Post by bextull on Jan 2, 2015 22:17:22 GMT
Okay so it's a fairly new thing (for the past few weeks) but Oscar hasn't been settling down at night anymore. He comes into the sitting room from around 5 or 6 (sometimes earlier) every day and he's there until he goes to bed.
In the past he'd just lie down in front of the fire on his bed and only get up when he needed to go out. But now for I'd say about 4/7 days he just wont settle. He'll get up and walk around the room, he'll open the door and walk around the house, he'll come into my room and then leave again, he'll go into the kitchen or utility room and lie down in there instead or he'll simply stand and stare at you.
He used to have his bed on the sofa but he doesn't anymore because he decided a while ago that he liked it better on the floor. Putting his bed back on the sofa makes no difference, his behaviour is the same.
I thought it might be the heat but even if the fire is not lighting he's the same.
Nothing in his routine has changed. He's walked for 1.5-2 hours every day, all off leash. He's fed once a day at half 6 (he comes and gets me at exactly half 6).
I don't actually sit in the sitting room at night anymore. I stay in my room (generally I'm either in my room, in the garage, in the kitchen or with Oscar). But it's been like this for a long time now so it's not that. I don't put him to bed anymore either as a result of not sitting in the sitting room at night. It's terrible, I know but I just can't stand sitting with my parents every night anymore (crappy tv, mam has this thing about the noise the keyboard makes when you type, and its just not enjoyable). And while I'd be happy enough to just let Oscar walk around and do what he wants, my parents are not and if he does they simply put him out into the kitchen.
I'm pretty sure lack of physical exercise isn't a problem, although maybe mental exercise but I am unsure if that would be a major factor in the odd behaviour? I'd love to give him more exercise but I just don't have the time to walk him any more or for any longer and he will not play with toys anymore (if anybody has any ideas on that front too then do share them).
Maybe it's his feeding time? Although it's been unchanged for weeks. I'd prefer to feed twice a day but he just doesn't get enough food for me to split it properly. And feeding twice a day makes it harder for me to work things out in my head and then I end up overfeeding.
Ideas/opinions/advice/thoughts please.
The other odd stuff includes not catching treats in the air anymore. I know it sounds stupid but he'd always jump to catch treats if you threw them but now if I throw them he cowers away and waits for the treat to fall. They aren't big treats either, we're talking little pieces of dry food.
Actually, if you throw anything at him or in his general direction he cowers away. Even toys. Like soft teddy bears or even a tissue. It makes trying to play with him difficult cause if you even tap him with the toy when to throw it then the game is over.
Some nights when you let him outside to pee he goes into his house and simply refuses to come in. Its fine if its only 9 O clock because you can just leave him there but when it's half 11 and you want him to come in to go to bed you either have to drag him in (and I do mean drag) or the only option is to leave him out for the night (and its cold so I'd rather not).
Basically he's become very jumpy recently. He's always been a bit of a wimp but more so now more than ever. Like, in order for him to get into one of the fields I have to lift up the gate a little so he can crawl under it easier. This doesn't make any noise but every single time he jumps back and takes up to a minute before he goes under it. But we do this nearly every single day and every single time I move the gate but his reaction is still the same.
I don't understand why he's like this all of a sudden cause nothing has happened to him, at least not with me unless something has happened when he was with one of the others and they've just failed to tell me.
So any thoughts on the situation would be appreciated. Even stories of your own because I can't make sense of it.
In the past he'd just lie down in front of the fire on his bed and only get up when he needed to go out. But now for I'd say about 4/7 days he just wont settle. He'll get up and walk around the room, he'll open the door and walk around the house, he'll come into my room and then leave again, he'll go into the kitchen or utility room and lie down in there instead or he'll simply stand and stare at you.
He used to have his bed on the sofa but he doesn't anymore because he decided a while ago that he liked it better on the floor. Putting his bed back on the sofa makes no difference, his behaviour is the same.
I thought it might be the heat but even if the fire is not lighting he's the same.
Nothing in his routine has changed. He's walked for 1.5-2 hours every day, all off leash. He's fed once a day at half 6 (he comes and gets me at exactly half 6).
I don't actually sit in the sitting room at night anymore. I stay in my room (generally I'm either in my room, in the garage, in the kitchen or with Oscar). But it's been like this for a long time now so it's not that. I don't put him to bed anymore either as a result of not sitting in the sitting room at night. It's terrible, I know but I just can't stand sitting with my parents every night anymore (crappy tv, mam has this thing about the noise the keyboard makes when you type, and its just not enjoyable). And while I'd be happy enough to just let Oscar walk around and do what he wants, my parents are not and if he does they simply put him out into the kitchen.
I'm pretty sure lack of physical exercise isn't a problem, although maybe mental exercise but I am unsure if that would be a major factor in the odd behaviour? I'd love to give him more exercise but I just don't have the time to walk him any more or for any longer and he will not play with toys anymore (if anybody has any ideas on that front too then do share them).
Maybe it's his feeding time? Although it's been unchanged for weeks. I'd prefer to feed twice a day but he just doesn't get enough food for me to split it properly. And feeding twice a day makes it harder for me to work things out in my head and then I end up overfeeding.
Ideas/opinions/advice/thoughts please.
The other odd stuff includes not catching treats in the air anymore. I know it sounds stupid but he'd always jump to catch treats if you threw them but now if I throw them he cowers away and waits for the treat to fall. They aren't big treats either, we're talking little pieces of dry food.
Actually, if you throw anything at him or in his general direction he cowers away. Even toys. Like soft teddy bears or even a tissue. It makes trying to play with him difficult cause if you even tap him with the toy when to throw it then the game is over.
Some nights when you let him outside to pee he goes into his house and simply refuses to come in. Its fine if its only 9 O clock because you can just leave him there but when it's half 11 and you want him to come in to go to bed you either have to drag him in (and I do mean drag) or the only option is to leave him out for the night (and its cold so I'd rather not).
Basically he's become very jumpy recently. He's always been a bit of a wimp but more so now more than ever. Like, in order for him to get into one of the fields I have to lift up the gate a little so he can crawl under it easier. This doesn't make any noise but every single time he jumps back and takes up to a minute before he goes under it. But we do this nearly every single day and every single time I move the gate but his reaction is still the same.
I don't understand why he's like this all of a sudden cause nothing has happened to him, at least not with me unless something has happened when he was with one of the others and they've just failed to tell me.
So any thoughts on the situation would be appreciated. Even stories of your own because I can't make sense of it.