. It is possible she hears someone else in the building arguing, and it is making her tense. It could even be something like the electrical wires humming or some noise that you do hear but don't realize could be the culprit (like the refrigerator coming on).
I have had similar experience with my dogs being afraid of something and it was something i didn't expect. The problem here is that you don't know what it is, and whatever it is, she isnt getting desensitized to it.
In the mean time there are things you can help her to relax. T-touch/massage, conditioned relaxation, and distraction (i.e. the stuffed Kong Michael menitoned). You can also try tethering her to you so she can't sit by the door and worry all day.
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Re: Strange behavior and/or depression?!?
[Re: Angela Burrell ]
#241777 - 05/29/2009 06:02 AM |
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thanks. good ideas. i will start keeping a log. i usually see her doing it in the evenings, but that's because i am home, and i guess she could be doing it when i am not home either. actually i have recorded her when i am not home, because she has some sep anxiety, so she is sitting by the door, but because more like she is waiting for me to come back.
one thing i know, is that she is terrified of vacuum cleaners, and every now and then when the neighbors vacuum we can hear it, and she freaks. during that time i will turn up the music really loud or try to distract her, but i wonder if she is like "listening" for that sound or something.
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Re: Strange behavior and/or depression?!?
[Re: jenn verrier ]
#241781 - 05/29/2009 06:44 AM |
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I hesitate to even ask this, but have you ever walked up to the door and just opened it?
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Re: Strange behavior and/or depression?!?
[Re: randy allen ]
#241797 - 05/29/2009 08:12 AM |
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hi randy, yes we have... I have gone up to the door, opened it, let her come out into the hallway to see that there is nothing there, and things like that. it almost seems as if she is waiting for someone to come in maybe?
**edit** or maybe like another poster said, she just hears things that i don't
the other thing i didn't mention is, that i have a gate up between the room and the front door (because sometimes when i am not there, she will scratch at the door), but i don't think if this has anything to do with it or not... I think what I might try is taking the gate down this weekend, and see if she still does it.
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Re: Strange behavior and/or depression?!?
[Re: jenn verrier ]
#241813 - 05/29/2009 09:17 AM |
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Yeah yeah,
That be my guess, she's picking up on noises your not hearing. In an apartment complex that's entirely possible, and if she's so reactive to vacuum cleaners it could be what she's suffering from.
Have you worked on her vacuum phobia at all? If for nothing else but your own convience in getting some housework done?
Heck it could be something as beign as a piece of music someone is playing 2 floors up and 10 doors down the hall.
'Who Let The Dogs Out!'
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Re: Strange behavior and/or depression?!?
[Re: randy allen ]
#241817 - 05/29/2009 09:42 AM |
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Also, maybe the HVAC units in the apartment complex sound similar to a distant vacuum cleaner (to the dog).
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Re: Strange behavior and/or depression?!?
[Re: Angela Burrell ]
#241822 - 05/29/2009 10:04 AM |
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huh interesting (about the hvac noise) i live in a small building, and there are no carpets or anything in the halls, so we can literally hear everything out there, and there are a bunch of kids down the hall that run up and down the hall. granted, they aren't doing this 24/7 but maybe those sounds have made her nervous as well.
re: the vacuum, i have tried to do a bit of desensitizing on this, by leaving it out in the room for days on end, then touching it here and there. then moving it back and forth with sound off. BUT, as soon as i start to unravel the power cord, and sometimes even move it, when it is off, she just freaks so badly. this is probably awful of me, but when i do need to vacuum, i put her in the bathroom while she barks up a storm, and then put it away very quickly before taking her back out again. we do need to keep working on it though. i think i need to record the vacuum sounds and play at very low low volume to desensitize her to the sound. sometimes i just need to get some cleaning done though...
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Re: Strange behavior and/or depression?!?
[Re: jenn verrier ]
#241826 - 05/29/2009 10:36 AM |
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I wouldn't put it away, and I'd leave the cord unwound, and I'd touch it without plugging it in, and I'd plug it in but leave it off, and I'd turn it on and off very quickly .... you get the picture.
I had to do this with a service dog who freaked over a motorized wheelchair. I just considered that wheelchair to be part of the furniture for a couple of weeks. Off, no one in it, a room away, and three days later another room, but still off, then someone sitting in it, still off, etc.
It's not like it's work. It was harder to type this. lol
Eventually the dog was getting fabulous treats as I sat in the wheelchair, and so on. And I just kept it at the non-reactive level.
Took about 16 days, as I recall, going verrrrry slowly.
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