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Post by belladad on Dec 15, 2013 22:00:53 GMT
Bella, who is soon to be 17months old, has loads of exercise; a good mix of off lead - on her own and with other doggy pals, her 'mum', my OH, takes her jogging in the countryside - she gets played with at home. Diet is fine. But in the evenings now, it's as if she can't settle - she'll got for a lie down, get up, lie down again, 'ask' to get on the sofa beside me, climb down after ten minutes, then sit right in front of me with that "hypno-dog" stare, whilst 'speaking Golden'. She doesn't want out to empty her tanks....she can't speak 'human', I can't speak 'Golden'. I've felt her all over, no lumps or bumps, she doesn't seem to be in discomfort. It's when she's lying next to me, staring intently at me, am I missing something? Do others have a "failure to communicate?  |
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Post by migsy on Dec 15, 2013 23:20:40 GMT
Perhaps she is just being 'clingy'. Try saying 'what do you want Bella'? while spreading your arms out..she may lead you to what she wants with a bit of luck.Works with Skip if he wants a biscuit,he takes us to his food cupboard,or to a room where he has left a toy.
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Post by orpheous87 on Dec 15, 2013 23:37:20 GMT
Pepper is fairly easy to understand and we're pretty good at working out what each of her looks means. Ellie, on the other hand, is a totally different story. She'll sometimes start crying for apparently no reason, and we can't for the life of us work out what she wants. Often it's because she wants something that Pepper has (or is lying near), or it's because she wants to lie on the settee, but Pepper is there. This resolves itself because when we ask her "Do you want to go out?", Pepper will jump up from wherever she's laid and run to the door which means Ellie is free to do what she wanted to do. But because this crying can mean anything, depending on what's going on, we have such a hard time working her out!
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Post by McCuddles on Dec 16, 2013 0:12:15 GMT
Dotty either wants ball or nothing so she is pretty easy to figure out. Having said that when she was younger we had a hard time teaching her to settle down and relax and to switch off. From what you've said though Bella has been good at this before and the problem has only arisen recently? If you are confident that she does not need to toilet, she has plenty water and been plenty walked during the day I would suggest that perhaps she needs to learn to relax again and be happy to be with herself (hope this makes sense) rather than always look to you for guidance. Have a look at some past issues of Your Dog, there are some good examples of teaching your dog to settle down. Good luck  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2013 7:56:03 GMT
Dotty either wants ball or nothing so she is pretty easy to figure out. Having said that when she was younger we had a hard time teaching her to settle down and relax and to switch off. From what you've said though Bella has been good at this before and the problem has only arisen recently? If you are confident that she does not need to toilet, she has plenty water and been plenty walked during the day I would suggest that perhaps she needs to learn to relax again and be happy to be with herself (hope this makes sense) rather than always look to you for guidance. Have a look at some past issues of Your Dog, there are some good examples of teaching your dog to settle down. Good luck This was my first thought too when I read the original post |
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Post by belladad on Dec 16, 2013 10:07:10 GMT
Dotty either wants ball or nothing so she is pretty easy to figure out. Having said that when she was younger we had a hard time teaching her to settle down and relax and to switch off. From what you've said though Bella has been good at this before and the problem has only arisen recently? If you are confident that she does not need to toilet, she has plenty water and been plenty walked during the day I would suggest that perhaps she needs to learn to relax again and be happy to be with herself (hope this makes sense) rather than always look to you for guidance. Have a look at some past issues of Your Dog, there are some good examples of teaching your dog to settle down. Good luck I think you might just be right here McCuddles and gillykat; operant conditioning but on whose part?! When she goes from me to her mum alternately, we both feel we 'have' to do something, e.g. play tug. Who is a clever dog then?  |
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Post by McCuddles on Dec 16, 2013 12:18:49 GMT
You have to have a cold heart to resist those big eyes and expectant eyes lol but sometimes it does them good to be ignored for a while (in the nicest possible way!) Perhaps get her to settle down on her rug with a kong or one of these..... www.amazon.co.uk/Kong-10011-Goodie-Bone-Medium/dp/B0002AQPA2/ref=sr_1_4?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1387196065&sr=1-4&keywords=Kong+boneYou can get them in extreme too if she's a strong chewer. Dotty loves this and gets chicken/sausage/gravy bone or whatever's handy (peanut butter or drizzle of honey too!) in them to keep her occupied, sorry I rabbit on  Good luck! Ps Bella will always be the clever dog, she just lets you think that you are in charge  |
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Post by gladys on Dec 16, 2013 13:59:20 GMT
Yeah it's called "Trying it on", Cooper does it too.  He will try anything for one extra play. It took a while to catch on but in the end two words said firmly "settle down" seems to stop it, he then chooses a lap and off to sleep he goes. |
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He will try anything for one extra play.
