# Strange behavior



## Marian (Oct 20, 2009)

I think you have to be careful that by calming him down, you're not actually reinforcing the whining. I read somewhere that if your dog is overexcited or whiny when you arrive home, you are supposed to ignore him. Let him out of the crate without speaking to him, and if he tries to jump on you, tell him off and walk to another room. When he calms down (and he will, eventually), THEN you pet him and give him affection and treats, etc.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

The eye and the behaviour could be related - if he hurt the eye on or in the crate, for example, or if he is just generally feeling off-colour and needy. How old is Desmond now? Has there been anything going on near the house while you were out that might have upset him - noisy renovations or roadworks, for example?

I would keep things calm and low key, avoiding too much fuss when you go out or come back. Perhaps do a few sessions of just going out for a minute or two and coming back again almost immediately, and then leaving for random lengths of time. And I would make sure there was always a really delicious Kong to accompany him into the crate, to ensure the good associations were not lost.

Hope you get it sorted quickly.


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

By touching him at all, even making eye contact while he's doing this, you're reinforcing it. Vegas went through an excited peeing phase, so now the first thing I do it open his crate, ignoring him, run to the door, and let him out. That is the VERY FIRST thing we do, that way he gets his wiggles out. When I let him inside, more ignoring until he calms down. My dogs aren't allowed to make sounds in the house unless we're being robbed, lol, so they never make excited sounds.

Vegas now doesn't go psycho happy when I get him, as least as much, because I'll just give him the cold shoulder until he calms down. Vienna, though with a crappy recall, is SO easy. She was taught to jump on people when they came home, but that stopped very fast (I didn't use the ignore method for that..) now she just gives a happy face and a tail wag. No running, no jumping, just happy to see you.


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## neVar (Dec 25, 2009)

Yes it sounds like he's getting some seperation anxiety- sometimes the stupidest things set it off (I have a friend who's dog decided the kennel was death out of no where- which then ment she was stressed when she was gone- voila starts seperation anxiety- finally figured it out- WHY she thought the kennel was death? It had moved back a couple inches and was over the heat vent which when it blew through the grates scared teh snot out of her (She's not the bravest soul *L*) 

IGNORE HIM> when you get home- he's not allowed out of the crate until he's quiet- dont' look at him NO eye contact NOOOO talking to him. once he's quiet open the kennel with out looking or talking and take him outside to potty. once he's back and quiet then you can quietly say hello. a bit later then you can give him the love and snuggles. 

work on putting him in the crate but not leaving. send him in with a kong while your doing house work etc. also try to mix up your 'getting ready for work' routine. If he signals your leaving at picking up your keys- pick up your keys and carry tem around the house for 15 minutes while getting ready.


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## Birdie (Jun 28, 2009)

Okay, so today is only about the third day of him acting weird... I came home from school and he woo-woo'd/screamed immediately in excitement of me coming home (while in his crate! He rarely eeeever makes noise in his crate). I ignored him, and wandered around the house till he stopped whining, then took him out and he has been fine since.  
I won't leave anything with him in his crate when I leave- I have like a fear of that... I thought about it, but nope. We are gone for seven hours in the day, and I just don't feel safe leaving anything in there with him. There are too many things that can go wrong if I left a Kong/food in there. 

We will definitely be doing classic crate training ASAP. I'll be going right back to the basics! Good thing we did this once already, I already know HOW to do it, it's just a bit strange that I have to again. 
There hasn't been any change to his crate, but I did think that maybe he hurt his eye in there as well. I checked for signs of redness or irritation that I would think generally go along with an injury, and there was nothing there. Still, it's a possibility as to why he's all the sudden afraid of his crate. 
Thanks for the input, guys. I'll keep up with not tolerating his whining when I get home, but I have to say, I LOVE his usual enthusiasm when I get home. There is something great about coming home to a dog that is that happy to see you. I like the little bit of wiggles and woo-woos and cuddles, but I don't want him to get obsessed and stressed with me coming and going. He never has before in his two years, so I don't want him to start now. I still have to wonder WHY this separation anxiety came up so suddenly though. I was with him the same amount as usual over the weekend, and there hasn't been anything out of the ordinary going on, so I can't think of what could have triggered it.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Seven hours is a long time in an empty crate - what could go wrong with a Kong?


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## Birdie (Jun 28, 2009)

Yeah, seven hours is a bit long, I know, but it's the best we can do. Thankfully, summer's coming up and I'll be GONE from this stupid school  Desmond won't need to be crated for more than a few hours at a time after this May, I think. We'll have someone in the house about all the time, instead of my mom and I both out all day. 

A lot of things could go wrong. I know I'm paranoid about it, but frankly, I don't think it's safe to leave anything in a crate with a dog. No collar, no toys, no bed, no food, etc. At most, a crate mat or crate-sized bed is what I would leave in there and ONLY if the dog was not a chewer. I just think it can be a recipe for disaster when nobody is there to see it. Desmond would just eat the food out the Kong, but what if he started knocking it around? His crate is large enough for him to stand and bat a Kong around the way he likes to play, and I worry about him sticking his paw at it and his toes getting caught in the wire crate. He could break his toe, and I wouldn't find him until who knows how many hours later. Or, choke on the food, hurt himself trying to get the Kong if it got stuck in the bars, etc. I just don't think it's safe to leave dogs unsupervised with stuff in a small, enclosed space unsupervised for hours at a time. It makes me incredibly nervous. :\


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## jester's mom (Nov 25, 2008)

I agree with fjm.... seven hours with nothing but the walls to look at is a bit long. This may well be adding to his hyper frustrations when you get home. A kong or other chew would be great for him so he has something to do. One of those large knuckle bones, if he likes them, would give him something to do to help him destress. They are not small so he wouldn't get any bone splinters or anything, mine have them in their crates and worry on them if they need something to do. Just a thought.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I think you need to balance the very, very tiny risk of him hurting himself with a kong or other safe chew (which is vanishingly small) against the risk that the boredom and stress of being crated for that long with absolutely nothing to do is leading to separation anxiety and other problems. Stress is a killer - it underlies many immunity problems and other diseases in humans and dogs. Chewing is a great stress buster for dogs - it keeps their minds occupied, and the pressure on the roof of the mouth releases endorphins, which keep them calm and happy. A totally sterile environment might be "safe", but also so understimulating that the contrast between that and the excitement when you are home is too much for him to cope with.

Personally, I'd give him a Kong, and if I were still anxious, cover the sides of the crate with a small weave mesh so he could not get a paw caught.


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## Jelena (Aug 20, 2010)

I understand why is crating a good thing but have to admit that my dogs aren't crated at all, they have whole flat for themselves, opened doors and toys around, and they are good, just sleeping till we come home (even for 7-8 hours).

Could you try leaving him out of crate, or to make some 'fenced safe area' in house? Maybe he needs more space to feel comfortable for that long time you are gone.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

I'd be uncomfortable crating for that long, too. Esp day after day.

When mine was a pup, I confined him to the kitchen, with bungee cords on all the cabinet doors. Is something like that a possibility? 

I'd be worried about building an aversion to the crate. I knew someone years ago who crated a large-breed pup for far far too long every day and ended up with a dog that COULD NOT be confined in a crate. He could escape from ANY crate. Vari-kennel, wire crate, wire crate with zip ties, didn't matter. To the point where it was dangerous to even try to confine him; he didn't believe he couldn't get out and was lucky not to have been injured.


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## jade cat (Sep 22, 2009)

I would be tempted to get Desmond to your vet for a check up, unilateral tearing could be a sign of a health problem from a bad tooth to problems in the nose or eye it's self.


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## Birdie (Jun 28, 2009)

I know it's a long time... ): I don't like it either. However, he's always been crated for that length of time and has never ever shown any discomfort about it. He loved his crate until 4 days ago. 
Like I said, he won't even need to be in the crate all day for much longer. However, at this very moment in time, we can't leave him out because (again) I feel too uncomfortable about the things around the house he could get into/hurt himself with. I'm thinking this weekend we're going to do some SERIOUS spring cleaning (our house is a tad cluttered, and since I'm not sure of everything that's out there, I don't want to leave Desmond with something potentially tempting and bad. It's our fault the house is the way it is, so I'll be cleaning it as soon as I can to make it more dog-friendly). 
My mom and I both want to leave Desmond out of the crate while we're gone, and I probably will start leaving him up in my room or, if the house is clean, let him have free reign. 

Do you think allergies could cause any sort of behavioral shift? I'm thinking his tear stains might be from allergies since it has warmed up a LOT where I live (it's like in the 70s all the sudden, and I don't know why I didn't think about how the temperature change started just before his eye started looking weird). I'm going to give him some Benadryl and see if that helps his eye, and hopefully it's just allergies. But do you think that, if it is allergies, they could contribute to his sudden stress levels?


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## wishpoo (Sep 12, 2009)

I have allergies and both of my eyes get irritated equally - that is typical for allergy. If only ONE eye tears , than you should look into it more closely IMO.

His change in behavior is sudden and can signal some distress : ((( that can be of physical nature : (.

If it was my dog, I would make Vet. app for him with very detailed and thorough exam.

Hope he gets better soon !!!!!!!:act-up:


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## Birdie (Jun 28, 2009)

Thanks, Wishpoo!!  I'm hoping it's just some random allergies, since I have seen it affect only one eye/ear/foot/etc before. But yeah, it's certainly more common for it to be in both eyes. I hope it's nothing serious, either! If the Benadryl does nothing, I'll talk to the vet, absolutely. And I'll mention the sudden behavior change, also.


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