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Post by littlekitty on Aug 19, 2013 9:07:49 GMT
A few weeks ago we had a small electrical fire in the kitchen (dog sleeps here) he woke us up barking and we called the fire services,and now he won't stay in the kitchen alone or when we are out and even
when we are upstairs in the morning, he just barks constantly and tries to get upstairs. We bought him a kennel for outside that he now sleeps in and prefers to be in it when we are out. and at night. Now once the weather turns colder should he be ok to stay in the kennel? We phoned the RSPCA and they said they would put us in touch with a behaviourist, she phoned and told me what I already know( let him stay outside if he happy etc) instead of helping us get him back into the kitchen.
Has anyone experienced this or has any idea how we can get him back in the kitchen, confidently.
We think he may of been an outdoor dog before we got him as he always used to bark and once outside he was ok.
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Post by teegiebear on Aug 19, 2013 9:33:59 GMT
Aww your poor pup must be scared that there's going to be another fire. It will be a slow process of you sitting in the kitchen with him and reassuring him, feeding him in there and taking it slowly.
I'd phone the RSPCA back and tell them how unhelpful the behaviourist was.
As for sleeping outside it depends on the dog breed and the shelter available. I have a friend who's malamute who sleeps outside and was talking to a guy on the train who has 4 Newfoundlands and a lab and his Newfoundlands tend to sleep outside. If they have a good dry warm shelter them it should be ok if they're used to it
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Post by tonib on Aug 19, 2013 11:45:33 GMT
Lynn sorry to hear about your fire. Glad your dog woke you & it got put out. Hope there was not too much damage. How were the cats with it all?
The smell of the smoke, the crackly noise of the fire, the strangers & the resultant wet & smoky atmosphere in the kitchen would really have disturbed your dog, think it would me as well. its no wonder he doesn't want to be in the kitchen. It's still early days & although the smells may have gone as far as our noses are concerned they might not for a dog, especially if you had to do any redecoration which would also have added to the smells.
For the moment I'd still let him sleep outside as he's got shelter but make sure that he gets fed in the kitchen & gets everything he thinks is good there whenever possible. Perhaps Pet Remedy plug-in in the kitchen will help. I'm suggesting the Pet Remedy as its good for the cats as well, where as I don't know how Adaptil (the dog Feliway) & cats works.
I can understand your concerns about winter but can't remember what sort of dog you have as teegiebear says that will have an impact on the advice. Hopefully he will get more confident again. He has readjusted before so may well again
Good luck.
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Post by littlekitty on Aug 19, 2013 13:54:02 GMT
Aww your poor pup must be scared that there's going to be another fire. It will be a slow process of you sitting in the kitchen with him and reassuring him, feeding him in there and taking it slowly. I'd phone the RSPCA back and tell them how unhelpful the behaviourist was. As for sleeping outside it depends on the dog breed and the shelter available. I have a friend who's malamute who sleeps outside and was talking to a guy on the train who has 4 Newfoundlands and a lab and his Newfoundlands tend to sleep outside. If they have a good dry warm shelter them it should be ok if they're used to it he does still eat in there but prefers not to be alone. He has a plastic kennel, large enough for him to move around. Toni, Mary was shut in with us (Buddy was out) and when we open the back door she ran out and the noise of the sirens frightened her a wee bit but she stayed within the garden. Luckily there was no damage as it was just smoke, we got to it in time, but the smell of sulphur was horrible. A few days before the fire the fridge/freezer was making a weird noise and the dog was looking at it in a strange way, so I guess he knew something then. He also hurt his front leg and he's still limping, vet said he badly bruised it.I will try the pet remedy. The vet said he should be ok to sleep outside during winter and so did RSPCA. He is a basset x border collie. |
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Post by lotsofcats on Aug 19, 2013 14:22:35 GMT
That must have been very scary for you all. Thank goodness the dog woke you all up. I think Toni has given you really good advice which I agree with. Even though the vet and the RSPCA say the dog will be okay outside if it was me I would feel a bit mean having him outside in the cold, especially when he could be in the warm. If, after you have tried to get him back in and he still wants to stay out you will just have to make sure he has a very good windproof and waterproof shed and kennel to go in. One of my cats, Toffee, is still an outdoor cat as he hates my dog so he sleeps in my other cats' shed and cat pen in the night and last winter I felt so mean that he was out in the cold, even though he had lived rough the previous winter. I gave him a warm igloo type bed and a heat pad every night. He was shut in the pen but didn't like the shed door shut so I propped that open a little and draped a blanket over the top to stop the draft. Toffee comes in the house in the day when the other cats are out in their pen. We just have to keep the dog locked in the kitchen.
Let us know how he gets on.
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Post by gladys on Aug 19, 2013 15:53:26 GMT
Is there anothe part of the house you could try ready for when the weather turns cold? I guess it all depends on the outside environment?? If you can have a large heated kennel like place similar to where dogs stay when owners are away then out door living in cold weather is fine. If it's just a kennel/house with no heating then may be not?!?  Sorry that probably doesn't help much. |
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Post by caz2golden on Aug 19, 2013 20:03:56 GMT
So sorry to hear about your dogs bad experience. I am sorry I dont have anything to add to the other posts just spending time in the room, then leave for seconds and then build up time he can be left in there for would be my advice. As Glagys put any other room that your dog would be happy to stay in? I dont really have any advice on outdoor living as my two are definitely house mutts! However the below is what I have heard on grapevine. A colleague commented that he got his dog a kennel and he said it was important to have one where it has like a bend in it (double backs on itself) to prevent droughts. Have no idea if this is true but sounds logical! Another has a proper outdoor run with inner area which he beds with strew, sawdust or any other bedding he can think of thats warm which the dog can nest into. Their dog is in fantastic shape  It sleeps out there but is in part of the house during the day. |
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Post by gladys on Aug 19, 2013 22:18:13 GMT
Yeah I've heard of the double back kennels too. Or you can have two flaps for the dog to go through to get in to their sleeping area, one from outside to corridor and then the second to the left or the right in to the sleeping room.
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It sleeps out there but is in part of the house during the day. 
