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Post by milliepup04 on Mar 7, 2015 12:32:03 GMT
Millie's been acting really strange the last week or so. On walks, she's been barking at everything she sees. Normally there's the odd dog she barks at but this is everything. Also, she's not been doing any of her tricks properly either. When we've been doin the cups and the hoops, she messes around before she does it properly. She chewed up one of the cups and kept throwing the hoops in the air. After this messing around, she did it properly. Today, I thought it would be nice to get the mountain board out, but again, all she did was act stupidly like she couldn't do anything. When she eventually did do it, it was at snail pace. It's not even like she's fed up of doing the training because we haven't done much and it's the barking too. She knows it annoys me because she acts all soppy afterwards. Could she be doing it just to wind me up? Or could it be that if the hadn't been spayed she'd be in season now? Does anybody have any ideas? She's completely driving me mad at the moment!
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Post by smilesbetter on Mar 7, 2015 17:58:52 GMT
Has her diet changed at all?
Sorry. To hear she is being like this, my first thought was "sounds like someone's getting her season" as Rosa is similarly being a complete pain at the moment and she is in season (no barking thankfully, just terrible on the least, short attention span, obsessed with boys, then randomly moody and depressed looking haha), but if it's not a season then a change in diet would be my next guess. I don't know what you feed, but a lot of dog foods can be quite taxing on the digestive system which can in turn affect behaviour and attention span in so many ways.
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Post by bextull on Mar 7, 2015 18:22:00 GMT
She could be displaying behaviours similar to that of a bitch in heat. It's rare but it does happen.
I don't think that she's doing this purposely to wind you up. Dogs do what they enjoy and what works. It's much more likely that she's doing it because she finds it more fun than what you're offering than it is that she's doing it because wants to annoy you. Acting soppy afterwards doesn't really have anything to do with her knowing that she's annoyed you as a direct result of her behaviour. It sounds more like appeasement because she senses that you are annoyed at her but not necessarily because of what she has done.
Obviously a visit to the vet is always recommended to rule out anything serious. But otherwise I think I'd be inclined to give her a break with the training for a while. Rather than trying, getting annoyed and then risking bad habits starting.
If you want to keep doing the training instead then the very basics only, ignoring unwanted behaviour - not getting annoyed or frustrated, just ignoring, dont say anything or even look at her until she stops - when she does stop, give some praise ask her for what you want. Plenty of praise when she does do what you want and then end it on a good note.
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Post by milliepup04 on Mar 7, 2015 19:36:10 GMT
Thanks! I didn't think about diet, although it hasn't changed, maybe she has eaten something different. I'll have to investigate! It does sound like she's showing the same symptoms as Rosa though.
Maybe we'll give the skateboard a rest for a while. She was happy to do everything else today - really eager - just not that. When she did do something, I've given her loads of praise and been throwing treats everywhere!
I'll have to see how she carries on, if she keeps acting like this it'll be a trip to the vet to rule out any medical issues.
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Post by smilesbetter on Mar 7, 2015 21:06:32 GMT
Have you got a new type of treat then? Could be as simple as that haha.
Well, if she's having a phantom season then I feel for you - Rosa is both wonderful and cuddly, and also a complete pain when she's in season haha. She's great in the house, but on walks or outdoors in general... Arghhhhh!!!!
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Post by milliepup04 on Mar 7, 2015 21:28:48 GMT
She has been having some chews she hasn't had before... I hope it isn't, but thanks for the warning!
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Post by smilesbetter on Mar 7, 2015 22:11:52 GMT
Well I'd check out what the chews are made of. Seems stupid, but I mean I noticed even a rodent salt stone had a colourants in it today, colourants of course are E numbers and can have huuuuge effects on the health, as you might know for example parents are encouraged to avoid E numbers as they cause huge behavioural difficulties and shortened attention span. So, if the chews Millie has been having have colourants in them, then taps simple and ridiculous as it sounds, that could be the cause of your problems. And that's only one of the things the chews could contain that could cause a behavioural change.
Just a guess though, and if it carries on I'd go to the vets just in case there is anything wrong with her. Better to be safe than sorry! I'm just really, really distrusting of dog foods haha, but I have reason to be.
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Post by milliepup04 on Mar 7, 2015 22:38:10 GMT
Thanks! I'll have a check tomorrow! Yeah, if it carries in ill get her checked over, just to be sure. My favourite vet's leaving though - she's going back to Germany! Fortunately there's still the nice man there!
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Post by BorderTerrier on Mar 8, 2015 10:44:28 GMT
Hope Millie gets back to normal soon.
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Post by milliepup04 on Mar 8, 2015 11:26:03 GMT
Thanks! She's still being just as bad today. We saw a little dog on our walk this morning. We'd never seen it before so she had no bad memories with it or anything. It was on the other side of the road but she still went mad. Just been outside with her to do some jumping and considering how she normally is she wasn't as keen. She flew around wagging her tail after I'd hyped her up a bit but then we went to do it again and she just stood there. She's just being very temperamental with what she's doing. Also, she had a male Newfie chase her down the road last week. We'd walked past it and it pulled back. The man said 'it's a girl isn't it' so I'm thinking possibly it is a phantom season.
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Post by smilesbetter on Mar 8, 2015 16:22:37 GMT
Well if I were you, I'd stop the training for a bit as you don't want to get any bad habits forming. Also really focus on keeping it positive going past other dogs, get the big value distractions out haha.
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