Winterpaws Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I think I have created a monster. Charlie is our mally x sammy x ???. He's about 7 years old and we have owned him since he was six months old. He has started this new and very annoying habit of wanting to be inside the house all the time. It's probably my fault he is like this.... I work from home and so whenever I am home I generally have the dogs inside with me. About two weeks ago we came home and it looked like he had tried to dig out of his yard and had destroyed part of a fence. We thought maybe a new dog had been in the yard behind us and he had been trying to investigate. But I can see now that it is him wanting to be inside. He is normally mostly like this only on warmer days. But today is not that hot - it would be around 22 outside? I don't want to give in and let him in when he wants because I think that is giving in to him and setting us up for more issues on the days when I have to go to the office or when we want to go out. I cannot leave him inside when we are at work because we have indoor cats and I do not trust him unsupervised with them - plus when I do go to the office we leave very early and come home late so they would not get toilet breaks It is also driving me insane listening to him dong laps of the backyard, scratching at the windows and trying to climb the back fence. All he is doing is working himself up into a frenzy. Thankfully Henry is just ignoring him and not joining in! I'm not sure how to fix the issue other than to ignore him and increase his outdoor time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ons Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 are you sure that he isn't doing this to get to you rather than wanting to be inside? What does he do when you are not at home? Can you spy at him from a neighbour's house and see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 What does he have which can capture his attention outside? What training/walking does he get ?Has he had a good health check? Dogs which are unwell, but not showing active symptoms can be instinctively seeking a secure 'den'/support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winterpaws Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 are you sure that he isn't doing this to get to you rather than wanting to be inside?What does he do when you are not at home? Can you spy at him from a neighbour's house and see? No it seems to only be on days that he perceives it will be hot. This is a summer issue and tends to go away in winter or on really cool days. We've even pretty much stopped using air con inside the house as we thought maybe we needed to desensitize him a bit. I'm almost close to going ans getting his coat clipped off!! The thing is he normally is not affected by the heat at all, he handles it a lot better than the dogue. But because he wants to be in the house on the tiles he is working himself up into a frenzy. It's been going two hours now and as much as I want to bring him in I feel like I will be rewarding his bad behaviour if i do. As soon as he lays quietly on his mat then I might let him in for a small stint and put him back out again I'm worried if I don't nip it in the bud then he will try and actually escape (though I think he would just try get in the front windows then....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winterpaws Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 What does he have which can capture his attention outside? What training/walking does he get ?Has he had a good health check? Dogs which are unwell, but not showing active symptoms can be instinctively seeking a secure 'den'/support. There is nothing really outside that would catch his attention other than the dog he lives with and his bed and a wading pool. He is just stubborn and perceives it to be cooler inside. I just took my laptop and sat outside. It took him about 20 minutes and he finally calmed down. So after a bit I got up and came inside to vaccum. Then I went back out for a bit and when he was calm I let him and the others inside. I think he has just gotten so used to being inside almost 24/7 and so when we do put them out he doesn't want to. On stupidly hot days if we go out then we do leave the aircon on and leave them inside. But only on days that are 35+ I am thinking maybe they need to be out more and to stop him stressing then maybe I can sit out there and work for an hour or two? I really have no idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 What's the coolest place he has access to outside WP? Does he have a paddling pool? I'm thinking if he has access to better ways to cool off outside, this might alleviate his stress. Only other option I can think of is access inside to the laundry only?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 There is nothing really outside that would catch his attention other than the dog he lives with and his bed and a wading pool. Well, perhaps he needs something more to interact with? Damp sandpit? Different toys? trickling water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winterpaws Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 What's the coolest place he has access to outside WP?Does he have a paddling pool? I'm thinking if he has access to better ways to cool off outside, this might alleviate his stress. Only other option I can think of is access inside to the laundry only?? Coolest place is directly outside the house in the "al fresco" area which is concrete with tramp beds for them and it has big shade blinds up but still gets a breeze in from the sides. They also have a paddling pool there as he will dig water on hot days and we need to ensure he doesn't deplete the water supply if we are out. He won't get in it though - he would rather use the water bowls The thing that makes me think it is behavioural rather than actual discomfort is that he will do it as soon as you put out in the morning. So that could be 5 in the morning, 7 in the morning or 9 in the morning. If he thinks it will be a humid/hot day then he starts carrying on - even if the weather is mild and has a nice breeze like today. I can't give him access to the laundry as that is accessed by the yard the little one is in. I don't like to leave the little dog in with the two big boys in case he accidentally gets rumbled. I'd need to move all 3 of them into that yard and it is tiny. (Our yard are separated by fences across the back of the house). I'm going to put him back out again in spurts and maybe work out there for a bit myself. We rarely use our backyards ourselves so maybe if we spent more time out there as well he might not associate it so much as being outside? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Ok... justa surmise....if the behaviour seems to occur more on muggy days ... perhaps... he is sensing the different atmospheric pressure .. a bit like dogs who alert to approaching storms? He may well be very anxious about it, but not know why--- it just happens...and he desperately wants to find somewhere safe? How is he with thunder/lightning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winterpaws Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Ok... justa surmise....if the behaviour seems to occur more on muggy days ... perhaps... he is sensing the different atmospheric pressure .. a bit like dogs who alert to approaching storms? He may well be very anxious about it, but not know why--- it just happens...and he desperately wants to find somewhere safe?How is he with thunder/lightning? Completely fine with storms. Nothing much fazes him. He's just a big boofy lazy boy who hates being outside! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Can you give him a big bone to occupy him while he is outside or are there issues with food with the other dog around? I think he sounds like he needs some more mental stimulation while he's outside. There also sounds like there is some kind of behavioural issue re the weather thing. What about one of those cooling mats? Could you get one of those for him to replicate the cool tiles of inside? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percyk Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I REALLY sympathise ive had that problem...with an old cocker girl who developed anxiety after i went back to work after maternity leave and letting her inside more in the end with the howling and all the vet suggested sedatives but then she said that maybe we should just let her inside we did and there was never ever a problem.... later...she became an outside dog for a while...for a few years...and to the day she died she slept outside because she became incontinent and unreliable so dogs can adjust but she was a very laid back obdient dog for the most...not wilful stubborn like some dogs can be what i think is your problem is the inconsistency and we all know that is the greatest motivator...like the poker machine addict who keeps putting in the tokens cos he just might score so what to do? i think if you really cant have the dog inside it is kinder to just train it to be outside permanently or have a routine that only in the evenings it comes in after say dinner or something and then out...create a routine we have a dog here..stubborn as anything but he responds very well to routine try to put him in his daytime area when it is the weekend and hell go nuts ...he knows its the weekend and wont be tricked...on a weekday he trots in happily and plonks himself on the bed there and thats it our other dogs are more used to being mucked around and will respond to a command to go to an area during the day...no complaints or sideway glances...they are the people pleasers of the dog tribe and have no issues... now im facing another problem and that is that OH has sever allergies all of a sudden ...so severe that the other day he actually mentioned building the dogs a complex outside this would be awful...they are all used to being inside with us when we are home so all the retraining will have to be done...eeeeeeek but again...youd just have to sit there with a book or laptop and every time they whine...you reinforce the command to lie down or whatever...and reward the positive it could take months...for it to be automatic but as i told you...with the cocker at least...routines can be changed good luck...awful problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigirl Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Sounds like separation anxiety to me. I had a dog suddenly develop separation anx at 8 yrs of age after I moved house. My solution was a doggy door, once she could access the house she stopped escaping the yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollie10 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I agree with Indigirl. My wheaten likes to know she can get back to us if she wants. She'll spend hours sitting outside or lying on the tiles in the corridor, so long as the door is open; close the door and she immediately whines to come in, and then wants to go back out. Perhaps if you have somewhere Charlie can get to inside (the laundry for example), he'll calm down and be happy to stay outside? Just a suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoofnHoof Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I'm not really much help my dogs are inside most of the time, I generally consider 25 degrees or more too hot, whether thats his tolerance limit or mine I'm not sure but he likes being inside. I'd look at the laundry option maybe put a dog door in to the outside and close the door to the house so he cant get to the cats. I hate muggy hot days I get really uncomfortable even though I grew up in some very hot arid regions I just don't have the tolerance anymore, he could be the same or he could just be happier inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 (edited) Winterpaws, I think what you're experiencing is pretty normal when dogs are used to be inside all the time. We went through a similar patch a while ago with a foster when I was working from home everyday and now we make sure the dogs go outside for 'dog time' at least half an hour if we've been working all day. On the weekends they go outside at least an hour. I think you'll just have to do some seperation training, build the seperation time up and reward and so forth. Edited January 6, 2011 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winterpaws Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 Winterpaws,I think what you're experiencing is pretty normal when dogs are used to be inside all the time. We went through a similar patch a while ago with a foster when I was working from home everyday and now we make sure the dogs go outside for 'dog time' at least half an hour if we've been working all day. On the weekends they go outside at least an hour. I think you'll just have to do some seperation training, build the seperation time up and reward and so forth. To get me used to the idea I hate the thought of being home and leaving them out - I'm such a sook! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now